Over the years Loon has found that the family audience is his favorite, and his show reflects it. "I think that there was a time in America when alcohol was the main focus of a lot of entertainment. People went to bars, beer tents, and I think that's kind of passe now. I think there's an emphasis being placed on family entertainment, stuff that's not blue humor, not drug humor. People want to go places with their kids."

 

In spite of his moving to the stage, Loon still feels his street roots and often spends longer talking to the audience after the show than he does performing. He hands out autographed pictures to the kids, teaches the basic cascade to a teenager or

two, and thanks the parents who can't believe there's finally a performer who entertains them as well as their kids. In the background another person garbed in purple can sometimes be seen. It's his sweetheart, Tracie, with whom Loon has what he calls a "rare relationship." Tracie is a parent and a teacher's assistant in addition to her occasional stints as Loon's executive assistant. Her feedback, from both a maternal and educational standpoint, have helped Loon polish his act to near perfection, as well as making his life easier.

 

While the performing has been easy and natural for Loon, there is another aspect of the art that wasn't quite as easy.  "For me promotion was as hard or harder than learning how to perform. I think there's a lot of great jugglers out there that don't know anything about promoting themselves. How are you going to get on talk shows, how are you going to get well known and famous if you don't know how to promote yourself? I learned by trial and error."

 

Loon's stated goal is to do fewer shows and get paid more for them, and so far he seems to be succeeding, doing about 140 shows last year. He's found that being solo has one bad point - sponsors want to pay him half of what they paid Martin and Loon. His response is that an hour of entertainment is an hour of entertainment, no matter how many people are on stage.

 

In spite of the occasional juggler's blues, Loon seems to have found the American dream of a job he enjoys and the leisure time to apply himself to his other interests. He holds an FCC broadcasters license and volunteers at the local public radio station WORT as a DJ, engineer, or even as an on-air juggler. He also owns a "crash boat" and does a lot of whitewater riding. If all this wasn't enough, he is also an avid photographer, using a 17mm wide angle lens wherever he goes, even taking pictures of himself while juggling. "It's great,"he laughed, "not only was I juggling, not only was I performing - but I also took this picture!" Short of mastering six balls, his dream is to someday have a show of his photographs, perhaps in the Madison Civic Center where he has performed.

 

"My advice to other jugglers is: there's too many jugglers out there! Get a real job!" Then he laughs and shakes his head. "My advice is expect to work at it, not just the performing but also the promoting. There is as much to be said for good promotion as good juggling in order to become an effective performer."

 

Bread cast upon the waters.. .At the Dane County Fair in 1984 a skinny teenager stops with his family and watches Martin and Loon perform, doing shoulder

stands with torches, juggling tennis rackets, golf clubs, diabolos, and other assorted objects with a sharp wit and a merry laugh that spread throughout the crowd on that sunny day. One thought dominates the young man's mind: "I have to learn how to do that." After the show, he nervously approaches the jugglers, wondering if he dares bother them. Loon gives him three beanbags, three lessons, and fills five minutes with enough friendly encouragement to last for years. The young man doesn't see them perform again.

 

Until almost 10 years later, when he meets the purple man on a sunny Sunday with the Madison Area Jugglers and asks if he can do an interview for Juggler's World with Truly Remarkable Loon. And like everything else in juggling, the cycle continues.

 

Jeff Miller, a.k.a. Rascal Valentine, is a Madison Area Juggler who spends most of his time juggling his four daughters. Presently he is at work avoiding having to master five and perfecting his "club-eating" trick.