Can't believe this isn't on here yet, as every juggler on Facebook has posted the link on his or her page. It's long, but it's worth the read.
https://grantland.com/features/anthony-gatto-juggling-cirque-du-soleil-jason-fagone/
David Cain
Little Paul - - Parent #
Thanks for posting that, I genuinely laughed out loud when I read the "Barry Bakalor, a juggling fan and Internet archivist" line. That's certainly one way to look at the JIS ;)
Cedric Lackpot - - Parent #
I just read it because it popped up on reddit. That's a pretty good read, considering the author failed to get an interview with either Nick or Anthony, and evidently only got a terse phone call and no performance for all his trouble.
And Anthony doesn't seem to change does he? Always a bit spiky and not quite able to connect with the people who presume to know him or to expect an answer. Whether that's actually the case, I don't know, but it seems somehow familiar. Here's hoping the world of concrete appreciates his talent.
Daniel Simu - - Parent #
Thanks for posting! The author did some serious research on this, which is really cool!
I agree with him that it is weird that he left so 'silently'.....
Is Anthony training his son?
pumpkineater23 - - Parent #
A good read, thanks for the link. Quite a sad story I think. He never seemed to know how to make juggling fun or interesting for himself.
Hey, lighten up. Anthony is the greatest. He showed us what could be done by doing all those record feats. It seems unlikely that there will be another juggler to do as much in that department in our lifetimes. Why be sad if someone retires at his peak, if he did actually retire and is not just on leave. It may be sad for the reporter when someone leaves the public stage but there's no reason to conclude that his friends and family are disappointed.
pumpkineater23 - - Parent #
I didn't feel I needed to mention all the 'record feats' as I think we all know that already. Of course it's an incredible skill level he reached. What I meant when I said I thought it was a sad story was that he didn't seem to like juggling very much, he was juggling for others rather than for himself. I always got the impression that it annoyed him that other jugglers do it for fun, perhaps he felt himself that he had sold his passion and killed the fun.
Little Paul - - Parent #
He's had the same job for 25+ years, I think he's allowed to see it as something other than "fun" and want a change
Hell, my job used to be a fun pass time and now I've been doing it for 15 years the gloss has worn off, I do it for money not for fun, because I'm good at it not because I want to do it 24/7, and yes the gloss has worn off. I sometimes like the idea of doing something completely different.
I thought that was a really well written piece, I felt it captured the changes in the juggling community over the past few decades quite nicely.
I'd forgotten what an uncomfortable place the Gatto Forum was, that strange mix between Gatto's real friends like Dick Franco and Michael Chirrick, and his fawning fans. I never really understood what he wanted to get out of creating that forum, it certainly didn't look like he enjoyed it much.
It's a shame the author didn't get a review with Anthony, I would be interested to know if his conclusions were correct - that he changed from being a technical juggler to being a performer and an entertainer with some reluctance.
Just got round to reading this. I thought it was very well written & an excellent piece especially considering how many dead ends the author came up against. Also pleasing that an 'outsider' felt that the story needed to be written.
I didn't really notice that Anthony had retired from juggling. I don't really think of him as 'gone', but then I don't think Francis Brunn has gone either, it is still very easy to enjoy both of their juggling.
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