(Haz clic aquí para español.) For the past 7 years I have had the honor of writing for the best juggling magazine in the world: eJuggle, the magazine of the International Jugglers Association (IJA). I started as a juggling hobbyist, writing thoughts, ideas, and empirical research on a blog I created for free on Tumblr. I was inspired, of course, …
An Interview with Paul Cinquevalli
(Haz clic aquí para español.) With some tricks I have practiced for an hour every day for six months before I have achieved any kind of success with them. Paul Cinquevalli. Cinquevalli, considered to be the juggling superstar, gave a lot of personal details to journalists and people who were interested in his artistic career. From this we can …
Valazzi – Juggler and Accident-Prone Pilot
I often come across jugglers who seem to have been quite talented, but who failed to leave much of a mark on juggling history. Valazzi is one such performer. His real name was W. P. Hodgson and he lived in London, England, despite being billed as being Italian. The earliest reference I can find of him performing was in 1903 …
Cinquevalli in Court
(Haz clic aquí para español.) For many juggling experts and historians, Paul Cinquevalli is the greatest of all time. He was the first juggling superstar. His fame was such that newspapers associated any feat, or any juggler, with Paul Cinquevalli. His tricks, pioneers in the genre, caught the attention of most showbiz entrepreneurs around the world. Cinquevalli wrote: “I performed …
Josef Blank: Talented German Juggler
Josef Blank was a German juggler who started his performing career in his hometown of Munich in 1901 at the age of fourteen. In 1903, he and his family came to the United States. He initially worked as a solo act. Josef was a very skilled juggler, being able to juggle seven discs for quite some time, and also performing …
The Billionaire Jugglers: Harry and Barney Barnato
(Haz clic aquí para español.) Throughout the history of juggling there have been some jugglers who became millionaires. Others managed to own property and a financially stable life but did not achieve such a designation. If you want to know about the jugglers who became millionaires you can read my article here. Now, were there jugglers with more money than …
Quotable Jugglers: Part 1
As I research juggling history and continue my more than four decade career as a juggler, I come across interesting quotes from jugglers that stick with me. Here are a few of the more interesting ones and the stories behind them. Rudy Horn Rudy Horn German juggling legend Rudy Horn had a personal standard that if you couldn’t do a …
Jean Florian – The Prodigious Juggler
(Haz clic aquí para español.) – What is your hobby? – “Juggling” – And what is your ambition? – “To be a good juggler.” Jean Florian was hailed by the press as “the world’s greatest juggler,” or “the greatest juggler on earth,” or “the prodigy juggler,” as he was a child when his fame exploded. Several articles and references …
Pierre Gringoire – the King of Jugglers
(Haz clic aquí para español.) Illustration of a medieval juggler. It is difficult to research jugglers from the Middle Ages, as in most cases they are only mentioned in medieval poems and texts. Therefore, there is not much information about Pierre Gringoire. The literary character must be distinguished from the juggler, troubadour and writer. The character of Pierre Gringoire comes …