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The Vaksman Difference

A GROUCHO MARX LOOK-ALIKE character barks from atop a six-foot pogo stick, "Look at me, I'm different! I'm not just another pretty face!"

Few IJA members who know him would concede that the Amazing Larry Vee is a pretty face at all, but there's no denying his that he stands out even in a crowd of other jugglers!

His expertise could be called 'combinatrics', (if there were such a word!) the ability to combine several seemingly incompatible manipulations at the same time. The high accuracy with which he performs his stunts has earned him impressive finishes in every juggling competition - both IJA and otherwise, he has entered.

He is the acknowledged master of tricks that no one else in the IJA even attempts to learn. On a national TV appearance, he opened his act juggling 3 balls while riding a unicycle, spinning a hula hoop and rotating a ring around his wrist - four tricks at once!

To accompany his unorthodox tricks, Vaksman takes an unorthodox approach. Dressed in a red, green, yellow, blue and purple sequined leotard, Bermuda shorts, red and green striped knee-socks and a disreputable black felt hat, he perches on his unicycle and confides to a giggling gathering: "My mind is concentrated on one matter and one matter only - sex!"

What's a nice college-educated eligible young man doing juggling for a living? Why is he tossing around assorted objects at birthday parties, bar mitzvahs and company picnics when he could be nudging eager young minds down the pathways of learning, or running his family's profitable appliance business in Philadelphia ?

The Amazing Larry Vee, born Lawrence Vaksman, grins and answers, "Because it beats working for a living! I would rather be boiled in oil than teach or sell

furniture. "

Six years ago, Larry had a 4-year degree in Spanish from Temple University . He taught school for a while and at one time repaired TV sets for a living.

His parents wanted him to take over the family appliance business or be a doctor. But the irrepressible rotator dropped all that for a career as a self-employed juggler, saying he'd rather "blip a slip" or show off a "diverse perverse reverse one step worse." It's a more satisfying profession, because Vaksman loves to be the center of attention.

But he has certainly practiced many, many hours to perfect the tricks that keep his audiences awed. For a finale, Vaksman keeps 12 objects in motion simultaneously, spinning 7 hula hoops around his waist and knees while juggling three balls, a club and a basketball.

Another Vaksman original is to toss a ball or rubber ring over his shoulder to kick it back the other way with a backwards boot from the sole of his shoe. He never sees the object once it starts downward; the trick is based totally on feel earned through years of practice.

Vaksman won second place and a special judges award for eccentricity at the 32nd IJA convention in Amherst , Mass. He has twice won third place in the U.S. Nationals, in 1977 and 1980. But he didn't enter the competition in Purchase this year, explaining that he thought IJA members had seen his act enough for a while. He has also placed in the top three in the three Atlanta Jugglers Association Groundhog Day Jugglers Festival competitions he has entered.

"I'm a little surprised that no one has copied some of my mixed object and hula hoop tricks," said Vaksman, noting that his style has remained unique.

He began juggling at age 13, "messing around with a couple of apples." When the fruit got banged up, he bought some balls. Juggling was fun, so fun that he practiced constantly.

Learning without knowing other jugglers helped forge his individual style. He did not realize for years that his reverse cascade rotation was not the basic way to start juggling. Also, he did 5 objects manipulating 3 in one hand and 2 in the other. In high school one time he juggled for 12 straight hours, taking no rest and feeding through a straw. It was a ploy "to get some notice in the press so that people would beat a path to my door," he explained. The goal wasn't met at that moment, though, and he took to street performing.

From 1977 to 1979 he was on the streets of Philadelphia, "learning a few lessons in humility," and working hard at the same time on his own promotion. By 1980, bookings were coming in from schools, malls, fairs, and companies.

His first significant step on the road to professionalism was in 1977, when he got a role in a local dinner theatre production of "Carnival." He later appeared on the Mike Douglas TV show and "Games People Play," which was filmed at the 1980 IJA convention.