Art took that to heart and began apprenticing with craftsmen. He began by studying how to paint cheaper building materials such as wood and stone to make them look like finer materials. That led him into woodworking, starting as a rough carpenter and graduating to finished carpentry and cabinet making. He then studied the finest woodworking art -- pattern making to create molds for forming metal. That lead him to foundry work, then machining, tool making, sheet metal work and eventually silversmithing. Over the course of many years he qualified in 15 different trades, and it was no brag, just fact, when Jennings eventually told people he could make anything that could be made by human hands. 

He also stayed in school, and eventually took not only academic subjects, but training in "elocution," music and ballet. His 50-year show business career began as he helped a high school chum build 4 props for a magic show. His friend was making good money not for carrying cement, but for making people laugh, for being a star on stage just like the ones Art loved as a toddler. His friend was making $3-$5 "for a 45-minute show, which was a royal sum " compared even to top trade union workers, who only earned $1.50 per hour. 

It was about 1930. The light bulb came on in Art's head, and he quickly made some props of his own! 

At first he performed strictly magic. The juggling began in 1936 from a magic trick in which he borrows a dollar from a member of the audience, burns it, then makes it appear from inside an orange. In creating his own version of that trick, Art decided to use three oranges and juggle them. 

His interest in juggling grew, and he began trying to construct a full-blown juggling act in addition to his magic act. But he found that the juggling was in greater demand, and he found he liked it better than magic anyway. He explained, "I love juggling because anyone can do a magic act with 10 minutes and the right boxes, but you can't do that with a juggling act." 

It took a while for him to find the right props and persona. At one time he sat on a table and juggled everything on it, and at another time he tried to emulate the ball and stick work of Serge Flash. A popular radio personality and talented agent named Ed Shaughnessy recognized Art's potential and helped him settle on a "bum" juggler as the right persona. "Ed never once told me I did a good act," said Art. "But he knew what the audience enjoyed, and helped me overcome the fact that I wasn't a great juggler by creating a great juggling act. He helped me use juggling as a means to the most important end - entertaining the audience."

 He found he was an entirely different person on stage than off. "The performer and the human were two different people," he said. "I'm not comfortable to this day in crowds, but I'm totally comfortable on stage manipulating a crowd." 

His act eventually played in the best time slot in some of the finest vaudeville houses in America. Even in the Depression, there was plenty of work for entertainers because people wanted to be entertained and laugh. "The amount of work available to a good variety act was phenomenal previous to WWII," Jennings said. "Every major city had several vaudeville theatres that featured 20 or more continuous acts from noon-11 p.m. Beginning acts did half-hour shows, but your time decreased as your prestige increased. "Next you did an 18 minute act, and finally you did a 'standard act' of 12-minutes. You just did two or three shows per day." Jennings said. 

"Many of the acts, and I'm not an exception, would try different names until they hit one that clicked," said Art. "Mel Ody's real name was Dick Luby, and at one time he said he tried to work under the name of Buster Aster. Whether that's true or not I don't know!" 

His memories of his juggling friends of those days are still clear and sharp. Lew Folds elegantly strutted onto stage in an evening cape and top hat, then surprised the audience over and over for the next 12 minutes by withdrawing items hidden within the folds of the cape to juggle. The Belmont Brothers did hoops and diabolos, and finished by passing back and forth 18" diameter diabolos that spewed fire, smoke and color from fireworks implanted in their ends. They billed their act as "The Boys With Their Toys." 

Art's close friend Pride Shannon had a partner who would stand on his head, and the two of them passed clubs with each other from that position. The Three Swifts came on stage as Two Swifts, apologizing to the audience because one of their number was ill. They called for someone in the audience who knew some juggling to come forward, and their "plant," Cecil, came forth looking like a bumpkin. They handed him some nice clubs, which he promptly dropped, so they took those away and came back with some ragged ones. They dismissed him to the side of the stage, where he leaned on a piano and began reading the paper while they passed with each other. They missed a club that flew - off toward the audience, but Cecil caught it at the last instant without ever changing expression and brought it bad to them. 

Besides his ball and stick work, Serge Flash could juggle five sticks George Barven, Ed Johnson with back it while ice skating George Moore juggled in a kitchen, and finished his act juggling an iron, an ironing board and set of long john underwear. Eddie Tierney could juggle five clubs while sitting in a chair, though his success was limited by a lack of charisma on stage. The Australian comic, Stan Kavanaugh did an eccentric juggling act. He told the audience, "I'm going to juggle three balls, drink a glass of water and do a little tap dance." And he did, but never all at once! Billy Reyes, looking like a movie idol and decked out in tails, did tap dance and juggle throughout his act. Harry Ferrier juggled solid wooden clubs covered with mirrors, bringing their weight to 5-6 pounds each! Jean Bedini and Arthur were noted comedy jugglers, and may have been the first ones to eat the apple. 

The four-person Elgins group stood two each on two unsupported ladders and passed clubs to each other across the void. Handsome George Lerch showed a genius for many different balancing and manipulation tricks before a tragic fall left him with brain damage and ended his career. He juggled three clubs while standing on an unsupported ladder on a slack wire, holding the ladder with a piece of rope tied to it and held with his teeth.. He also walked the slack wire on stilts, and did a marvelous routine with a tube and balls. He was also a good friend to Art, and taught him to walk the slack wire. 

Old-timers of the 1981 IJA festival (l-r) Bill Dietrich, Bob Jackson, Art Jennings, Johnny Lux, George Barvis, Ed Johnson

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