Eric Philmore

Eric Philmore

Eric Philmore’s real name was Erich Phillips. He began performing with his brothers Max and Karl as the Three Phillips, doing juggling, acrobatics, barrel walking, and antipodism.  Erich was drafted into the army in 1915 and his wife took his place in the trio.

In 1919, after the war had ended, Erich formed his own company, the Original Erich Phillips Company, which presented amazing tricks, such as the one shown below.

Erich’s brothers continued with their spouses or children performing as the 4 Phillips. The following photos show some of their impressive accomplishments.

In the late 1930s, Erich and his family moved to the United States, making a home in Chicago. Erich eventually began working as a solo juggler, calling himself Eric Philmore, during the 1940s. He was best known for doing difficult juggling tricks while standing on a huge cylinder and for bounce juggling tennis balls using tennis rackets. The first photo below is one of my favorite photos. Enjoy it and the other photos of Eric Philmore that follow.

I’m glad to present to you the only known film of Eric Philmore, made available here for the first time ever.

Erich Phillips also perform an antipodism (foot juggling) act under the name Rivo. Below are two photos of him performing this act.

Although he is mostly forgotten in the history of juggling, Eric Philmore performed many amazing and original tricks that are worthy of being remembered.

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).