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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 28, 1978)
hursday, September 28, 1978 ad lib page & From knives to artichokes Kelly juggles to entertain By Mary Jane Wingwest Perhaps you have seen an eccentric juggler performing in front of Dirt Cheap, 2 17 N. 1 1 th St. on Kalamity Kate's Showag on, at the Union's Winter Walpurgisnacht festival, or as Leo Kottke's warm-up act. But if you haven't, one thing you can count on, wherever Jek Kelly juggles, he delivers a whimisical performance. The congenial 26-year-old bachelor has been juggling for 5V years and says he never has to solicit work. Although he per forms predominantly in the Lincoln area, he said he has a tentative offer from a theatre in New Jersey to juggle two shows a night over the Christmas holidays. His first name Jek, stands for his full name John Edward Kelly. Kelly ranked his warm-up act for Leo Kottke at O'Donnell Auditorium last spring his "neatest performance." Tremendous rush "I ended up getting a standing ovation from a full auditorium and it was a tre mendous rush. If I could I would still be standing there," Kelly said. profile Kelly, who prides a close communica tions link with his audiences, said they were attentive throughout the 20-minute performance and when he walked off stage Kottke told him he had never played before with a warm-up act so well received. But Kelly said he doesn't get a com pleted communication circle and audience reaction when he juggles in front of two cameras each Monday on Kalamity Kate's Showagon. "My TV show is a lot different from my stage show," Kelly said. "For one thing, the show is for children and the kids are off to the side. "I'll start talking to a camera and realize it's not on. They have red lights so I'll turn to the other camera," Kelly said about the adjustments he has to make performing on TV. According to Kelly, his three to five minute weekly TV spots include requests from viewers. "I've done some odd things," Kelly said. "Like last week I juggled three ice cieam cones as I ate them. "Then once I was asked to juggle three ice cream pies and I ended up being covered head to toe," he said. Kelly said his performance has evolved progressively since he began in Colorado. Keeps adding tricks "The act has changed constantly over the years. It is still basically the same act, I just keep adding tricks," Kelly explained. Describing one of his newest tricks, Kelly said, "It's kind of a pimp little thing I do. It's a gag." According to Kelly, he now juggles a large wooden ball, a bowie knife and a rubber artichoke. "The rubber artichoke al ways gets a laugh," Kelly elaborated. Kelly said he creates his juggling rou tines through his imagination but can never call them unique because a juggler hundreds of years ago may have had the same idea. But one day, Kelly said, he told himself, "I'm going to make a routine that I can say was my idea." Kelly always includes objects of different size, weight and shape in his act. But this time he said he was determined to make the three objects unique, so he came up with the artichoke. Kelly is a good story-teller and he is as sensitive in person as he is with a crowd. Kelly is a sensitive artist because he re sponds well to an audience. Building a roomful of suspense, and then relieving the audience with a single word, is a successful technique Kelly uses to grasp his viewers. During his act Kelly pulls out three cheap bowie knives and pompously des cribes how he isgoing to juggle them. The crowd is naturally filled with anticipation. But in his perfectly timed remark he shouts out the word "maybe" when he releases the first knife. Shares talents Kelly is the type of artist who shares his talents, 100 percent, with his audience. Some of the patterns his imagination cre ates include rolling balls off his fingers, placing balls under his chin and bouncing them off his knee every time they come around. Kelly traditionally closes his perform ances by attempting to eat three apples while he juggles them. As the apples descend in front of his face he lunges for ward and takes a big bite. The crowd be comes jubilant and there is never a straight face. Kelly's success can partially be attribu ted to his enthusiasm for his life and career. "I'm just pretty content, life is going well," Kelly said. Kelly, who practices about an hour every day, said he intends to juggle the rest of his life. He refers to juggling as a love and art. He said he enjoys the freedoms he has with his present lifestyle but realizes there will be a time when there is no future in juggling. Right now it is a lucrative endeavor. For a 20-minute performance Kelly said he re ceives $75. Even though Kelly has no agent, he said his job opportunities abound. Kelly recently bought a family bar, Lebsack's, 220 N. 10th St., and renamed it O.G. Kelly's. "In the first couple of months of running this bar I may even have to turn down work," Kelly said. A new source of gratification, according to Kelly, is helping other jugglers. He said he plans to share ideas with the UNL Jugglers Association. "I firmly believe in sharing skills," Kelly explained. "There is no such thing as steal ing tricks, but if someone tries to steal my act, I'll cut off his hand," Kelly says with a smile. Jugglers camaraderie Kelly said he has tricks to learn from younger jugglers too, and this camaraderie among jugglers isn't found among all en tertainers. "There are a lot of performers who aren't so willing to help their rivals and as sist others in their same field of interest," Kelly explained. Kelly even carries around his green In ternational Jugglers Association card which lists this sharing quality as one of its tenets. Kelly said his life is sometimes juggled between bartending, cooking, cleaning at O.G. Kelly's and irregularly performing before conventions, nightclubs, college stu dents and now on TV. Although it took him three tries, between service in the Navy, and trips to Colorado, Kelly graduated in theatre arts from UNL. He also graduated from Lincoln East High School. "I was bored stiff in the Navy," Kelly said. He said he was tracking Russian ships. On one of his stays in Colorado, Kelly learned to juggle. He was living near Boulder at the time and saw what he des cribed as a fascinating juggler on the To night Show. Kelly began recreating what he saw on TV and inventing his own move ments. Within four months of practicing every day with three tennis balls, Kelly was ready to perform for his family. Incidentally, he also was learning to throw pizzas in the air at work. But Kelly has long since bypassed those days 5l years ago when he practiced with tennis balls.- Today his act includes fire tor ches and tennis rackets. And the next time you see this conscientious juggler be pre pared for anything his imagination may conjure up. I Al si - J" K v.Y ' rr-n Photos by Mark Billingsley ii