The Hupstate Circus Festival brought Wes Peden’s juggling show Rollercoaster to the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts on Saturday evening. The show sold out, with over 400 audience members in attendance to see one of the world’s best jugglers, according to a staff member.
The event was part of the four-day Hupstate Circus Festival that happens annually in Ithaca over Labor Day weekend. The festival, which includes a variety of live circus performances, began in 2021 with the goal of elevating circus arts in the U.S. through accessible programming.
Peden has been a top-ranked juggler globally since he was a teenager in 2007, according to the “Top 40 Jugglers” Youtube poll run by juggler Luke Burrage, where he took first place 10 different times from 2007-2019. Taking inspiration from fast-food packaging, sumo wrestling and playgrounds, Peden’s vibrant performances have been shared on global stages from Olympic stadiums to Broadway theaters.
Rollercoaster was inspired by the game Rollercoaster Tycoon, in which players build their own theme parks. The game inspired Peden’s set design, and he uses audio tracks from the game to capture the sounds of amusement parks.
The performance began when Peden took the stage balancing a large, fuzzy orange box on his head, which matched his orange hair and clothing. From then on, he juggled various props that he revealed from the box.
In the first part, Peden pulled out a long, transparent plastic tube that he knotted and wound across his body. He used it to juggle brightly colored balls, catching them in one end, guiding them through the tube and letting them fall from the other end.
Afterwards, Peden juggled colored rings and balls, using different techniques and patterns, including crossing his arms, going between his legs and maneuvering through obstacles.
“I have been going to circus school for three years, and I am not very good at juggling, but I loved how Peden was showing us all types of different patterns of juggling,” Mar Brady, a member of the audience, said. “It keeps you engaged.”
The second half of the performance opened as Peden took the stage donning a black cloak and mustache, in contrast to the neon green and orange athletic wear he had on prior. He spun two plates on sticks, carefully weaving them through his legs and arms.
Then, Peden placed his mystery box on center stage, unveiling 35 juggling pins, which he juggled in seven sets of five with 10 drumsticks tied around his ankles.
In transitioning between one set of pins to the next, Peden reached into his mystery box, pulled out a random item and began to juggle it too.
Some of these items included handkerchiefs, a mechanical claw, a balloon, a dart and dartboard, a butterfly net, a cymbal, a beanie, a broom and a velcro bib. By the time he reached the bottom of his box, the stage was littered with objects.
The performance winded down as Peden simplified his juggling to three pins, showing off different juggling patterns and maneuvers before the auditorium went dark. In the final part of the show, Peden used a flashlight to follow the contours of an imaginary rollercoaster with his light while subtle rollercoaster sounds played overhead. When Peden reached the end of the track with his light, he switched it off, ending his act.
Lea Cottman, a member of the audience who had attended the show alongside a cohort of friends from her circus troupe, said her favorite part of the show was in its sixth part, when Peden pulled random items from his mystery box and performed with them.
“I feel like [Peden] always does something really innovative with juggling, using different props and techniques that I have never seen before,” Cottman said.
While Cottman and Brady were interested in Peden’s juggling style, audience member Becca Ames said that she enjoyed it when he made mistakes, such as occasionally dropping items.
“Something that is really cool about the circus is that it’s real and there are stakes to it,” Ames said. “There’s the possibility that not everything will go correct, but [Peden] seemed to get enjoyment out of that.”
Jonathan McCormack is a sophomore in the Cornell College of Arts & Sciences. He is a staff writer for the news department and can be reached at jjm538@cornell.edu.
