Nearly 4,000 years ago, an unknown artist rendered a depiction of jugglers on the 15th Beni Hassan tomb of an unknown prince of Egypt. In the 1680s, the Town Council of Nürnberg, Germany (the birth city of this author) engaged a full-time juggler called the “Ball Master.†He not only performed as a juggler, but also taught the town youths to juggle and to walk a tightrope.
Until the 1960s, juggling was practiced as a profession. Since then, it has been widely practiced as a hobby. This rapid growth has brought about festivals, conventions and corporate events, resulting in an expanding retail market to meet the needs of a quickly growing pastime.
Nearly 40 years ago in southeast Nebraska, Jek Kelly, Pete Nicolaus and Dennis Nuernberger began meeting Sunday afternoons in Cooper Park to learn, share and teach the skills of object manipulation – aka – “juggling.†Three years later, Kelly moved to Omaha where he and future wife Nancy Crosby lifted the Omaha Juggling Club off the ground, meeting in Turner Park.
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A camaraderie exists among jugglers of all ages, abilities and backgrounds, most likely dating back to the very “beginning.†Regionally, those bonds served to form an umbrella organization, uniting the Lincoln and Omaha clubs in 1985. Juggling indoors in the confines of a living room or den can have downsides – among them losing juggling balls, pins or spinning tops when they disappear under furniture.
And so, “I Think It Rolled Under the Couch: A Nebraska Juggling Club†was born, connecting the Omaha Juggling Club, Lincoln City Jugglers and University of Nebraska Juggling Club (now the “UNL Circus Artsâ€).
Local juggling club regulars
Lincoln’s Rick Prevett learned juggling while in college. He took a brief hiatus until his late 20s, when he happened to be driving by Cooper Park and saw a group of jugglers. Receiving their warm welcome, reading “The Juggling Book†by Carlos and seeing the Flying Karamazov Brothers were all it took to reignite his passion.
Over the years, Prevett has been one of the eight “regulars†in the Lincoln club, including giving a pre-show talk before the Flying Karamazov Brothers performance at the Lied Center, and always encouraging, assisting and teaching new and aspiring jugglers.
Another Lincoln City Jugglers regular is Jim Brennan, who stopped by the home of a work colleague years ago to find him juggling rocks in his living room. Nearly 40 years ago, he bought a set of juggling pins at a local shop. Since then, Wednesday and Sunday evenings are set aside for meetings with other jugglers. Summer meetings are held in Antelope Park by the bandshell, and by the Liberty Bell replica when there are band concerts. Fall and spring meetings happen at UNL’s city campus behind the Union and in Othmer Hall during the winters.
To the uninitiated, the group appears loosely organized, having no formal charter of organization, bylaws or dues. On closer inspection, however, Brennan and the other members participate with an almost military precision, from their juggling to the care, contribution and organization they give to the annual Flatland Juggling Festival and other activities.
A mild-mannered corporate employee by day, Beau Poehlman polished his skills quickly as a juggler. Starting with juggling balls at age 12 and self-taught, Poehlman was inspired later by jugglers at UNL’s Big Red Day. He moved on to clubs, with help from Brennan, moving on to passing festivals, road festivals and the local Flatland Juggling Festival.
According to Poehlman, “Juggling is a stress reliever. There is never a ceiling, and there is satisfaction in learning new techniques and skills.â€
Those skills include juggling a variety of objects, including spin tops, poi, clubs, diabolos, yo-yos, contact staffs, hats, balls, rings, spinning plates, devil sticks, unicycles and hoops, to name a few.
About three years ago, 11-year-old Maeve Harper saw a diabolo (basically, a top in the shape of two cones joined at their tips) while jugglers practiced at Antelope Park during a Sunday night band concert. Her mother bought her a diabolo, and Maeve has become proficient on that device, as well as riding a unicycle while juggling pins and other objects.
Other Lincoln regulars bring different and unique interests and talents to the group.
Over the years, the Lincoln City Jugglers club has provided education and entertainment to schools, corporate events and cultural events. Recently, the group added the fire on a cold and icy evening in front of the Lied Center for Performing Arts before the “Fire and Ice†fundraiser, juggling blazing objects and amazing participants and bystanders alike.
Flatland Juggling Festival
Thirty-one years ago, in Jek and Nancy Kelly’s Omaha backyard, the first Flatland Juggling Festival was held. Over the ensuing years, the festival has alternated between Omaha and Lincoln. The 2017 Flatland Juggling Festival will be held June 23-25 at the Abbott Sports Complex in Lincoln and will feature critically acclaimed comedian Mark Hayward as the keynote speaker. A full schedule of the festival’s events can be found at .
Prevett’s guiding light is also the motto of the International Juggling Association, “To render assistance to fellow jugglers.â€
So stop by on a Wednesday or Sunday evening jugglers’ meeting, and by all means, juggle and drop in sometime at the Flatland Juggling Festival.