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~ First International Berlin Variety & Comedy Festival

The publication of Karl- Heinz Ziethen's book, "Enrico Rastelli and the World's Greatest Jugglers" was coordinated last September by the First International Berlin Variety and Comedy Festival at the Chamaelon Variety Theatre. Gregor Rajewsky took this photo of a distinguished group on stage all at once - (back I-r) Oliver Groszer, Jochen Schell, Michiel Hesseling, Andreas Wessels, Biohvac Valentino, Tuan Anh Le, Deta as the angel, soap-bubble king Tom Noddy, the Kenia Duo, Lajos Nereus, the Nino Wagnert sisters and (front row lr ) Till Pohlmann, impressario Hacki Ginda, Dino Lampa and (seated at the table) Karl-Heinz Ziethen and Kris Kremo.

Tuan Anh Le, born in Saigon in 1977, won the Juggler's Junior Prize at the First International Vaudeville and Comedy Festival in Berlin and received his award from Kris Kremo. Tuan has been living in Germany since age 14, exciting audiences by balancing his technical skill with up to five hats, seven balls, and stick and hat with charm and relaxed charisma.

Joggling - A Tale of Two Marathons

by Bill Giduz

Two of the IJA's foremost jogglers, Albert Lucas and Barry Goldmeier, tested their skills and staminas in marathons recently. Lucas joggled three balls on hallowed ground as an invited participant in the 100th running of the Athens, Greece, Marathon. Goldmeier "convinced even more people that juggling five balls is by far the best oddball act a marathon could ever have" by competing in a marathon in Washington, D.C.

Lucas, a longtime fan of the Olympic Games and winner of four joggling gold

medals at the Rapid City festival, was excited about retracing the approximate

route of the anonymous warrior who collapsed and died after a 26-mile run to

bring the citizens of Athens the news of their army's victory over the Persians on the Plains of Marathon. It was Lucas's 11th joggling marathon, and he had hoped to

break the Guinness record of 3:22.32 set by Ashrita Furman. SEGAS, the Greek

amateur athletic association, helped him line up Canadian runner Jim Clarke to

accompany him as a verifier if the record did fall. But Lucas didn't end up bringing back the record. He brought back instead an oakleaf garland and gold medal signifying his participation, and the thrilling memories of finishing in the beautiful all-marble Olympic Stadium in Athens that was built in 1896 for the revival of the modem Olympics. Two days before the race, he also enjoyed joggling in the ruins of the original Olympic stadium in Olympia.

Lucas said he was on pace for a record for much of the marathon, but that steep hills toward the end took their toll and he finished in 3:51, behind even his personal record of 3:28. The difficulty of the course was highlighted by the winner's time of 2:33, which is considerably slower than the winning time for most marathons.

Lucas said that once his 3,000 fellow runners realized he was competing as a trained athlete and not a show-off, they supported his joggling. He was proud also of keeping intact his record of never dropping a ball in any of his marathons - that's 286 miles with no drops! Sponsors Exerballs, Tag Heuer, Mizuno sportswear and Power Bars supported his effort.

Lucas said he's had enough of marathons for the moment, and will concentrate on improving his times in the mile joggle and the 110meter hurdles, the latter of which he demonstrated to a nationwide television audience on the Regis & Kathy Lee show on November 7.

He also hopes to see more jogglers competing in events. "The Athens marathon is probably as close as I'll ever be to being an Olympian," he said, "but I'm looking forward to the day when some young gal or guy does something with joggling to really make the world sit up and take notice."

With two extra balls to handle, Goldmeier spent a lot more time than Lucas joggling the Washington marathon, bringing his five balls home in 6:08 and regularly dropping all the way. Starting at the back of a pack of about 15,000 runners, it took him more than six minutes to even reach the starting line! He was worn out by mile 20, and ended up walking while juggling five for the rest of the way. Still, he was heartened by the experience. "People were walking by me and couldn't believe I was still juggling," he said.

Goldmeier vows to make other attempts, motivated by the support of the crowd and conviction that he is the best "oddball" in any field of marathoners. "I wear that Planters shirt that says 'Everybody Loves A Nut,'" he explained. "Everybody is so nice to me out there. Two guys also did this race jumping rope, and people who watched us slow people left the race in total amazement at the oddballs that they saw. We put the smiles on peoples faces! Where else in life can you get beat by 98% of the people and still draw some of the biggest cheers?!"