Gene: You worked for Ringling Brothers. What was it like?

 

Brunn: It was a terrific experience. I was with Ringling Brothers from 1948 to 1950. It was different then than today. I was very young and came to America for the first time with Ringling. John Ringling North saw me in Paris and Barcelona and asked me to come here. I was doing very well there, but he brought me over as the star attraction of his circus. I worked in the center ring. My opening at Madison Square Garden was absolutely unique - the lights went out and the announcer said, "Now in the center ring for the first time on this continent! The greatest juggler of the ages, better than the great Rastelli and 10 times faster! Watch closely, you will never see his likes again! Francis Brunn!" They had put a stage in for me and I handed my sister, Lottie, a cape I was wearing. But they hadn't fitted the stage together and I stepped between two boards and twisted my foot. It swelled up like a balloon and I never did one trick! That was my opening in America. I was disgusted and wanted to go back to Europe. I didn't perform for months, but finally opened with Ringling in Boston.

Gene: Could you be more specific about how Ringling hired you?

 Brunn: At that time, in 1946, Umberto Schichtolz was my agent and personal manager. He brought Ringling to see me at the Embassy Theatre in Paris. Backstage after the show Ringling asked me to come to America for 1947, but I couldn't get a visa. It was after the war and there were problems for German acts. I stayed another year and he came to see me in Spain. He was quite young then... The last time I saw him was in 1975 when he came to see me at the Lido. I think he thought of me as his protege in a way. He is a good friend.

 Gene: Do you ever put away a miss, or do you do it until you get it right?

 

Brunn: In rehearsal? It depends on how I feel.  Let's say I am running through the act - after I had the operation, just to get back into condition I had to get my wind and stretch my arms. At times like that, I didn't mind missing. However, now when I do a trick, I do it right or repeat it. In the show I would say most people know what you want to do, so you must get it right. People are restless and nothing is a surprise anymore.

 

Gene: Have you always worn black on stage?

 

Brunn: Not always. With Ringling I wore blue and white and different colors. But now I like black because it goes with me. If you have good lighting, black is good. I like lots of light, but not on the face. Top and bottom, but not on the face. I also love high ceilings because the flight of the balls seems slower and looks better.

 

Gene: What do you think of juggling competitions?

 

Brunn: They are not for me. For myself, juggling is an art form. It is not a thing of doing tricks or juggling so many. There has to be more to it. It is a way of saying something and being involved in what you are doing.

Gene: What do you think of performing on television?

 Brunn: There is too much television. It is very hard. If you travel to different countries and watch television you realize it is ridiculous. I have ex­perienced that many untalented people become stars on television - it has probably been said before but there is still truth to it - if you are clever, television may kill you. If you have no talent, you can just stand there and talk. Look how long Ed Sullivan lasted.

Gene: Many people are fighting to get on television. Is it good for the career of a juggler who has an eight-minute act?

 Brunn: It will kill you unless you have a story.

Gene: What is your opinion on the future of juggling? Can it ever achieve prominence to the extent that jugglers will be known by their names?

Brunn: The way things are going I think it is getting worse. There are not enough places to work.

There are no places for an act to get ready because there are no more variety houses or cabarets. I hope that some day they will come back because I think there is room for them. People are getting tired of too much flash. Today you have to have an act that is ready. Most people don't know what is good and what is bad today because there is so much junk on television. This is my opinion. But people like Kris Kremo and Rudy Hom took a long time to make names for themselves. They have sustained themselves over so many years and played the best places in the world over and over again because they had something special.

 

Gene: Is it the same for you? You don't have to be modest.

 

Brunn: I'm just telling you what I think. I don't know, You interview me and I am very honored. I have no association with your organization whatsoever. I met some IJA jugglers who are very good, but all in all it seems amateur. Sorry, I don't like to say that, but what I do is on a different level. I am happy in a way because what you are doing may educate the audience to juggling so when they see something good perhaps they can appre­ciate it. You know, there used to be a time in Ger­many and England when audiences would know how many balls a man juggled because people were trained for variety. It doesn't exist today so much as before because things are changing.

The one ring circus is still strong, though. For instance, in Switzerland, people make reservations for the Circus Knie like they do for operas in the United States. Knie knows where he will play exactly a year from now and all the seats are sold out in advance. There are very few small circuses in the United States, everything is mass production.