About Steve - My Juggling Story

This is the story of how I (Steven William Thomson) became a juggler, and how my juggling has evolved since I began in 1993. I am now a professional juggler, available to hire for all occasions. The moral of this story is that if you have the willingness and patience to learn something, then the sky is the limit...

In the beginning

On 25 December 1993 I received a set of 3 Juggling balls as a Christmas present from my parents. Juggling always fascinated me as a child. When I went to the Circus it was to see the Juggling acts. I wrongly thought that learning to juggle would be very difficult, but with a bit of patience, and willingness to learn, it didn't take me very long at all.

Dropping is a sign of progress!

Over the next 5 weeks, I practiced the trick on the packaging (3 ball cascade), until I had perfected it. Each day, I would challenge myself to beat the number of catches I had previously recorded. By the end of February I could do the Cascade pattern until I felt like stopping. I could also perform a number of tricks using two juggling balls in one hand.I wanted to know more tricks! I couldn't stop wanting to learn (but I did have to stop for a couple of months to sit my school exams)! However, when I left school in May 1994 and took up a job as a Youth Trainee Librarian, I once again had time on my hands to learn more...and more...

Juggling Club/Getting started

On 9 May 1994, a Juggling club opened in Stirling. The club took place in the theatre at the Cowane Centre every Monday and lasted for 90 minutes. The Juggling club had lots of juggling equipment including: Silk handkerchiefs, juggling balls, beanbags , clubs, rings, diabolos, spinning plates, devil sticks, and stilts.

All the regulars that came along to the club were good at certain items, and it was a very sharing atmosphere, so newbies were always made to feel welcome. I was taught many tricks using all the equipment, but only had juggling balls at home to practice with. This was soon to change, because on 17 June 1994 our family's insurance man came to see me with a cheque from my policy which had matured. This money was just what I needed to buy some juggling equipment with!!

One day when I was uptown in Stirling watching a magician/comedian/juggler, he picked me out of the audience and levitated me on 1 chair!

On 2 September 1994, I went to the Big Top (juggling store in Glasgow) and bought the following:

• 2 Luminous Spinning Plates (with sticks)
• 4 Luminous Juggling Balls
• 3 Juggling Clubs
• Diabolo (with handles and string)
• Stunt Stick

The bill came to about £90 (with a discount for being a member of Stirling Juggling Club. The assistant was able to teach me the secret to 4 ball juggling, and by the end of September 1994 I had mastered the diabolo and clubs as well as 4 ball juggling, and was working on the devil stick.

I started bringing more people to the juggling club and teaching them how to juggle, which I found was just as fun as learning to juggle for myself.

Some Important Days

On 25 October 1994, I met up with several members of my juggling club at the MacRoberts Arts Centre, where the Gandini Juggling Project were doing a one night performance. They were excellent. The way that they combined dance, music and juggling was breathtaking and unique. We met up with Sean Gandini and the rest of the performers and we all went for a drink in the student lounge! I still have their signed poster on my wall!

On 29 October 1994, there was a Halloween party at Viewfield Church. I took along my 4 luminous juggling balls. Later on after a firework display and some party pieces on the stage, I was asked to go on stage and juggle for a few minutes. I asked a friend to put some music on for my juggling. She grabbed the first tape that came to hand. It was "Agadoo" by Black Lace (cringe!). I juggled for about 4 minutes doing every trick I could think of including ones which I was still trying to learn which resulted in a lot of balls ending up on the ground. After my performance I received a huge round of applause and was congratulated by many individuals which meant a lot to me. I liked the feeling of being on stage. I was nervous at first, but as soon as I started juggling, the nervousness went away. It made me think what my performance could have been like if I had planned it in advance.

Keep reading to find out about...
Scotland's First ever Juggling Charity
Chainsaw Juggling
My new juggling business
and much much more...

1995-1996

I signed up for a summer school called Jump Juggle Jest. I also performed at several Charity events, and was invited to join a mission team in Dunbar after I taught some of the team how to juggle! To find out more about how God has blessed me with juggling skills, and used them to prosper him, please go to my personal website and read my testimony.

I attended comedy classes and was taught the fine art of comedy by one of Scotland's best comedians (Bruce Morton). This helped improve my performing skills, as I could now deal with hecklers, and improve my communications with audiences. I was prepared to leave College with my HNC and join Circus School. I went to Hackney (London), for a day long audition at the Circus Space. I met one of my juggling heroes (Charlie Holland) whose book I had been reading on the journey up!

I appeared on Central FM (local radio station) when I was doing a radio workshop, and juggled chainsaws in their studio!

Download Juggling Chainsaws Recording (360kb)!

I got a set of fire clubs for my CHRISTmas. Jump Juggle Jest became a Charity, and I was involved in behind the scenes work to make sure that JJJ had a summer production, and we could raise enough funds etc.

1997-2001

I went to Abertay University (Dundee), and was then able to go to Dundee University Juggling Club which had been started up many years before by Donald Grant (King of the Diabolo's!)

During this time before I became a professional juggler, I still did the occasional performance whilst at University and after Graduation. I performed at over 50 Churches all over Scotland, juggled at the top of Dumyat (Scottish hill), done a sponsored abseil whilst juggling (to raise money for Children's 1st), ran several Circus Skills Workshops all over Scotland, performed fire club routines at several friend's weddings, and developed routines for giving my Christian Testimony whilst juggling.

I was baptised on 6 May 2001. I performed a juggling routine whilst giving my testimony. It was one of the happiest and most fulfilling days of my life. I believe that God gave me the gift of juggling as a way of bringing me closer to serving him and also bringing others closer to him. If you want to know more about how God has transformed my life, I would encourage you to visit the Christian pages on my personal website.

2001!

On 16 July 2001, I set myself up in business as a "Freelance web designer and professional juggler". By navigating through the site, you can see photographs from my latest juggling performances, and find out more about my juggling life. Please click on the articles on the left and right to see a larger (and more readable) image!

VIEW MORE PRESS RELEASES!

Stirling Juggling Project began in 2001, under the leadership of Duncan Smith (the guy who ran the juggling club I went to in Dundee!) Membership is growing, and you can find out more by visiting the Stirling Juggling Project Section of this site.

Now that I juggle for a living, I am practicing more than ever (and enjoying my juggling more than ever), so my skill set is continually growing. Juggling is a passion of mine (as I hope you can tell from this site), and I hope you enjoy the rest of the site, and feel free to drop me an e-mail to let me know what you think of this story or any other aspect of the site.

• If you are considering hiring me to juggle, teach juggling, run a workshop, give my testimony while juggling or many other possibilities, then please go to the contact page.
• If you would like to find out more about me, please visit my personal website.