Izzi ready to juggle? Yes

Izzi Tooinsky should be careful what he asks for.

A request for juggling materials may not always present the fair performer with the most endearing or easy options. He has been handed a soiled diaper, a 4-foot sword and even a few mother's babies.

"Juggling is like standing between a miracle and mess," he said. "It's kind of the theme of my life."

All a juggler can do is stand in the middle and do his or her best, Tooinsky said. If the items drop, they drop.

"You accept yourself, pick it up and try again," he said.

Only time will tell if the Yuba-Sutter Fair presents Tooinsky with more intriguing or challenging options. He will be presenting his multitasking talents of juggling and storytelling today, Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m. near Circus Imagination.

"He did it fast," said Kentalia Smith, 4. "It was fun."

Tooinsky incorporated the Yuba City girl into his routine on the midway Thursday, juggling a handful of orange rubber balls and tossing them one-by-one into a basket between her hands. Smith's mom, Rachelle, looked on with a smile and camera to her eye as Kentalia and her 3-year-old brother, Talan, eagerly took turns catching.

"It's great to be able to walk around with your kids, stop and watch things that catch your attention," Rachelle Smith said.

Tooinsky is one of three juggler-storytellers in the United States, he said, and only a few handfuls more perform the art form worldwide.

But no matter how far Tooinsky travels, everyone always enjoys a good juggling show and story, he said.

"Opera is great, but not everyone loves opera. Turkish bagpipes are nice but not everyone wants to hear a dead goat squeezed," he said. "Juggling is universal. Everyone loves juggling."

Tooinsky's juggling days started as a child. He followed in the footsteps of his grandfather, who had been a street performer in Eastern Europe. Tooinsky started out simply, with socks and sticks, and now tosses about pins, clubs and anything someone throws at him — literally.

Decades later, his love of performing remains.

"I found it more interesting than what I studied at university," he said.

His tales are spun from a mix of fact and fiction, with the truthful details from his travels to faraway destinations such as Zimbabwe, Nairobi and Perth. His imagination fills in the rest.

Tooinsky continues to travel to fairs around the world, including Canada, Mexico and Europe. But the Yuba-Sutter Fair brings him close to his home in Penn Valley.

Whether tossing three or five random items into the air, a good juggler must always be adaptive, Tooinsky said. Some days he might be sweating it out on the blacktop and other times he might be on a shady stage.

"It makes you a better performer because you are very adaptive," he said. "You are the very opposite of a prima donna."

Contact Appeal-Democrat reporter Ashley Gebb at 749-4724 or agebb@appealdemocrat.com.