Hello, friends!

Have you ever met someone who has a unique career or has honed a skill so foreign from any you’ve mastered and thought, “That’s really cool! I wonder how they got into that?” That’s what went through my head when I met William Alex Larson, an incredibly talented juggler/actor/circus student and crossword enthusiast. So, here we are at my next interview! Alex and I chatted about what it takes to be a circus performer, what the career trajectory looks like for a juggler, and what he hopes to achieve over the next few years. There will be many more reviews to come over the next couple of weeks, but for now, I hope you enjoy my chat with Alex!

Lori: Hi Alex! Thanks for chatting with me. Let’s start from the very beginning. Can you tell me about how you got started with juggling, and what sparked that initial interest?

Alex: I started juggling in the 8^th grade. My dad knew how to juggle, and one day he showed me how and then went off to work. I made it my objective to learn how to juggle before he got back, and I was successful.

Lori: How long did it take you to become competent?

Alex: It took about an hour to be able to do the classic 3-ball cascade, and another day of practicing to be able to juggle 3 balls for a minute. Then I started learning tricks.

Lori: How long does it take to perfect a trick, so that you’re comfortable performing it?

Alex: I know a lot of jugglers that are really great jugglers but not incredible performers because they keep telling themselves, “I need to wait until I can do [this one trick] better…” And I never see them on stage, or they’re completely flustered. You need to get in those hours of practice, but you also need performance hours, and as soon as possible. I think you are always ready, even if a 3-ball cascade is all you can do.

…but if you want a quick answer: I watched a Youtube video where a juggler named Taylor Glenn learned how to do a new trick online, and I followed along with her. I took me about 20 minutes to learn a new 3-ball trick and feel comfortable with it. That’s pretty fast, but a lot of them vary.

Lori: So have you always been interested in performing, or did your love of juggling lead you to the stage?

Alex: I’ve always wanted to be a performer. It’s something I’ve always felt called to do. I graduated with a BA in Theatre Performance from the University of Arkansas. I began juggling more seriously in high school because I wrote down that I could juggle on my acting resume, and a school director cast me in a show because of it.

Lori: When did you decide that you wanted to pursue juggling specifically as your performance medium?

Alex: During my last year of university, I was developing my honours thesis, which became the show I’m doing in Fringe festivals right now called “Are You Catching What I’m Throwing?” I performed it to a few people, and I realized that I was able to accomplish my objective, which was to connect to an audience through juggling, circus and storytelling. I was having so much fun, and I couldn’t imagine doing anything else at that point.

Lori: Let’s walk through your path to circus school and the Fringe festivals after university.

Alex: I graduated university in the spring of 2020. I’d been working on my Honors thesis for 2 years. Choreographing it, rewriting it…I did a backpacking tour through Europe to see as much circus and theatre as possible. A week before opening night, the university closed due to COVID, so I pretty much lay on the floor for several months, as a lot of performers did. In the fall, I moved to Portland, Oregon to join the Elements Training Company at the [now defunct] Circus Project. I was there for a year, and then after that, I did an artist-in-residency at the Lookout Arts Quarry in Bellingham, Washington. I realized that I wanted to get my little one-man show back on its feet, so I workshopped it there. At the same time, I applied for the Denver Fringe Festival, and I applied to circus school at “ECQ,” or the École de Cirque de Québec [said in a thick French accent], and I got into both. So I did the Fringe Festival in the summer, and I moved to Quebec in the fall.

Lori: How would you describe “circus art” in general?

Alex: It’s like trees – there’s no definition of the word “tree” that will include everything that we consider to be a tree and exclude everything that we consider not to be a tree. Even from a biological standpoint, some trees are closer related to grass than other trees. Similarly in circus, just like we know a tree when we see it, we know circus when we see it. Things that are circus: juggling, clowning, acrobatics…we consider them circus if they’re presented in that context. I’ve also heard people describe it as “the presentation of the superhuman,” which I kind of like.

Lori: Can you explain in basic terms what, exactly, is circus school?

Alex: Circus school is a professional training program for current and aspiring performers. My main discipline is juggling, my secondary discipline is trampoline, and my complementary discipline is acrobatics. I also have a flex class, a conditioning class, theatre, music, and dance (contemporary and ballet). For some people, circus school is their college program, so they take regular college courses alongside the circus classes, and they receive a diploma. Since I’m an international student, my program is still 3 years long, but I only take the circus classes, and I receive a certificate at the end.

Lori: Does the school help you with job searches or company placement?

Alex: Indirectly. They have a big showcase at the end of the year and smaller shows throughout the year, and a lot of professionals attend to scout new talent. Circus school is a great place to make connections. You’re there to grow as circus artists, but also to meet the right people.

Lori: Is Quebec the heart of circus performance?

