I often come across jugglers who seem to have been quite talented, but who failed to leave much of a mark on juggling history. Valazzi is one such performer. His real name was W. P. Hodgson and he lived in London, England, despite being billed as being Italian. The earliest reference I can find of him performing was in 1903 and the last was in 1924. He was a talented juggler, being able to toss juggle 8 tennis balls.
1904
His most famous trick, though, is what is described above and below as someone who “sloping the slope on a cannon ball.”
1905
1907
1907
1907
1908
1908
Oddly enough, the only feats ever mentioned in reviews and advertisements was his eight-ball-juggling and the leaping cannon ball trick. His reviews were consistently good and the titles under which he was advertised were highly complimentary, if not exactly accurate.
1907
1907
1907
1907
1908
1908
1913
1914
1916
Valazzi actually received far more press for his exploits as an accident-prone pilot than as a juggler, as you can see in the following articles.
1913
1913
Valazzi and his dog, a week after getting his pilot’s license – 1913
1915
1915
1915
I can find no mention of Valazzi after 1923. If you know anything about this interesting juggler, please feel free to contact me.
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).