THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 26, 1995 TAG: 9501240089
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 15 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JOAN C. STANUS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 107 lines
A 3-year-old boy tugged at his mother's shirt, beckoning her to follow him to the side of the Waterside stage to watch the man in the black shirt and red suspenders.
``Look, Mom,'' the youngster shouted. ``He's bouncing balls in the air. I want to see.''
``That's nice, honey,'' his mother said, only slightly distracted from eating her lunch. ``You go ahead. I'll watch from here.''
The boy moved, mesmerized, over to professional juggler Tim Nolan, who was giving an impromptu performance for a handful of spectators. As the boy watched, Nolan began throwing balls into the air, around his elbow, under his leg, onto the ground, then back into the air. The gravity-defying feats kept his audience enthralled.
Watching Nolan, the boy laughed out loud.
This was, after all, world-class juggling.
Known to many waterfront regulars as simply ``The Waterside Juggler,'' Tim Nolan and his mastery have a reputation that extends far wider than Hampton Roads. A Ghent resident who recently returned from an expenses-paid trip to England on behalf of the publishers of the Guinness Book of Records, Nolan is recognized among professional jugglers as one of the best.
In England, Nolan performed at special events during a two-week promotional tour for the latest edition of the best-selling book.
He is, after all, one of the stars of the book. He has held the record for most balls juggled since 1988. Nolan can successfully juggle nine balls at once.
``I was always a good basketball player,'' explained Nolan, a former East Carolina University athlete. ``Because I was involved with sports, I had good eye-hand coordination. When I first heard about the (Guinness) record, I was already juggling seven balls real well. Slowly, but surely, with practice, I was able to do nine.''
No one has been able to touch his record since.
The book promoters asked Nolan and only two other performers to join the tour. One man sought to break the world record for balancing books, and the other, a record-holder for growing the largest vegetables in the world, showed off his creations.
``It was hysterical,'' Nolan recalled with a laugh. ``This guy had a pumpkin the size of a small car . . . and a string bean the size of my arm.''
The zany company didn't bother Nolan. He is accustomed to sharing the bill with off-the-wall performers. In 1989, he appeared on the now-canceled ABC-TV show ``That's Incredible.'' He also has performed with the New Jersey-based Hamid Morton Circus and at New Orleans' Mardi Gras festivities. In 1990, he was featured on the nationally broadcast TV special ``The Spectacular World of the Guinness Book of Records.''
There also has been the more ``high-brow stuff,'' like Easter Egg hunts at the White House, shows at the 1984 New Orleans World's Fair and a tour with the USO. Locally, he has performed at Norfolk Tides baseball games, Old Dominion University basketball halftimes, Nauticus, aboard the New Spirit and at local schools.
``As a professional juggler, there's a lot of shows you can do,'' said Nolan, a towering 36-year-old bachelor with red hair. ``It's a great way to express yourself. I feel as though it's a perfect blend of the mind and body. Your mind has to keep thinking about what you're going to do next . . . and your body has to be able to do it. There's movement and motion and expression. And the tricks are endless. Just when you think you've seen everything, somebody else comes along and does something you've never seen before.''
Nolan first considered juggling professionally while student-teaching in college. As a young boy, he was mesmerized by the magic and variety acts on ``The Ed Sullivan Show,'' but he never seriously considered show business as a vocation.
As a student-teacher working for a degree in health and physical education, though, Nolan discovered his talent. When he used juggling as part of his lesson plan, the other teachers flipped over his talents. They asked him to teach the children a few tricks and to appear in a school assembly.
The performance was so successful that before long Nolan was deluged with job offers - not to teach but to juggle.
He has been hooked on entertaining ever since.
``It sort of lit a fire,'' Nolan recalled. ``I found I liked the excitement of getting up in front of people and performing.''
Once he decided to devote himself full-time to juggling, Nolan realized he had to develop his skills. He began by imitating other professional jugglers. In the early '80s, he would spend hours in front of his TV set watching cable shows and videotapes of other jugglers.
Before long, this self-taught juggler was creating his own routines and moves, and surpassing many of the feats he watched others do. Today, Nolan offers a variety of routines for audiences, but his favorite is a 30-minute program of jokes, juggling feats and audience participation.
Even after more than 15 years of throwing balls, pins and rings around in the air, he's still addicted to juggling.
``I still haven't missed a day of practice since I took it up right out of high school,'' Nolan said. ``I just love it.''
Today, young juggler wannabes watch Nolan to learn. Many have tried to challenge his world record, too.
But Nolan is determined to hold onto his title, no matter how stiff the competition.
``I working on some things,'' he says, ``but I'd rather not say too much. . ILLUSTRATION: Photo by GARY C. KNAPP
Ghent resident Tim Nolan recently returned from an expenses-paid
trip to England on behalf of the publishers of the Guinness Book of
Records.
KEYWORDS: PROFILE BIOGRAPHY JUGGLING by CNB