By David Cain
The juggling community has lost one of its most unique and beloved members. Jolly Goodfellow, better known as Rumpel, was born Sean Goodfellow in Melbourne, Australia. He was famous for his marathon jester shows, which lasted 24 hours, 48 hours, or even his longest of 53 hours, which took place in Poland. These shows ended with the stage covered in juggling props, musical instruments, a unicycle, puppets, and a huge assortment of other props. He was also famous for staying in character at all times, treating his life as one big performance art piece. This included maintaining his high-pitched, squeaky voice, wearing an assortment of unique costumes, and often wearing one of his 600 fake noses. He was one of the best-known buskers in the world, having performed in 50 countries through three decades. He was the original “Fool on the Hill” in Cirque du Soleil’s Beatle’s “LOVE” show in Las Vegas for two years, performing 847 shows. Jolly made numerous television and film appearances. In addition to his performing skills, he was also a talented illustrator. He loved traveling, having visited 30 countries in addition to the 50 where he performed. He traveled to Kosovo during the Balkans War in 1999 to perform with Clowns Without Borders. He was living in Los Angeles when he passed away following a long illness. Our condolences go out to his family and his numerous friends throughout the world.
Jolly was one of the most photographed variety performers in the world. Let’s take a look at some of these.
Scanner
Scanner
Scanner
Scanner
And here are some videos to help us remember this one-of-a-kind performer.
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).