By David Cain
When one thinks of juggling props, many different objects may come to mind. A bicycle is probably not one of them. Nevertheless, jugglers have used bikes in their acts for over a hundred years, not to ride, but to toss juggle or balance. Let’s take a look at some examples of jugglers who used bicycles as juggling props.
Paul Spadoni
Paul Spadoni (1870-1952) was mainly known for his work as a strongman juggler, but included other random tricks in his act, such as juggling six raw eggs or juggling chairs and a table. One of these random tricks was taking apart a bicycle and juggling the two wheels and the frame, as you can see below.
The Original Manfredo
I know nothing about the juggler known as the Original Manfredo, but as you can see in the upper left portion of the photo below, he balanced a bicycle on his head or chin.
Valazzi
Valazzi (1879-1950) was able to balance a bicycle on his foot and kick it up to be caught in a balance on his chin.
He would also juggle four plates while balancing the bicycle.
Ed Jackman
Perhaps the most famous fairly modern juggler who used a bicycle as a prop was Ed Jackman. Ed was one of the premiere jugglers from the USA in the 1980s and generally concluded his act by balancing a bike on his forehead while juggling at the same time.
You can see Ed performing his bike balance stunt at the end of the following video.
Mark Abbot
In the early 1990s, Mark Abbot would ride a bike onto the stage and then toss juggle the tires and frame, as you can see below.
Mark Abbot
Brian Pankey
Brian Pankey demonstrates his bike balancing skills in the following two videos.
David Rush
Well-known juggler David Rush set the Guinness World Record for balancing a bicycle on his chin in 2016.
Christian Roberto López Rodríguez
Christian Roberto López Rodríguez of Spain broke the Guinness record for the chin balance in 2020, balancing a bike for 9 minutes and 41 seconds.
Christian Roberto López Rodríguez
Bags Orbit balances a flaming bicycle while swinging torches.
Bags Orbit
If you know other jugglers, especially from the past, who juggled or balanced bicycles, please let me know.
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).