Juggler's World: Vol. 43, No. 3

Notes

• Variety In Motion, Rick Schnitker and Mardene Rubio, won the 500,000 yen ($3,500) first prize in the World Performance Festival at Tempizon Harbor Village in Osaka, Japan, in mid-August. A field of 16 North American street acts was assembled at the shopping and office complex for two weeks of street shows, culminating in the stage competition. Second place went to Charlie II, and third to the Oresto, who did hand stands and five clubs on a free-standing ladder. Others participating included David Aiken, Dan Bennett, Wheeler Cole, Terrell Hayes and Sandy Johnson.

  Though Schnitker and Rubio are no longer husband and wife, they continue to perform together "as best of friends," according to Rubio. They have worked in Japan several times, and now perform a 30 minute show in Japanese. Their winning routine in Osaka included six club passing, torch passing on tall unicycles and a three club routine with takeaways and steals. They traveled on from Osaka to Nagoya, where they spent time with jugglers Jeff Taveggia and Brian Hulse, who is now living and performing there.

• The Flaming Idiots juggled on the Fox network's Sunday Comics show July 7. Two members of the trio passed hair jokes as well as clubs around their bushy-headed partner. The middle man also did a series of take-aways and put-backs from his middle spot before they broke out into three person passing with nine and ten clubs. Many lively tricks highlighted their two person six club routine, including one in which a passer did solids by sticking a club between his legs and knocked it to his partner by hitting it with the other club from behind!

• Ritt Rittenhouse began his almost annual two-wheel pilgrimage to the festival this year by juggling in the headwaters of the Mississippi River at Lake Itasca, Minn. He then biked the 1,220 miles to St. Louis in a leisurely 28 days, spending many nights with people he met along the way. He juggled for them and taught several to juggle, then bought props at the festival to keep them going. His bike load was 45 pounds, "including three clubs and six balls." Rittenhouse invites anyone interested in planning a bike trip to Montreal with him next summer to contact him through the roster.

• The Passing Zone, Jon Wee and Owen Morse, made a second appearance on Johnny Carson's "Tonight Show" on Aug. 16. The comedy juggling duo did some six and seven club passing, including back to back. They finished with each man juggling torches as Wee stood on Morse's shoulders, while Morse balanced on a rola-bola.

• Las Piranhas is now a juggling/acrobatics duo. Fritz Brehm and Raymundo Reyes were performing in Canada, doing the Atlantic Buskers Tour and the Halifax Buskerfest. They also planned to attend the convention in Tbilisi, USSR.

• Juggling Jeff Plake recently took a one-week trip to Amsterdam as his prize as a three-day winter on the morning Wheel of Fortune television show. At the request of the host, Plake juggled three apples and ate one on the show during his appearance. Plake did more than 600 shows this year, appearing in schools, variety shows and amusement parks, including three shows a day for 10 weeks this summer at the Conneaut Lake Park near Erie, Penn. Besides a juggling routine that goes up to seven balls, he rides a unicycle on a ramp and set of steps that respond with lights and musical notes. Next spring Plake will be on an eight-week tour of military bases in the Pacific.

• Sean & Meg Emery announce the birth of a 7-pound, 8-ounce baby girl, Aerial Gayl Emery, on July 26 in Minneapolis. The pediatrician proclaimed that Aerial has "nice big hands," a fact that, according to dad, bodes well for her juggling future!

• English juggler Adam Gardner got a nice write-up in the July 9 issue of The Independent on his new company, More Balls Than Most Ltd. The group runs juggling workshops throughout England, targeting their services toward corporations with the message that juggling will help reduce employee stress levels.

• Frank Miles was on Comic Strip Live in early June. He did machetes, then a bowling ball, ping pong ball and an audience volunteer's watch - over the volunteer, who was lying on the floor.

• Notes from circus publications:
  • Heidi Wendany juggles with Culpepper Circus.
  • Oresto juggled and served as emcee with a Big John Strong Circus tour of Indiana and Ohio in May. Rhys Thomas has also been displaying "kitchenary juggling" with the show, doing plates, cups, eggs, apples and the like.
  • Dieter Tasso appeared in Wisconsin Dells, Wisc., all summer.
  • The Galambos Family with Hamid Morton Circus.
  • Stefano and Justino Zoppe with George Coronas All American Circus.
  • Casey Cainan with Franzen Brothers Circus.
  • Vlastic with Kristy Brothers Circus.
  • Leanne Earl and Buckey Dusell with Roberts Brothers Circus.
  • The Roberts did a five person juggling act with Vidbel's Olde Tyme Circus.
  • Jerry Pirkl with Circus Sahara.
  • The Hernandez Troupe at Circus Circus in Reno.
  • Shane Hansen at Carson City Park in Catskill, N.Y.
  • Dusell & Miss Leanne with Roberts Brothers Circus.
  • The Osorios with Circo Mexicano.
  • Germany's Achim Eins at the 1991 Circus Fans Convention in Natick, Mass.
  • Maurice Droguett with The Famous Cole Indoor Variety Circus.
  • Ivan & Son with the Beatty Cole Circus.
  • Anthony Gatto at the Society of American Magicians Convention.
  • 71-year-old Bill King with the International Fairtime Circus at the Vandalia, Mo., Community Fair.
  • Vlastek Valla with Circus Galaxy.

• Three Southern California jugglers are proving to the world that you can recover and rejoin the juggling mainstream after severe brain injury. Tracy Burwell, Kathryn Maro and Kit Summers are all actively involved in the Los Angeles and Santa Barbara area again after their rehabilitation.

• Dick Franco is trying to contact individuals and relatives of individuals who appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show. CBS plans to rebroadcast all 555 episodes of the show, along with three 2-hour specials, and will pay union scale to performers when their acts are rebroadcast. Franco is trying to contact these performers or their survivors to make sure they get their pay. He said jugglers who will appear again include Bob Bramson, Eric Brenn, Francis Brunn, Rudy Cardenas, Stan Cavanaugh, Tommy Curtin, Nino Frediani, Ugo Garrido, Rudy Horn, Bela Kremo, Rudy Schweitzer, Dieter Tasso and Koma Zuru. Contact Franco at 1257 Lucaya Ave.; Venice FL 34292.

• Still more personalized license plates... Ken Head - I JUGGL in Wisconsin (Keep sending 'em in, folks, we're after one in all 50 states!)

• Congratulations to Christina Ramos and Reed Payne, two long-time members of the New York Jugglers Club who were married on July 27. They met and learned to juggle at the regular weekly meeting of the Manhattan club.