The buzz on juggling

THE first time Chad Taylor learned how to juggle a live chain saw, someone called the cops. Now audiences pay to see Taylor as he juggles not one but three running saws.

“If anything goes wrong, my policy is to get out of the way and let them drop to the ground,” said Taylor, a comedian and juggler who’s grazed himself only twice in the 12 years he’s been throwing around heavy-duty logging gear. During his hour and a half routine at Caltech on Friday night, the Santa Monica native also will perform skateboard tricks and juggle baseball bats, knives, bowling balls and 100,000-volt stun guns.

“As a young juggler, I was willing to try anything,” said Taylor, who’s built a career performing at colleges and arts centers around the country. “It seemed like everybody wanted you to juggle the craziest things -- flaming tennis balls, knives. When they said chain saws, I thought, ‘That’s exactly what the audience wants to see!’ ”

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-- Susan Carpenter

Mad Chad, the chain saw juggler, 8 p.m. Friday, Caltech, Ramo Auditorium, 332 S. Michigan Ave., Pasadena. $20, adults; $10, youths. (626) 395-4652.