By David Cain
The Kremo family has a long history as circus performers. Béla Kremo was born in 1911 in Berlin, Germany, but was a citizen of Switzerland. He started out as part of his father’s risley act, but became interested in juggling after watching Enrico Rastelli perform. Béla started out as a solo juggler in 1931 under the name Trenton, and began performing under his own name in 1934.
Béla Kremo popularized the three-object juggling act. Each routine consisted of three objects – three cigar boxes, three balls, three top hats, and a bowler hat, cigar, and pair of gloves rolled into a ball. This act was a contrast to Rastelli’s big motions and many props flying through the air, instead focusing on the performer and the objects close to his body. With the bowler hat, cigar, and gloves, he started out just with manipulating the single hat with great dexterity. He then performed some exquisite combinations with the bowler and cigar, catching the hat balanced on the cigar at the brim when thrown from various positions. Kremo performed with strong technical prowess with these objects, but he also mixed in very effective humor. His style and the composition of the act greatly influenced many other jugglers. His son Kris and grandson Harrison have continued performing a very similar act. Let’s take a look at some photos of Béla.
Béla and his son Kris teamed up together to launch Kris’ career as Béla’s came to a close. You can see them pictured together below.
Béla retired from performing in 1976 and passed away in Zurich, Switzerland in 1979.
We are fortunate to have quite a number of videos of Béla performing, which you can see below.
David Cain
David Cain is a professional juggler, juggling historian, and the owner of the world's only juggling museum, the Museum of Juggling History. He is a Guinness world record holder and 16 time IJA gold medalist. In addition to his juggling pursuits, David is a successful composer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and singer as well as the author of twenty-six books. He and his children live in Middletown, OH (USA).