Alex: In North America, Quebec is pretty great. There’s Cirque du Soleil and a lot of small companies in Montreal and Quebec City. FLIP Fabrique, Machine de Cirque, Cirque Kikasse…many others.

Lori: So, what does the career trajectory for a juggler look like? What paths can a juggler take? What are you interested in pursuing?

Alex: As a juggler and circus performer, I could try to get a contract with one of the many companies in Quebec, or do a touring show. Right now, cruise ships are hiring circus performers like crazy. But I also have my own company, “Children at Play Theatre.” When a lot of people think of circus, they think of the flashy stuff, like “look what I can do!” Or they think of the overdramatic, expressive circus shows that don’t seem to have much context. I’m trying to find the middle ground, to blend circus and theatre.

Lori: Can you tell me a bit about your current show, “Are You Catching What I’m Throwing?”

Alex: It’s a one-man, hour-long show about a juggler’s quest to form connections through juggling, and the desperation of that. I performed this show at a few festivals (including the Toronto Fringe Festival), and next up is the Kingston Fringe Festival from August 3-13, 2023.

Lori: Is the story based on any personal experiences?

Alex: I took a playwriting class in undergrad, and one of the rules was everything is autobiographical, nothing is autobiographical…so we’re not going to delve into that. *Laugh* But oftentimes, I can tell what people have gone through after seeing my show. There are moments [in the show] where I’m silly and goofy, and then suddenly somber. Some people come up to me after and say, “that was hilarious, great job,” and others say, “great job, it hurt me.” They’ve been in a similar position to me, and they’re aware of the pains of feeling isolated. And that’s some of the best parts of theatre – displays of humanity and connectivity.

Lori: What are your aspirations for your company and your current show?

Alex: I suspect, for the future of my show, I might perform it a few more times in Festivals. Right now, my juggling show is about a juggler, and it’s pretty easy to tell a story with juggling if the main character is being portrayed as a juggler. My goal is to tell more complicated stories using juggling as a medium. I think the next work I do will have more subtlety, where a character juggles as a form of expression, because it’s the best way to tell how they’re feeling – not just because they’re a “juggler.” I already have a skeleton of the next show, but I hope to find collaborators to do it with. I don’t want it to be a solo show.

Lori: Is there a performance timeline for jugglers, like how ballerinas only work until a certain age?

Alex: I imagine I can be juggling as long as I want, but I think the goal of having my own company is that I can stop or continue performing whenever I want. I can move into producing or directing shows, continue writing.

Lori: Do you have any circus juggler performers that you look up to as inspirations, or anyone whose work you admire?

Alex: The Institute of Jugglology with Galen Harp and (formerly) Ellen Winters has inspired me a lot. They’re known for juggling mixed props filled with sand. They juggle over a canvas with stencils laid out, and as they juggle, the sand falls and creates an art piece, a physical representation of juggling. However, they also realize that the spirit of juggling is the spirit of impermanence – you can’t hold a pattern forever. So at the end, they lift the canvas to show the audience, and then tip it a little further so that the sand collapses on itself and destroys the painting. I also really like the company Ea Eo, which is a Belgian/French company. They created a show called M-Squared. They start off on a huge stage, and it diminishes over time, so by the end, it’s four guys on a tiny slab of wood. It’s really interesting and engaging.

Lori: To end, let’s answer some silly, fun questions. What’s the trick that most impresses people?

Alex: I juggle 5 clubs, People like it when I do that.

Lori: Can you juggle with your eyes closed?

Alex: I can juggle 3 balls blind pretty well. I won MADFEST Summer Edition 2022 Blind Juggling, and that will be on my tombstone.

Lori: What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever balanced on your face?

Alex: I used to host a monthly variety show, and we had this bit where each show I’d balance something. The first time it was like, a chair. Then a machete and 3 chairs. And it kept getting bigger and bigger. And one of the producers came up and said, “I have this elongated chain saw.” It’s not a huge chain saw, but it’s long. And it was running. I could feel the vibration through my spinal cord as I held it on my chin. And if I dropped it, it would’ve been bad. But we kept having to raise the stakes. I did it once in rehearsal, and once in the show. After that, I was like, “I think we’re done with this bit.”

Lori: What’s next for you?

Alex: I just went to South Bend, Indiana, for the International Juggler’s Association Festival. I organized the Fight Night competition and worked on the Volley Club tournament. I also performed at “Planting the Juggling Seed,” which is a kid-friendly show. After the Kingston Fringe Festival (Aug 3-13, 2023), I’ll head back to ECQ for my second year of school, continue performing in festivals, and maybe even try to work with one of the companies in Quebec.

If you happen to be in Kingston, Ontario, over the next couple of weeks, you can catch Alex’s show, Are You Catching What I’m Throwing?, until August 13, 2023. Tickets can be purchased here.