Don't Be An April Fool, Learn A Trick and Juggle, Too

On April Fools' Day, when the rest of the nation is putting salt in the sugar bowl and cotton in the cake, Shorewood will be watching a couple of yo-yo's, literally, put a new spin on a Sunday afternoon.

Shorewood's annual Jugglefest Variety Show complete with magicians, singing, dancing and general gravitational mayhem, plus fire, is set to be emceed by magician Glen Gerard, who says he will thrill the audience with tricks of magic and wonder. 

Gerard, who has performed in Las Vegas alongside Lewis Black and Tracey Morgan to name a few, will feature his brand of magic with audience participation at the show. 

"I do slight of hand work, and am the only pickpocket in the Midwest," he joked. "My kind of magic requires similar skills and technique as juggling does, so it's a good fit."

Sunday's first act will be the Shorewood and Greendale juggling clubs, followed by Nicolet High School's juggling club. Former principal Rick Monroe’s juggling son, who will join the group if he is in town, founded Nicolet’s club. 

There are individual juggling talents as well, including Nehemiah Peterson, Noah Bachofen and Chris Vogt (the nation's only rocket scientist professional juggler).

The team of Jeremy Luhrson and Jeremy Johnson infuse the show with many juggling stunts. Johnson's group, the "Dead of Winter Jugglers" are a dastardly team of Madison jugglers, some uniquely named, Melonhead, Elliot Kaplan, Gabe Lilly, Nick Aikens and Graham Paasch.

Finally, Oli Twist will keep the balls in the air with his singing, magic, dancing, juggling and fire dancing.

The Shorewood Table Tennis Club, the largest and most active club in Wisconsin, will again be featured at Jugglefest, with a demonstration of the fast spin and speed that can be put on a ping-pong ball. They will also compete for the audience in a challenge of standing as far away from the table as possible and still play a mean ping (pong) ball.

Magic wands, coin tricks and juggling balls will be for sale in the lobby after the performance. Open juggling and table tennis will follow immediately afterwards in the north gym on campus.

The show starts at 1 p.m. in the Shorewood High School Auditorium. Open juggling and table tennis will follow from 3:15 to 4:30pm in the gym.

Tickets are $5 available at the door, and children age five and under are free.