In Memoriam

Markus Markoni, a man who lived the dream of coming out of anonymity to become a successful street performer, died in Munich on or about February 23 of an asthma attack. Markoni, who was in his late 20s, had divided his time between California and Europe for the past five years as he became an increasingly popular performer. He won friends among jugglers and audiences on both continents from his gentle manner, permanent sly grin and and "groaner" jokes. His show was full of silly puns, and he memorized a vast repertoire of corny jokes, including about every "light bulb" joke ever invented.

He was born Mark-Wayne Keoki Richardson in Hawaii, and was working for a singing telegram / balloon delivery company when he encountered some jugglers headed to the first Hawaiian Vaudeville Festival in 1984. He decided to attend the festival, and did his first solo juggling performance on that occasion. He determined then to make a life of juggling, and left Hawaii for California, where he began earning his nickname as "The Ultimate Crasher" by living for more than a year with street performer Robert Nelson in San Francisco. Markoni spent extended periods of time with many other people in the states and abroad over the years, and always left a particular calling card behind when he finally vacated the premises - a pair of high-topped tennis shoes tied together and tossed over a phone wire outside the house.

He worked for a fast food chain when he first came to San Francisco, but spent most of his time practicing juggling and learning to write comedy. He became an excellent technical juggler, but blossomed as a performer in a street setting. He made his first trip to Europe about five years ago and found the cultural climate there much more receptive to his work. In the past two or three years he became quite well known in Europe, earning acclaim from audiences and respect from fellow performers.

He attended most of the IJA and .European annual festival since he began juggling, and became a favorite on the Club Renegade stage. He emceed the IJA Seniors championships in Montreal last summer. He also made a point of attending as many regional festivals as he could, endearing himself to jugglers far and wide with a permanent grin and creative sense of humor. Friends recalled routines like his rubber chicken devil sticking, where he bent over to leave the chicken's feet on the floor, making it appear to walk all over stage as he knocked it about with hand sticks. He was also skillful with plate and hat manipulation, ball juggling and torches.

Friends described him as "charming" and "ego-less," but at the same time quiet and reserved. To many people he represented what jugglers could attain if they were passionate and diligent about the art. One said, "Watching him we felt we could do it, too, if we could only clear away the obstacles and love it as he did." Another said, "Life is short, but very few of us have the good fortune to see a dream fulfilled. Markus was one of the lucky ones." The news of his death was a shock to the juggling community, and representatives of the Hawaiian Vaudeville Festival and Lodi Festival said they planned to have special memorial services for him during those events. His only living relative was an infirmed grandmother in Hawaii, so his recent companion, Mary Spenger, brought his ashes from Germany back to Hawaii. Anyone who would like to help defray those costs is invited to send contributions to her.