Juggling Pingpong Balls and Punch Lines

The Gizmo Guys are more than just juggling juggernauts. Unlike many circus acts, the dexterous duo of Allan Jacobs and Barrett Felker fill the air with jokes and quips as well as balls and clubs.

This ability to elicit laughter as well as oohs and ahs has kept the New York City team busy since its debut in 1987.

The Gizmo Guys will appear several times between Saturday and Feb. 4 in the Orange and Los Angeles county areas, including a show in Plummer Auditorium at Cal State Fullerton Saturday night.

“The comedy and the personality make it something that people can watch for an hour as opposed to just the straight juggling, where after 10 minutes people have usually seen enough,” said Felker.

On stage, Jacobs is the loquacious, slightly indolent Gizmo Guy. Conversely, Felker is more the man of action. Felker says the duo’s lighthearted and self-deprecating banter helps keep the audience involved throughout the 65- to 75-minute show. Children, he says, usually are reeled in by the juggling stunts and the sheer goofiness of the pair’s behavior.

“Kids really relate to the visual stuff that’s going on, and they really relate to adults not taking themselves that seriously,” said Felker. “Obviously, parents have to be disciplinarians. The kids often don’t see the fun side of their parents. Many times that’s what they see in us. They think, ‘Hey, these guys are in their ‘40s and they’re doing silly things that we like to do.’ ”

Despite their comedic personas, the Gizmo Guys are master jugglers. They use traditional juggling clubs and balls in their act, but they also have created inventive routines involving such objects as the diabolo, which Felker says looks like “two plungers that are chopped off and joined at the middle.” He says the diabolo is spun on a string and then thrown into the air.

“One thing that really sticks out in people’s minds is we juggle pingpong balls out of my mouth,” Felker adds. “I do that routine to music. Then Allan tops me. He holds this xylophone upside down, and he plays a song on the xylophone with a pingpong ball [blown from his mouth]. It’s one of the most unusual things that we do.”

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A self-taught juggler, Felker developed the skill at age 15. After graduating from the University of Arizona, he won the International Jugglers Assn.’s team championship in 1980 with two other jugglers.

Later that year, he launched a solo career when he joined the Harlem Globetrotters for an eight-week tour. His juggling act with the clowning basketball team was such a success that he ended up performing with the team for three years. He subsequently worked in Europe for several years in circuses and variety theaters.

In 1985, he teamed with Jim Strinka to form the Dynamotion Jugglers. Two years later, he created the Gizmo Guys with Jacobs. The two first met in 1977 at a juggling festival in Delaware.

Jacobs learned to juggle while a student at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. After receiving his degree in psychology in 1977, he formed the juggling trio Slap Happy, which won critical acclaim and made several television appearances. Jacobs also taught juggling at the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey’s Clown College.

As did his partner, Jacobs won the International Jugglers Assn.’s team championship, but two years earlier in 1978. He also won the solo championship in 1983.

Felker says his partnership with Jacobs has lasted for many artistic, personal and business reasons.

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Before they decided to form the Gizmo Guys, “we talked about things like what kinds of places we wanted to work, how much we wanted to travel, what it would be like if one or both of us started a family,” he recalls. “We really looked at it from a practical point of view. But we also felt we shared an artistic inspiration.”

Felker is single but Jacobs has a wife and two children. The pair spend about 150 days a year on the road. Felker says he knows of only a handful of juggling acts that target family audiences in the types of 300- to 1,500-seat theaters that the Gizmo Guys usually call home. They also perform at various festivals and corporate events.

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The Gizmo Guys are entirely self-managed. Much of their time back home is spent booking shows and handling business matters. Felker and Jacobs have sometimes yearned to add one or two jugglers to the group. The more jugglers on board, the more elaborate the routines, but economic realities and considerations have prevailed.

“It’s very difficult to make it work with more than two people,” he explains. “You start paying for a third air fare and a third hotel room. . . . You don’t make as much money if you add a third person. Also there’s the issue of interacting with a third person. We’re on the road a lot. You’ve got to have good chemistry with a person you’re working with.”

According to Felker, the juggling world has become even more competitive since many gifted, Eastern European circus performers migrated west after the Cold War ended.

Felker believes juggling is as popular in the United States as it’s ever been. He says there are numerous juggling festivals that take place annually across the country.

“Every few weeks there’s a regional festival happening somewhere,” he said. “At some festivals there are between 800 and 1,000 people. Some are 50 years old, and they will tell you, ‘Hey, I just got into it.’

“People can also log onto the Internet and see if there’s a local juggling club. Most towns of any size will have clubs that meet once or twice a week.” Jugglers usually are generous about sharing their techniques and routines, he said.

SHOW TIMES

The Gizmo Guys will perform at:

Plummer Auditorium, Cal State Fullerton, 201 E. Chapman Ave., Fullerton. Saturday, 8 p.m. $15 and $20. (714) 278-3371.

Haugh Performing Arts Center, Citrus College, 1000 W. Foothill Blvd., Glendora. Saturday, 1:30 and 3:30 p.m. $5. (626) 963-9411.

Pepperdine Center for the Arts, Pepperdine University, 24255 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu. Jan. 27, 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. $15. (310) 506-4522.

Beckman Auditorium, Caltech, 332 S. Michigan Ave., Pasadena. Feb. 3, 2 p.m. $10; children, $5. (626) 395-4652 or (888) 222-5832.

Norris Center For the Performing Arts, 27570 Crossfield Drive, Rolling Hills Estates. Feb. 4, 1 and 4 p.m. $14. (310) 544-0403.