By David Cain
Besides juggling and writing about juggling history, playing the ukulele is one of my favorite things to do. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that I would combine the two skills together. After all, the ukulele is almost exactly the size of a juggling club. Below you can see me do three tricks with a ukulele, including playing the instrument while juggling and singing, which has become one of my signature tricks.
David Cain playing the ukulele and kazoo while juggling in the 2025 IJA Cascade of Stars Show
I’m aware that many jugglers also play the ukulele or it’s very close relative, the banjolele (a ukulele that looks and sounds like a banjo). There is also a history of using ukuleles and banjoleles as juggling props. Let’s take a look at others who have used them in their juggling acts.
The Howard Brothers
The Howard Brothers performed from at least 1899 to 1917. They were accomplished banjolele players who ended their act by passing 6 of the instruments and plucking out a tune while doing so. One review wrote the following about them in 1907:
“The Howard brothers do a really phenomenal banjo juggling act in which they keep six of the twanging instruments flying back and forth through the air, and playing tunes upon them all the time. It is both amusing and interesting to note how these musicians juggle the instruments with such dexterity from the beginning of the act to the finish. In the straight banjo playing they are really wonders. They fairly make their banjos talk, in fact, they do give one of the cleverest imitations of a phonograph that has yet been accomplished on any musical instrument.”
This review reflected what was often said of them; they were highly accomplished banjolele players as well as jugglers. Below are photos and illustrations of the Howard Brothers. As you might note, a number of the photographs showed the brothers passing eight banjoleles. However, every mention of their act I am able to find only mentions them passing 6 while playing them. Perhaps they passed eight without plucking out a tune.
It would appear that at some point, one of the brothers quit and the other formed an act with a female partner.
Not much personal information is known about the brothers, but their act must have been a sight to behold.
The Ader Brothers
The Ader Brothers of Philadelphia, PA (USA) started out as performing club swingers around the turn of the century when they were young boys. Eventually they became talented club passers and eventually put together a musical juggling act that included passing six trumpets while playing them, passing six banjoleles while playing them, and ball juggling that included bouncing the balls off of a wooden xylophone called a bellaphone, playing a tune through the bouncing.
Vincent and Flip
The juggling act Vincent and Flip featured one of the members juggling four ukuleles, as you can see below.
Jocos
Below is an unknown juggler tossing three banjoleles.
I don’t know if Jocos is the name of a single juggler or a duo, but the photo below shows a juggler tossing and catching three ukuleles.
Jocos
Dr. Hot and Neon
Dr. Hot and Neon (Bill Galvin and Steve Mock) created a routine in the 1980s where they juggled banjoleles and played a tune while doing so. You can see an example of this below.
Duet Complett
Duet Complett is a German duo comprised of Thomas Schaeffert and Simon Flamm. They do a very similar act as Dr. Hot and Neon, playing ukuleles while juggling them.
Steve Girman
Juggler Steve Girman plays the ukulele and harmonica while spinning a plate on a stick balanced on his chin in the following video.
Deena Frooman
Deena Frooman demonstrates her three-ukulele cascade in the following video.
Joel Salom
Joel Salom also experimented with juggling three ukuleles and playing them at the same time, as you can see below.
Bags Orbit
Bags Orbit played the ukulele as part of the combo trick that is shown at the beginning of the video below.
If you know of anyone else who is using a ukulele or banjolele in their juggling act, please let me know.
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).