Get Your Balls in the Air!

Jugglers.

Jugglers coming from all over
to strut their long-practiced stuff at
the 19th annual Jugglefest this weekend.

Jugglers, unicyclists, yo-yo champions,
people displaying all manner of
high-skill-level prestidigitation
and object-oriented manipulations.

Doubtful that any of them will
be coming from the juggle-frenzied
planet of Majipoor – because that place
is both too distant and, damn it, fictional;
but they will be coming, these jugglers
and so on, from all over the USA.

We're always partial to local talent, of course,
which is why we asked Austin's own Darren Peterson
of the renowned Circus Chickendog show
a few questions about Jugglefest-related program activities:

Austin Chronicle: Darren, what's the craziest thing you've ever juggled?

Darren Peterson: Due to crazy kid requests resulting from my encouragement of
their heckling, what's become an infrequent "bit" is that, while riding a unicycle
with just one foot, I play that "Where Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone" tune
with my left hand on the accordion while juggling two of any assorted items
that the kids choose. The most memorable of these included a blue-icing cupcake
and the birthday-child's shoe.

Chronicle: What's the worst fuck-up you've ever made onstage?

Peterson: One year for FronteraFest I spent days designing and sewing these rip-off pants
for Chickendog [Peterson's highly trained pooch] to tear off of me and then training her
to do the trick at the end of the show. And then, literally from five minutes in, the pants
kept coming loose for no apparent reason until I was just hobbling around the stage
with them around my ankles. Yeah – thanks for the memories.

Chronicle: And what feat of juggling are you most proud of?

Peterson: I suppose being able to juggle seven balls for a hundred throws fairly regularly
would seem to be the best candidate for my pride, but I'm actually happier that I was able
to stop servicing that ability with the insane amount of practice it took to keep it up.

Chronicle: What's your favorite thing, year after year, about JuggleFest?

Peterson: The best thing about JuggleFest for me is learning new skills –
the best and most innovative object manipulators come in and give workshops
on really specific and esoteric juggling moves, as well as less-obvious skills such as
yo-yo tricks (which I'm looking forward to this year), top-spinning, and unicycle tricks.