Robert Wood, the founder of the Eugene Juggling Club, gives free performances at Saturday Market.

By: Betty Wang

A hidden lawn at Saturday Market in Eugene is where all the local jugglers assemble every weekend. With seven red toy balls rapidly spinning and leaping through his hands, Robert Wood, 41, the founder of the Eugene Juggling Club, tries to show his audience a new trick he invented. Meanwhile, Wood’s four children run through the colorful juggling kits scattered all over the lawn.

Besides routinely juggling at Saturday Market and downtown, Wood is sometimes invited to festivals and cruise ships to give performances. To attract more worldwide audiences, Wood has his own Youtube channel Mad Juggler TV. Nevertheless, because the income of juggling is not abundant enough to support a family with four kids, Wood works at Culver Glass Company as a glazer. Juggling now becomes an important medium for Wood to draw people together and to create a more inclusive environment. According to Wood’s assistant Fode Ismael Sylla, “Juggling is something[that] draws random people from all walks of life. It is not about the money but building community.”

Before becoming a juggling performer, Wood joined the marine corp when he was seventeen. While he worked as a member of the infantry, Wood went to Asia, Europe and Australia for military exchanges. The experience of serving in the army widened Wood’s world-view and taught him to be a self-disciplined and persistent person. However, Wood understood that the army is hierarchic, so that whether he was a successful person was determined by those with higher ranks. Eventually, after his term of service  was completed, Wood did not choose to stay in marine corp or to become a police officer like his fellow veterans did. “I don’t want to work for a company or government but to do something I can do on my own, and juggling is what I found. As a juggler, I am also an entrepreneur. I am my own agent and salesman,” Wood said. After leaving the marine court, Wood realized that juggling reignited his passion. Having gained control of his own life, Wood decided to promote juggling in his own community.

Recognizing the fact that the Saturday Market in Eugene has started to gather local artists and entertainers from the 60s and is the longest running Saturday Market in the United States, Wood wants to have his own booth in the future. As the founder of the Eugene Juggling Club, Wood expects the club will eventually become an important legacy of the local entertainment in Eugene. While he continues to coordinate new jugglers in the community, Wood would like to introduce a juggling convention: Weekend of Juggling, in a few years.