Celebrity Juggler Brian Pankey comes to Assumption Festival

Brian Pankey’s juggling act includes juggling with multiple objects including balls, rings, clubs, diabolos, shaker cups, paddleballs, table tennis paddles, manipulation boxes, bean- bag chairs, inflatable inner tubes, basketballs, umbrellas, balancing on a rola bola while juggling numerous objects, balancing objects on his chin & forehead, juggling machetes, flaming torches & the list goes on!

Brian Pankey from Springfield Illinois. He started juggling in 8th grade at the age of 13 when his history teacher Mr. Eggleston juggled oranges at the end of the school year. He then found a local magic shop & the owner was a professional magician named John Brownback. Brian bought his first set of juggling balls at the shop. John rented VHS tapes & Brian watched a video called Juggling Step by Step that got him fascinated will all the different props & patterns you can do with objects. Brian worked at a local grocery store saved his money & unlike other kids his age buying clothes & music he bought juggling equipment. Now with a 15 minute act ready to perform he didn’t know anything about showmanship how to dress, how to write a script, etc. Thankfully Magician John Brownback hired Brian to open up for him on numerous occasions to help conquer his stage fright & his fear of public speaking. After that Brian started attending juggling festivals all over the country. Finally landing him to Fargo, North Dakota in 1993 to the International Jugglers Association National Championships. Brian competed against the best jugglers in North America. With only two years of being self taught he made it to the semifinals & placed 4th in the competition. From then on Brian performed local shows. Once he graduated High School he started performing outside of Illinois eventually nationwide. Fifteen years later at the age of 34 he finally gets his big break performing on the Late Show with David Letterman in 2011 in a segment called Stupid Human Tricks.