{"id":51541,"date":"2016-06-17T18:22:24","date_gmt":"2016-06-17T22:22:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/owegopennysaver.com\/?p=51541"},"modified":"2023-05-22T08:33:35","modified_gmt":"2023-05-22T12:33:35","slug":"will-stafford-juggler-to-perform-at-owegos-strawberry-festival-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2016\/06\/17\/will-stafford-juggler-to-perform-at-owegos-strawberry-festival-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Will Stafford, juggler, to perform at Owego\u2019s Strawberry Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Will<\/a>

Will Stafford, juggler, will be strolling throughout the festival from 1 to 4 p.m. on Saturday, June 18.<\/p><\/div>\n

Will Stafford started juggling when he was 12. Now, 35 years later, he\u2019s a part-time professional juggler. The Ohio native and current Vestal resident will be one of the many performers featured at this year\u2019s Strawberry Festival, and will be strolling throughout the festival from 1 to 4 p.m. on Saturday, June 18.<\/p>\n

Stafford explained that juggling is easier than it looks: \u201cAlmost anybody can learn to juggle, it\u2019s actually not that hard to learn how to do three balls once you get over the mental block. There\u2019s a mental block because it looks like juggling is circular, but how you learn is a cascade, alternating.\u201d<\/p>\n

In middle school, Stafford had the good fortune to know someone who could teach him the basics. He said, \u201cI learned from my best friend whose older brother was a gym teacher. He said, \u2018Hey Will, I learned to juggle and I want to teach you.\u2019 In about 20 minutes I learned to do three balls.\u201d After that, he started going to local juggling clubs and learning how to juggle more balls at one time. Then, he added unicycle to his skill set and expanded into juggling other items as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy 16 I could do five pins or seven balls,\u201d he said. In college, he began adding comedy into his act and now, he said, \u201cI\u2019m more about entertaining.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stafford explained why he thinks juggling is popular, saying, \u201cIt has a magical appearance because you have three balls but only two hands. I don\u2019t know a single magic trick but people always call me a magician. There is something magical about juggling but there really isn\u2019t any magic to it. It looks like you\u2019re defying gravity.\u201d<\/p>\n

That magic-like appearance is popular, so locals may already be familiar with Stafford from some of the other area performances he\u2019s put on over the years. He\u2019s been at the Newark Valley Historical Society, the Vestal Public Library, Tioga County Kids\u2019 Day, and a number of local church bazaars. Also, he\u2019s been at Strawberry Festival a number of times in the past. He said, \u201cI did it way back in the early years a few time and then I had a long hiatus and then this is the fourth year in a row I\u2019m doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

These days, his act includes everything from pins to rings to balls to rubber chickens. For one trick, he juggles apples and a machete, then throws an apple in the air and chops it with the machete. He also juggles fire, which is a perennial crowd-pleaser. He said, \u201cOf course everybody loves the fire juggling.\u201d<\/p>\n

When he\u2019s not juggling, Stafford is busy raising his five kids \u2013 including two sets of twins \u2013 and working as a Spanish teacher in Chenango Valley.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Will Stafford started juggling when he was 12. Now, 35 years later, he\u2019s a part-time professional juggler. 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