Juggling team brings anti-gravity show to ArtSplash
Up, up and away
By Joanne Fox, Journal staff writer | Posted: Sunday, September 07, 2008
Team Rootberry will perform at Artsplash at 3 p.m. Saturday.
Take a guy who is six feet, five inches tall with a shaved head, three earrings in one ear, and the word "juggle" tattooed on the inside of his lip.
Add a comic sidekick who can juggle a snowboard and three clubs at the same time.
What do you have?
Team Rootberry -- a couple of guys who are among the best jugglers in the world, tour about 280 days out of the year, and will be at ArtSplash this weekend.
"We're on the road a lot," said Jonathan Root, half of the team with his pal Bill Berry in an on-the-road phone conversation. "In fact I woke up this morning in Virginia and tonight we're doing a show in Lake Wales, Florida."
Over the past decade Root and Berry have climbed into the upper echelon of the anti-gravity game. The two connected when Root was performing at kids' birthday parties and Berry contacted the same agency for bookings.
"Six months later, I convinced Bill this was a good way to make a living," Root said with a chuckle. "I guess it has because it's taken us to every state in the union and to 40 countries."
The team started in 1998 performing at Legoland, a theme park for children. In 2003 they moved to Reno, Nevada, and began a six-month gig at Circus Circus. These days Team Rootberry is based out of Florida and finds itself performing four months out of every year on cruise ships, with the remaining eight months traveling as gypsies.
"We started out with the standard juggling stuff and wanted to be totally original so we wrote all of our own comedy material," Root explained.
Unlike comedy teams like the Smother Brothers or Rowan and Martin, Team Rootberry takes turns being the "straight" man," Root said.
"Although I tend to do more kid-like stuff with toys and Bill does the more serious stuff, like the chainsaw juggling," he clarified.
Pushed to draw a comparison between themselves and other comedy teams, Root admitted that he and his teammate have been compared to Penn and Teller, the eccentric magicians with a psychotic twist who call Vegas home.
"But what I'd like to have happen is someday someone will say to another group, 'Oh, you guys are like Team Rootberry!'," Root confessed.
In the juggling world, Root said he and Berry admire The Passing Zone, a group that has performed at ArtSplash and was recently on "America's Got Talent." But Root insisted he and Berry have no aspiration for the NBC show.
"We've been asked to do the show and we've turned them down," he said.
"We just don't think it's a good medium for us," Root continued. "Every time you go on a show, you don't have time to work. And we have bookings into 2010 already and we don't want to let people down."
In fact, in the 11 years Root and Berry have performed together, they have never missed or cancelled a show, "not willing to ruin their good reputation," Root said. This will be their second time at ArtSplash and Root said the duo were looking forward to returning to Siouxland.
"Teams tend to come and go quickly because relationships are difficult," Root mused. "For Bill and me, the way I look at it, I get to work with my best friend."
In addition to that strong camaraderie, Root said he and Berry have honed their technical skills to the point where, if they want to add new material, they have the skills to do it.
"We always try to keep our show fresh," he said. "But honestly, a good joke is a good joke and when we write one, we tend to keep it in the show."
In 2003 Root and Berry won three prestigious awards at the International Jugglers Association Annual Championship Tournament. Berry took the Gold Medal in the individual competition and Team Rootberry took the Gold medal in the teams division, and also earned the People's Choice award for their inspirational work
"Our motto is: 'We love what we do and so will you!'," Root said. "It's a very eclectic mix of elements. If you don't like what we're doing, just wait three minutes and you will, we say."
Mainstage
Saturday
11 a.m. -- Jeff Quinn the Magician
Noon -- Team Rootberry
1 p.m. -- Sweeney Family Band
2 p.m. -- Jeff Quinn the Magician
3 p.m. -- Team Rootberry
4 p.m. -- Sweeney Family Band
5 p.m. -- TalentSplash
7 p.m. -- Percussionation
Sunday
Noon -- Sweeny Family Band
1 p.m. -- Tonic Sol-fa
2 p.m. -- TalentSplash
4 p.m. -- Tonic Sol-fa
Add a comic sidekick who can juggle a snowboard and three clubs at the same time.
