Juggling Duo Not Ready for 9-to-5 Game

One of these days, Jon M.C. Wee, 23, and Owen Norse, 22, plan on getting real jobs.

In the meantime, they’re juggling their way around the country while cracking jokes about their seemingly uncluttered life style that started out as a hobby.

“When we met at the International Jugglers Assn. convention in 1986, we were both trying to decide whether to get a real job or juggle for a living,” said Wee, who graduated with an economics degree from Luther College in Iowa. “Both of us were looking for a partner.”

Norse added: “The switch from . . . thinking about getting a regular 9-to-5 job, getting married and having kids was tough. I had to convince myself it would be the right decision,” said the Tustin High and UC Irvine psychology graduate.

They are living in Tustin while performing at Disneyland after a year on the road entertaining at fairs, colleges, nightclubs, and private and corporate parties throughout the United States.

“We hope to make a living from juggling as long as we can. We want to make it to the big time in Vegas and Atlantic City or on television,” said Wee, who started juggling in the eighth grade, as did Norse.

After only a year together, they won the world championship in team juggling at the July International Juggling Assn. contest in Baltimore. “That was our proudest moment,” Wee said.

Both began to juggle as a hobby. “But when we found out it was paying for school and leaving us with money, we found ourselves having an absolute blast,” Norse said.

They decided to form a comedy-juggling team--called The Passing Zone--last year after they graduated from college. Both sets of parents urged them to follow their feelings “and go for it. So we did,” Norse said.

Wee, who was part of a juggling team in high school, said: “In a sense, this is a real job. When we’re not performing, we’re on the phone trying to get jobs or else we’re practicing. We’re always practicing.”

With their careers on the upswing, “It’s hard to picture us taking a real job,” he said. “Suddenly, working a 9-to-5 job doesn’t seem too attractive.”

Norse believes that society offers more options today to people who can turn hobbies, such as juggling, into lucrative businesses.

“I didn’t think it could happen to me until I looked at other jugglers and realized I was as good or better than a lot of them,” said Norse, who usually is the butt of his partner’s jokes in their comedy routine.

“We found not too many people are interested in watching juggling alone, but they really tuned in when we added the comedy routine,” he said.

The two jugglers seem to find themselves in perpetual motion. “We’ve worked every weekend since April and worked a lot during the week,” said Wee, who wouldn’t mind working as a comedian.

“I’ve thought about stand-up comedy, but I think I’ll stay with juggling and be funny at the same time,” he said. “Comedy is a tough career. People expect you to be funny all the time.”

When San Clemente restaurateur Robert Novello says he serves the freshest lobster, no one can challenge him.

After the season opened Oct. 4, one of his lobster boats tied up at the San Clemente Pier and Novello helped pull up a gunny sack full of the crustaceans that his fishermen had just caught.

From there, Novello took the bag into his Fisherman’s Restaurant on the pier where the lobsters were cooked for waiting diners.

Although he admits that hoisting the gunny sack was mainly a ceremonial gesture, “They still have got to be the freshest lobster anywhere,” said the restaurant’s director of operations. “It comes right out of the ocean.”

Acknowledgments--Jay Lyttle, a Garden Grove machinist, retained his Amateur World Heavyweight Arm Wrestling title by defeating five challengers Sunday at Peak Park In Buena Park. Lyttle said he will continue to compete in other amateur contests but plans to turn professional next year. “Right now, I’m going back to the gym to continue my training,” he said.

Herbert J. Vida’s columns are moving to new days. Beginning today, his People column will appear each Tuesday and Thursday, and Three Cheers will appear each Saturday. Submit items to Three Cheers, The Times, c/o Herbert J. Vida, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, Calif. 92626. (714) 966-5989.