The Great Heavyweight Juggler

 

by Orrel Lanter

 

From his pile of things on the San Francisco street Donnia Ray Smith takes a wide silver weight lifting belt and buckles it around his ample girth. To it he attaches a 40-foot chain that has been hooked to cable car number 22. Adding to the effect, he holds three 10-pound bowling balls in his hands.

 

As he leans back against the belt the cable car begins to inch forward. He picks up his pace and it follows reluctantly. The bowling balls circle in a cascade 10 feet overhead. So awed is the crowd surrounding him that he has to remind them that this would be a good time to applaud. They roar appreciatively until the next cable car arrives to carry them away from his outdoor stage.

 

Smith removes the belt and slowly mops his forehead. At 5 feet, 11 inches and 225 pounds, he is a large man. His hands can palm a basketball. Tight crinkly hair frizzes around his head, narrowing into two conical points at the sides. A white grin punctuates his wide face, radiating a gentleness that is kept hidden from the audience most of the time.

 

"Just remember, the more you give the more I have. I'm ugly, but I'm friendly... and I could have been your son!" he quips with the next crowd gathering for a cable car at the Bay and Taylor turnaround in San Francisco. For the past two years this informal, open-air stage just above Fisherman's Wharf has been his performing turf.

 

Grabbing three torches and getting a light from a visiting Japanese tourist, he does single, double and triple spins, then pops one up to a balance on his broad nose. "You don't see that at Sea World," he chuckles. Shrugging his neck, the torch drops to his hand. "This is China Town juggling, " he says to accompany a round of chops. The crowd giggles. "Wanna see me juggle on the unicycle?" he says, and runs over to where it is resting on the pavement and mounts by jumping on the rim. "The Grin" splits his face. Hoots from the crowd and the next cable car rumbles down the hill, momentarily halting the show.

 

But Ray, the Heavyweight Juggler, sees time passing too quickly as he works the street. He's ready for something better.