Gizmo Guys Thrill McCullough Crowd

Author: Andrea La Rocca

Do you think you're cool because you can throw a grape in the air and catch it in your mouth? If so, then imagine how cool you would be if you could juggle five ping pong balls in your mouth. The Gizmo Guys, a professional juggling duo, did exactly that and more in their Friday night performance at McCullough.
The Middlebury Juggling Club sponsored this performance, and although the turnout was small (only about 50 people), the reaction was immense. Jugglers and non-jugglers alike were awed and entertained by the Gizmo Guys' original routines, slapstick comedy and juggling skills, which ranged from toss juggling to devil sticks to Diablo.
As one juggler in the audience said, "This looks cool if you know nothing about juggling, but if you are a juggler, then you know what they're doing up there is just downright amazing."
The Gizmo Guys themselves are Allan Jacobs and Barrett Felker, two professional comedic jugglers who teamed up in 1987 to become the current performing pair.
In the past 16 years, the Gizmo Guys have toured America and Canada, performed for well over a million people and been featured on several television shows. Middlebury College was lucky to have the Gizmo Guys share their world-class skills in the Friday night performance as well as in a workshop with the Middlebury Juggling Club on Friday afternoon.
The workshop was a chance for the Gizmo Guys to share their skills on a more personal and tutorial basis with members of the Middlebury Juggling Club. The turnout was again small (about 15 people), but the president of the club, Brian Pletcher '04, said that the workshop was successful because it was an opportunity for club members to interact firsthand with two famous and talented jugglers.
Pletcher himself is a small celebrity on campus; this is the second year that he won the Winter Carnival Talent Show for his contact juggling performance. Pletcher is also the founder of the current Middlebury Juggling Club. The group originally existed 10 years ago and was revived by Pletcher when he was a first-year. He has been juggling for nearly 11 years on and off since he went to a circus skill camps for a week in fourth grade.
"Juggling is a great way to clear your mind as it forces you to focus," Pletcher said.
In addition to Pletcher, Rich Novak '05 and Paul Armstrong '04 help run the Middlebury Juggling Club. A very talented group of first-years also largely contributes to the group's membership, but Pletcher says that all students are welcome and invited to attend the club meetings on Tuesdays from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. and Fridays from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. in Mitchell Green Lounge.
"Even if you've never juggled before, you can learn to juggle three balls within the first meeting,"Pletcher said.
As for juggling five ping-pong balls in your mouth, you might just have to leave this to the Gizmo Guys and hope that they come back to Middlebury sometime soon.