20 PUNCHMAGAZINE.COM {quickpunch} Just how many balls can you keep in the air? My record is nine balls, and I regularly perform up to seven balls in my act. The world record is 14 balls, which is mind-boggling. So when did the juggling start? After watching the Flying Karamazov Brothers on TV, I taught myself to juggle when I was about 10 years old. I really started juggling when I bought Charlie Dancey’s Encyclopaedia of Ball Juggling at age 27 and set a goal to learn every trick in the book. What’s the weirdest thing you’ve juggled? Lawn chairs backstage on the America’s Got Talent set. Where are some of the places juggling has taken you? England, Australia, New Zealand, Israel, Scotland, Canada, Netherlands, Mexico, Denmark as well as all over the U.S. What’s a tricky travel situation you can laugh about now? Realizing that rupees were not exchangeable outside of India. It meant I had to spend three days living in Bangkok Airport because I had no money. Can you tell us why you love juggling conventions? I cannot recommend these events highly enough. They happen all over the world and come in all shapes and sizes. Locally, may I humbly recommend Game of Throws, hosted by the Gunn High School Juggling Club? It happens in late January with about 500 attendees, and is free for all. What’s the dumbest way you’ve been hurt? Stitches on my forehead from a failed front flip, trying to impress a girl in high school. Not my finest hour. THE Q & A MATT HALL Where did you learn Japanese? When I was a first-year student at the University of Notre Dame. (Go Irish!) I was chosen to spend my sophomore year in Tokyo at Sophia University. Later on, I spent three years teaching on the JET Program in Fukuoka and another two years working for the Japanese Consulate in Chicago. What drew you to the Japanese language? I read Shōgun when I was 14 years old and all I wanted to do was become a ninja. My high school did not offer Japanese so I took French instead, but when I got to college, it was all Japanese, all the time. Do you have a favorite city in Japan? Tokyo, in my opinion, is probably the best city on the planet. Sorry, New York. What is your most cherished possession? I would say my two cats—Sammy and Black Fuzzy—but they are definitely not possessions, but rather members of our family with full voting privileges. If anything, they own me. Did you have a dream job as a child? When we took an occupational test in junior high, my scores in adventure and new experiences were almost off the chart. Raiders of the Lost Ark had just come out and I wanted to be Indiana Jones. What’s something that makes you grateful? I am so lucky to say that I found a hobby, and got good enough at it that it has provided 20-plus years of free travel around the world, in addition to meeting hundreds of great folks. The juggling Japanese teacher discusses hosting Gunn High School’s Game of Throws, his ninja phase and the strangest thing he’s thrown in the air.
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