Paul Conchas
Paul Conchas and Paul Spadoni were both famed German strongman jugglers. Since Karl Heinz-Ziethen has written a great deal about these two powerhouse jugglers in his recent book, Juggling, The Past and Future, I won’t repeat their biographies here. Instead, I want to share with you the story of a feud that occurred between the two when they found themselves performing in New York City in December of 1904. Conchas’ manager decided to advertise his client as “Even Greater than Spadoni,” which sparked a feud between the two in various New York City newspapers. In this article, you can follow the feud through a series of clippings.
Paul Spadoni
The following appeared on December 13th, 1904.
Later that same day, the following appeared.
The next clipping appeared on December 19th, 1904.
Next is an article from December 24th, 1904.
Spadoni responded with the following.
December 29th saw the next punch thrown in the feud.
The next day brought the following.
The the feud continued the next day as well.
The feud took an unexpected turn January 4th of 1905 when Conchas accidentally double booked his act at two theaters.
The final clipping regarding the feud was published on January 7th, 1905.
It appears that the two heavyweight jugglers could not come to terms on how they should be compared and the feud died off. If only the public cared as much about jugglers today as they did in the winter of 1904-1905 in New York City.
Paul Spadoni
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 15 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).