By Kyle Petersen (aka Awesome Kyle, host of the Late Show)

The show started off with a bang, as I came out with a purple top hat with a purple feather, purple shirt, purple tie, sequined vest and purple shoe laces. I was about to mount my purple unicycle when my arch nemesis Michael Richter (of Ringling Brothers) appeared on stage with his unicycle and stole my thunder. After a well-fought unicycle duel, he was escorted off stage by security.

Up-and-coming diaboloist Robin Hu brought the house down with his new Sundia Fly Diabolos, which he purchased at our store just a few weeks ago. He almost chickened out of his performance but I convinced him to go on stage. I’m really glad he did, and so was everyone in attendance.

I was particularly impressed with A Different Spin, a scarlet-clad juggling troupe who showed up and asked to be included in the show. When I saw their costumes, I couldn’t refuse. They did an outstanding job, look for them in the future.

The most popular act of the night by far was Chris McDaniel, who performed an amazing wild west cowboy act. The crowd roared he cracked whips, spun ropes, and sang songs. Chris later apologized to me for going on too long, but I hadn’t noticed. Naomi was particularly impressed by his agile Texas skip, a very difficult trick. His performance was magical, and I was really grateful he came.

But for me, the highlight of the evening was passing clubs around my mom, and debuting my brand new wooden stacking boxes. The boxes look really crisp on stage, and they stack up so neatly. I’m kinda obsessed with them… I stacked up 9 boxes, but the next day the legendary Jay Green taught me a new type of 9 box stack. I hope to share it with you shortly.

The show closed just as strong as it started, with the country-bluegrass stylings of Steve Dagz and the Scallywags. The crowd was a-hootin’ and a-hollerin’ as Steve and his quartet played the show out.

All-in-all, it was one of the best nights of my life. I can’t wait to host next year’s show. If you were in attendance, let us know if you had a favorite part!

Photos and post by Naomi Donabedian. Thanks to Esy Casey for equipment and guidance.

Mark your calendars! The 9th annual New York City juggling festival is taking place April 8th-11th at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY (for directions, click here). We’re very excited, here’s a rundown of the festivities:

Thursday: Open juggling at the Pratt Student Union from 7-11 pm.

Friday: Open juggling from 5-10:30 pm at the ARC building.

Saturday: Open juggling and workshops from 10am-7pm at the ARC building.

Sunday: Open juggling, workshops and games from 10am-5pm at the ARC building.

But wait, there’s more! The festival also includes an outstanding stage show Saturday night at 7:30 pm. The show features world class jugglers and variety performers from around the globe, and tickets are just $10. We recommend buying tickets in advance because the show will sell out, though tickets will be on sale Friday and Saturday during the convention.

And that’s not all! The convention also features a late show, starting at roughly 11pm at the Pratt Student Union hosted by me, Kyle Petersen. The show is open stage format, which means anyone can come up off the street and perform a short set. The show will run 2 hours, and viewer discretion is advised.

For directions to Pratt, click here. For a campus map, click here.

Hope to see you there!