Joey the Juggler

Other than drinking iced lattes and questioning my own flimsy mortality, juggling is one of the only activities I’ve done almost every week for 15 years. It was birthed, like myself, out of pure boredom. My family had just arrived in the US and we (a generous pronoun) had yet to secure jobs, schools, or housing. For the time being we stayed in a Hampton Inn and Suites in the northern suburbs of the city, and my activities during the day included eating the free hotel buffet in the morning, coloring books, and eating the free buffet in the Ruby Tuesdays at night.

Side note: Spending $15 for a family of seven to eat dinner every night for three weeks straight is level of budgeting Heyworths are known for.

In my boredom I created a fourth activity: stealing the most spherical of fruits from breakfast and throw them around as I’d recently seen the street performers on Vancouver’s piers so impressively do. After countless bruised fruits and a constant over-ripe fruit bowl aroma in our single hotel room, I managed to actually catch a few. Skip ahead 15 years and I’ve performed in circus shows, trained with the world’s best, and taught internationally.