One wheel is better than two, at least that is how freshman Matt Robinson looks at the world. The first year business major may be better known to some as ‘the guy who rides around on a unicycle.’ Robinson’s choice of transportation has made him something of a celebrity on campus. ‘That guy is awesome,’ said junior Mark Reid, ‘I see him speeding past bikers and I am like, ‘Whoa, I am going to get out of his way,” Reid said. Robinson has been juggling since he was a junior in high school, and he doesn’t plan to stop anytime soon. A relative University newcomer to the juggling scene, the freshman business major has since learned to juggle while riding a unicycle and performs’ regularly with the Northwest Ohio juggling group, the i75 Jugglers. Robinson picked up his unicycle at a’ second hand store for $25 and has been trying to master the skill ever since. ‘Sometimes I fall off and I have hit myself in the eye before,’ Robinson said. ‘But you just keep falling off until one day you stop falling off.’ Robinson, who grew up in Hillard, Ohio, said he began juggling just to curb boredom. ‘I live in the middle of nowhere,’ Robinson said. ‘I just kind of picked it up because there was nothing better to do and there wasn’t anything on TV.’ Robinson can now juggle pins while riding on his one-wheeled bike and said that once he builds his skills he would like to develop an act and go on the road. ‘It is sometimes a good way to make money,’ Robinson said. ‘You can make like $200 in an afternoon but then after that you may not make anything for a month. People do not juggle because they want the money but because they like to perform.’ The desire to perform is something that lures many jugglers in, Robinson said.’ Tony Mills has been holding a juggling ball since he could barely open his eyes. Mills has been performing since he was two weeks old as part of his family’s traveling juggling act, ‘The Dazzling Mills Family.’ Tony, his father Steve, his sister and his mother have been traveling the country performing at county fairs and school events since for the past two decades. ‘It’s a blast,’ Mills said. ‘We definitely have a lot of interesting stories to tell.’ Robinson said that it is the challenge of performing that keeps him doing what he is doing. He has done a few charity shows and taught himself to build balloon animals by watching YouTube. Robinson said his next goal is to play the trumpet on his unicycle. ‘I always have new goals. What I love about juggling is it is always’ challenging,’ Robinson said, ‘You can never master it once you have nine balls you might as well start on 10.’ Robinson said it took him five months to become comfortable on the bike but now that he is, he likes to ride as much as he can. ‘One of my favorite things to do is sort of heckle bicyclists because they really can’t say anything,’ Robinson said. ‘A unicycle is always cooler.’
Juggling life on one small wheel
April 8, 2009
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