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PITTSBURG —
There was no particular book that taught Brian Wendling to stand on a ball while twirling two hoops around his body. No single book taught him to juggle two table tennis balls using his mouth.
But books did teach him to dream, and that’s the same message Wendling brought to the participants at a Girard Public Library on Thursday afternoon.
“One day, I saw a juggler like you are seeing me,” Wendling told the crowd of about 100. “I saw that juggler nd I went home and I used a little Wiffleball. That’s what I used to juggle with. Then I saw another juggler and I asked him questions.” I found a book on juggling, and I thought big by looking at the pictures. I said I could do that. That was part of my dream.”
Wendling’s dream had the kids and their parents laughing throughout the performance, with energetic audience participation, observations, witticisms and asides.
April Zagonel, children’s librarian Girard Public Library, said that Wendling was the perfect act to bring in as part of the summer reading program.
“I think the adults enjoyed it as much as the kids did. It was fun and interesting,” Zagonel said. “He came as part of the Southeast Kansas Library system. We saw him perform and we thought the kids would enjoy it.”
Wendling fit in the summer reading program’s theme of “Dream Big” as often as possible, teaching a few kids during the performance how to juggle simple items like scarves, then teaching those that stayed afterward how to do some simple tricks on a Chinese yo-yo.
The Chinese yo-yo became a popular attraction with the 100 or so kids of all ages in attendance. During the question-and-answer period, most kids’ questions were about the eastern variant of the yo-yo.
“Other people in other countries have dreams, too,” Wendling said. “Let me show you a Chinese yo-yo. It’s like a regular yo-yo, but this yo-yo has a string on two sticks. The longer you can get it to spin, the more you can do.”
He explained to the kids just how it works, and how the yo-yo is made to reduce friction and prevent wear and tear, replacing the cheaper strings than the more expensive yo-yo.
He also told the kids about a dream that led to one of the next parts of his act.
There was no particular book that taught Brian Wendling to stand on a ball while twirling two hoops around his body. No single book taught him to juggle two table tennis balls using his mouth.
But books did teach him to dream, and that’s the same message Wendling brought to the participants at a Girard Public Library on Thursday afternoon.
“One day, I saw a juggler like you are seeing me,” Wendling told the crowd of about 100. “I saw that juggler nd I went home and I used a little Wiffleball. That’s what I used to juggle with. Then I saw another juggler and I asked him questions.” I found a book on juggling, and I thought big by looking at the pictures. I said I could do that. That was part of my dream.”
Wendling’s dream had the kids and their parents laughing throughout the performance, with energetic audience participation, observations, witticisms and asides.
April Zagonel, children’s librarian Girard Public Library, said that Wendling was the perfect act to bring in as part of the summer reading program.
“I think the adults enjoyed it as much as the kids did. It was fun and interesting,” Zagonel said. “He came as part of the Southeast Kansas Library system. We saw him perform and we thought the kids would enjoy it.”
Wendling fit in the summer reading program’s theme of “Dream Big” as often as possible, teaching a few kids during the performance how to juggle simple items like scarves, then teaching those that stayed afterward how to do some simple tricks on a Chinese yo-yo.
The Chinese yo-yo became a popular attraction with the 100 or so kids of all ages in attendance. During the question-and-answer period, most kids’ questions were about the eastern variant of the yo-yo.
“Other people in other countries have dreams, too,” Wendling said. “Let me show you a Chinese yo-yo. It’s like a regular yo-yo, but this yo-yo has a string on two sticks. The longer you can get it to spin, the more you can do.”
He explained to the kids just how it works, and how the yo-yo is made to reduce friction and prevent wear and tear, replacing the cheaper strings than the more expensive yo-yo.
He also told the kids about a dream that led to one of the next parts of his act.
“I had a dream 20 years ago. It took me six months to learn how to do it,” Wendling told the kids before a series of tricks performed using a ladder to balance himself as makeshift stilts.
Later on, Wendling brought up five kids, and lassoed around the entire group, including himself.
“When we have a dream, it takes time to learn,” he told the kids. “Maybe not the next day, but a little bit longer than that.”
Wendling will perform for those in Pittsburg at 1 p.m. later today.
Andrew Nash can be reached at andrew.nash@morningsun.net or by calling 231-2600 ext. 140.