What do you have?
Team Rootberry -- a couple of guys who are among the best jugglers in the world, tour about 280 days out of the year, and will be at ArtSplash this weekend.
"We're on the road a lot," said Jonathan Root, half of the team with his pal Bill Berry in an on-the-road phone conversation. "In fact I woke up this morning in Virginia and tonight we're doing a show in Lake Wales, Florida."
Over the past decade Root and Berry have climbed into the upper echelon of the anti-gravity game. The two connected when Root was performing at kids' birthday parties and Berry contacted the same agency for bookings.
"Six months later, I convinced Bill this was a good way to make a living," Root said with a chuckle. "I guess it has because it's taken us to every state in the union and to 40 countries."
The team started in 1998 performing at Legoland, a theme park for children. In 2003 they moved to Reno, Nevada, and began a six-month gig at Circus Circus. These days Team Rootberry is based out of Florida and finds itself performing four months out of every year on cruise ships, with the remaining eight months traveling as gypsies.
"We started out with the standard juggling stuff and wanted to be totally original so we wrote all of our own comedy material," Root explained.
Unlike comedy teams like the Smother Brothers or Rowan and Martin, Team Rootberry takes turns being the "straight" man," Root said.
"Although I tend to do more kid-like stuff with toys and Bill does the more serious stuff, like the chainsaw juggling," he clarified.
Pushed to draw a comparison between themselves and other comedy teams, Root admitted that he and his teammate have been compared to Penn and Teller, the eccentric magicians with a psychotic twist who call Vegas home.
"But what I'd like to have happen is someday someone will say to another group, 'Oh, you guys are like Team Rootberry!'," Root confessed.
In the juggling world, Root said he and Berry admire The Passing Zone, a group that has performed at ArtSplash and was recently on "America's Got Talent." But Root insisted he and Berry have no aspiration for the NBC show.
"We've been asked to do the show and we've turned them down," he said.
"We just don't think it's a good medium for us," Root continued. "Every time you go on a show, you don't have time to work. And we have bookings into 2010 already and we don't want to let people down."
In fact, in the 11 years Root and Berry have performed together, they have never missed or cancelled a show, "not willing to ruin their good reputation," Root said. This will be their second time at ArtSplash and Root said the duo were looking forward to returning to Siouxland.
"Teams tend to come and go quickly because relationships are difficult," Root mused. "For Bill and me, the way I look at it, I get to work with my best friend."
In addition to that strong camaraderie, Root said he and Berry have honed their technical skills to the point where, if they want to add new material, they have the skills to do it.
"We always try to keep our show fresh," he said. "But honestly, a good joke is a good joke and when we write one, we tend to keep it in the show."
In 2003 Root and Berry won three prestigious awards at the International Jugglers Association Annual Championship Tournament. Berry took the Gold Medal in the individual competition and Team Rootberry took the Gold medal in the teams division, and also earned the People's Choice award for their inspirational work
"Our motto is: 'We love what we do and so will you!'," Root said. "It's a very eclectic mix of elements. If you don't like what we're doing, just wait three minutes and you will, we say."
Mainstage
Saturday
11 a.m. -- Jeff Quinn the Magician
Noon -- Team Rootberry
1 p.m. -- Sweeney Family Band
2 p.m. -- Jeff Quinn the Magician
3 p.m. -- Team Rootberry
4 p.m. -- Sweeney Family Band
5 p.m. -- TalentSplash
7 p.m. -- Percussionation
Sunday
Noon -- Sweeny Family Band
1 p.m. -- Tonic Sol-fa
2 p.m. -- TalentSplash
4 p.m. -- Tonic Sol-fa
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