Have you ever wanted to learn to juggle three balls? Have you ever dreamed of running away to the circus? With this introduction to the three-ball cascade by Cirque du Soleil juggler Thom Wall, juggling has never been easier to learn. Juggling is the ultimate party trick! It's a great way to meet new people. It's a fun activity to do in the park! It's one of the cheapest hobbies known to mankind -- not to mention, it's one of the oldest artforms in the world! All you need to get started is three balls (or rocks. or balled-up socks. or apples. just about anything will do!), a song in your heart, and an hour to spend learning your new favorite hobby. Oh, and did we mention the cognitive benefits of juggling? Learning to juggle enhances your brain's ability to communicate with itself. It literally makes your brain grow more dense, by increasing the amount of both grey and white matter in your brain. It's also been proven as a great way to reduce stress, and has been indicated to help memory as well as (of course) coordination.
Thom Wall is an American juggler who specializes in learning juggling tricks from the past. He has performed in 12 countries on four continents, including a run of his solo history show "On the Topic of Juggling" at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. Thom also performed as a solo act with Cirque du Soleil’s touring big-top show Totem for four and a half years. In 2015, La Universidad Mesoamericana, home to Mexico’s traditional circus school presented Thom with La Medalla Crotalus Scholaris. This is the institution’s highest honor, and was given to him to “indelibly recognize his career as a juggler.” Thom holds a master’s degree in nonprofit arts administration from Drexel University, a bachelor’s degree in germanic languages and literatures from Washington University in St. Louis, and certifications in adult education from Cambridge University. In 2019, he published the textbook "Juggling - From Antiquity to the Middle Ages: the forgotten history of throwing and catching," filling a large gap in the circus and theater literature.