The Great Moscow Circus Veteran Juggler

Left & Right: Mark, The Veteran Juggler, reaches out for the hoops, Whoops! (Penelope Yau)

Photos & text by Bernice Ha, Fung Ying, Ronnie Kwok, Jenny Chan & Penelope Yau

Veteran juggler of The Great Moscow Circus Mark Will-iams is probably a very smart guy. Researchers from Germany recently revealed that juggling could increase the gray matter in your brain, which is linked to your IQ.

Lucky Mark. He is paid to have fun on stage and get smarter at the same time.

Mark, 40, who has been working in the circus business for 26 years, was born to an acrobatic family. He started his career at 14.

It was hard at first. “I spent about 10 hours training every day when I first joined the circus, from keeping fit to learning how to play tricks.

“I always made my hands dirty when practicing throwing rings,” said Mark.

Still, he would never think of leaving the circus.

“I love my job because it is a lot of fun,” said Mark.

Unlike people who hold clerical jobs in offices, Mark said that circus artists like him feel great that they entertain audiences with stunts they like. Their appreciation is worth all the sweat and blood.

“Their appreciation awards me with the feeling of satisfaction,” Mark said.

Meeting different audiences is another attraction of working in a circus to many circus artists.

“Audiences are different in different countries.

“For example, Hong Kong people clap harder when they enjoy the show, while Japanese do not clap much at all,” said Mark.

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