The Utah woman’s world-class juggling trick: her living room

SALT LAKE CITY — A woman from Salt Lake City has made a big name for herself in the juggling world and is being called a “phenomenon” and “the best juggler of all time.”

Delaney Bayles started juggling at age 13 when an uncle taught her the basics at a family gathering. She watched YouTube tutorials.

“I loved that I could teach myself everything,” she said. “I think I just needed something that I could do on my own and get really good at.”

Delaney Bayles practices her juggling skills in her living room. (Peter Rosen, KSL TV)

Bayles joined a summer circus for young people and attended circus school. Now in her twenties, she is an experienced performer who juggles in circuses and other venues in France, Israel, England, Belgium and elsewhere. She is traveling to Finland in the fall.

“It’s a dream come true,” she said. “I think this is kind of the adventure of my twenties, maybe before I settle down and get a real job.”

Bayles practiced her juggling skills in her younger years. (Courtesy of Delaney Bayles)

Bayles is currently completing her degree in kinesiology, which her mother said she is excited about.

Bayles is also very popular among jugglers around the world. She was number one in the “Top 40 Jugglers” for three years in a row.

David Cain, author of “Juggler for Jesus” and owner of a juggling museum, calls her “by far the best technical juggler in the throwing sport.”

“I mean, way better than any woman in history,” Cain told KSL TV.

David Cain expresses his excitement about Bayles and her world records. (Peter Rosen, KSL TV)

He talked about her world records in juggling six clubs with shoulder throws and in juggling seven rings behind her back and seven rings above her head.

“They’re just tricks that nobody else in the world can do as well,” he said. “You know, when people juggle behind their backs, they’re usually juggling either balls or clubs. Almost nobody juggles rings behind their backs because it’s super, super awkward, and Delaney didn’t just do it with, you know, four or five or something. She can do it with seven. It’s incredible.”

Bayles juggles clubs behind her back. (Peter Rosen, KSL TV)

Bayles is one of fewer than two dozen jugglers and the only woman to have been able to juggle seven clubs more than 100 times.

This summer, she could become the first juggler ever to win all three stages of the International Juggling Association.

“This is a big deal,” Cain said.

Bayles says the secret to her juggling success is her living room.

Their preferred practice space is a spacious room with a fireplace and a river rock-lined chimney that reaches from the floor to the 20-foot ceiling. A ceiling fan is attached to the side to make room for flying clubs and rings.

The famous living space that Bayles uses for her practice. (Peter Rosen, KSL TV)

Typically, ceilings are simply too low for many tricks and outdoor conditions are just too unpredictable. She never had to leave her home to find a room high enough for her high-flying tricks.

“I think if there was one at the end of the day, it was yes,” Bayles said.

Cain said jugglers around the world would recognize this room, even if they hadn’t seen her juggle in it, because they’d seen so many videos of her.

“This room is one of the most iconic rooms,” he said.

But perhaps Cain owes her success to more than just her living room. One word she mentions often is “persistence.”

“As a juggler, you’re fighting gravity, and that takes a lot of stamina,” he said. “Failure juggling is often about fighting through failure over and over again,” he said.

“As jugglers, we get very used to failures,” Bayles said. “They’re just a part of everyday life and happen much more often than successes, especially if you don’t give up or learn from them.”

A one-legged juggler with seven clubs

A century before Bayles juggled seven clubs, another man from Utah apparently accomplished this breathtaking feat: John Phillip Thomas, the grandfather of Quentin Thomas Wells.

In his book The Juggler, Wells writes that Thomas was initially able to juggle with five clubs and that his brother Cos then added two more.

A photo of John Phillip Thomas with his juggling equipment. (Courtesy of Quentin Thomas Well)

Wells said Thomas, who was born in Utah Territory in 1876, learned boxing from a book and later incorporated club-swinging, which he learned from the same book, into his training regimen.

Club swinging is an exercise that originated in India and Persia. At some point, Thomas taught himself how to juggle with clubs and began to become known for his talent.

He got a job offer from the Ringling Brothers Circus, quit his job at a salt company where he worked as a miller, and prepared to take a train to New York City.

On the very day he was about to leave, Thomas had an accident that changed his life.

“A salt train rolled in and the engineer asked for volunteers to uncouple (pull the pins between the cars) a couple of cars,” Wells told KSL TV.

Thomas offered to help and pulled out the bolt, but his foot got caught. He couldn’t get out of the way as the train rolled backwards, crushing his leg. Doctors amputated his left leg below the knee.

After his recovery, Thomas resumed his work at the salt company, continued boxing as the only one-legged boxer in the world, and juggled on the side.

An older Thomas with his juggling equipment. (Courtesy of Quentin Thomas Well)

That’s what happened during that time. Wells said his grandfather learned to juggle seven clubs. That’s not a feat for the record books, Cain said, because there’s no hard evidence to prove it.

Thomas passed on his juggling skills to two of his daughters, who performed in variety theater.

“He was a brave and very strong man. He had the chance for fame and fortune, but he lost it,” Wells said. “But he didn’t dwell on it. He overcame it. He got married. He had five children, all of whom were successful and wealthy.”