The first thing I remember well was at age four when I wore a pierot costume and my father threw picoretto hats that me and my sisters caught on our heads.

 

By the time I was seven I could do everything that a famous Mexican juggler named Meneses could do. I could do five balls well, five bell sticks, three hats and three ball billiard pockets. I used to do four plates and practiced six. But in Mexico civic clubs would buy most of the circus tickets when a show came to town. Since Meneses was high in the Masons, he kept me from working the big circuses. So my mother said, "Lets go to Monterey," and found me a job in a variety theatre there. I caused a sensation in that show, and everyone started talking about me. But they said the only way they could find out how good I really was was to work in Mexico City.

 

The biggest thing in Mexico City was the El Patio. Meneses had worked there, but they let him go after only one show. That was typical of the El Patio with circus acts, none lasted long. My relatives thought I was too young and that I would certainly be let go, and that I shouldn't even try to work there. But my mother had faith in me.

 

The first thing I had to deal with was that I had never worked with a full band. I walked in for rehearsal and they asked for my music. Well, I only had two pieces! The conductor, Ray Montoya, felt sorry for me, and he and the famous singer Pedro Vargas sat down and watched my act. In an hour they had arranged my music.

 

I was a child when I opened at the El Patio, just eight years old. I performed three and four bell sticks, a ball while jumping the rope, and three balls, three clubs, the pockets and the hats. After my act the first night, people stood and shouted and applauded and threw money all over the place! I was a sensation, shocking all my relatives except my mother.

 

Right away they asked me if I wanted to work in South America, because the biggest casinos were there. So I went there with Ophelia and we did a two person act in all the big casinos in Brazil. We used to pass six sticks, and I ended up juggling all six of them. By that time everyone thought I was a great juggler. I was working on rolling the ball all over my head. I could roll it either way, and stop it in any position. Then Ophelia got married when I was about 12, and I was lost for a while.

 

My father was working with Circus Beas, one of the biggest in Mexico. He saw that I was unhappy without my sister, so he sent me a telegram telling me to come back. I returned and practiced 7-8 hours a day for the next two years with my cousin Carlos Ricci. I was a real fanatic.

 

There were a lot of Russians in Mexico at that time, and all they talked about was Rastelli. I used to practice hours and hours, so the Russians used to call me The Little Rastelli.

 

They told me some amazing stories about what Rastelli could do. I heard that at the end of his act he would hold a candle in one hand and candle holder in the other. He would throw the candle up high, pirouette under the candle and then place the holder down on a table and be walking off the stage when the candle came down into the holder! That was one of the most incredible things in juggling I ever heard in my life. I thought it was completely beyond human ability.

 

When I met Bobby May, one of the nicest people I ever met, he told me it was true. Thinking about that trick and how Rastelli could have done it used to drive me crazy! Then the last time I was in the Lido I saw a movie of Rastelli and finally found out what he really did. He fooled everyone! He threw the candle up in the air, then caught it in the candle holder before he put the holder on the table. But he did it so fast that many jugglers and the public thought for years he put the holder on the table first. I wish I had a copy of that film so I could show it to the people who told me that story!

 

It's certain Rastelli was a great juggler, but because his pacing would be outdated I don't think he would make it today. I've seen a lot of pictures of him, and talked to many friends about him. All of them, including Bob Hope, told me he was a great juggler, but he was so monotonous! For his time he was the greatest, but today jugglers work very differently.