One Saturday, I was visited by Marge, a octogenarian who insisted she come to the park with her family so she could “see that wonderful juggler a second time.” (Her family was coming to the park to see Meatloaf perform in the concert series, and were surprised she would be willing to sit through I would do anything for love…) She was just one of many repeat visitors – as I understand it, Busch has a special pass for Florida residents, so many people make a habit of coming to the park several times a month.

Another day, a family came up to me after the show insisting that they’d seen me somewhere before. Turns out, they came to the St Louis Renaissance Faire in 2012, when I had a little show on one of their smaller stages. A small world (and a pretty incredible memory!) That Faire was my first eight-week-long contract where I performed four or five shows a day. A lot has changed since then!

Over the two months I was there, I was delighted to discover how many different countries tourists come to the park. In the end, I performed my juggling show in English, Spanish, and German (shout out to all of the language professors from my past academic life!) Turns out even Germans get a laugh out of clever offhand remarks like Die Messer… in der Weichteile! (The knives… are in my crotch!)

One day, a gentleman came up and introduced himself as one of the Wimbledon Brothers. The Wimbledon Brothers took the gold medal at the International Jugglers’ Association Team Championships in 1979, beating out the Flying Karamazov Brothers. You can see a video of these guys here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEN1hXJo3X8