By David Cain
(Author’s Note: Much of the research for the article was initially done by Scott Cain. Much thanks to Scott for uncovering so much about The Great Knetzger.)
The Great Knetzger, born Aloyius John “Louis” Knetzger in 1875, is a juggler who is now best known for some of his amazing posters, one of which recently sold online for over $14,000. He was a talented performer of club juggling, hoop rolling / juggling, music (he played several different instruments), and magic. He lived in most of his life in the greater St. Louis, Illinois area and came from a family of talented musicians. Let’s take a look at some photos and illustrations of his work.
Knetzger’s many juggling props and musical instruments
As I mentioned earlier, Knetzger included the use of multiple musical instruments in his act. Below is a listing of the instruments that were included in his act.
If you’re familiar with the history of juggling props, you may notice that Knetzger used Van Wyck clubs. In fact, he was featured prominently in Edward Van Wyck’s 1900 publication America and Europe’s Greatest Jugglers, which showed jugglers who used Van Wyck’s products. Below you can see the page featuring the Great Knetzger.
Louis Knetzger was often advertised in connection with minstrel shows from the late 1800s until at least 1921. Several of examples are listed below.
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(Editor’s Note: The following four sections come from Scott Cain’s original article on Knetzger, found here)
In the book Coal and Culture: Opera Houses in Appalachia, author William Faircy Condee cites that The Great Knetzger, Master Spirit of Ambidexterity, was part of John W. Vogel’s Big City Minstrels that played at Stuart’s Opera House in Nelsonville, Ohio in 1903.
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The Billboard, trade magazine of entertainment, listed the juggler in their May 12, 1917 edition: The Great Knetzger – Troupe of trained hoops, comedy juggling, spinning, balancing, electric clubs (fire effects), magic, classical stunts, good wardrobe / lithos, long acts. DuQuoin, Illinois.
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In the book The Hula Hoop by Judith Lanigan, the author lists Knetzger as one of the great old school hoop manipulators alongside the names of Howard Nichols and William Everhart.
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In the September 13, 1921 edition of the Sandusky Star Journal News (Ohio), it states “The Great Knetzger will appear twice dally in a double act consisting of hoop-rolling and scientific club swinging, in which a troupe of well-trained performers will use hoops and clubs to perform a great variety of seemingly impossible feats. In comedy, juggling, spinning, and balancing, using all sorts of objects, and comedy effects interspersed with music, magic, and talk.
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We know that Knetzger lived until 1966. A more recent discovery, made by juggler and juggling historian Reginald Bacon, is that Knetzger also performed and wrote under the name of Carl Martell. Under that name, he wrote one of the earliest juggling instruction books, titled The Modern Manipulator, in 1910. You can read it for free thanks to Niels Duinker by clicking here. You can learn more details about Knetzger’s life by reading Reginald Bacon’s book The Juggler’s Anthology of Venerable Veracities.
Cover of The Modern Manipulator
About two years ago, Scott Cain was contacted by the family of Louis Knetzger. They told him that they had a trunk full of Knetzger’s papers, memorabilia, and props. Scott then worked very diligently to acquire the contents of the trunk. His work finally came to fruition when the contents, which passed through four different sets of hands, were brought to us at the 2025 IJA Festival in Evansville, Indiana. In Part 2, we’ll examine what treasures were given to the Museum of Juggling History from the family.
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).