The Trick to Juggling Like a Utah Woman: Her Living Room

SALT LAKE CITY – A Salt Lake City woman has made a name for herself in the juggling world, being called a “phenomenon” and “the greatest female juggler of all time.”

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

“I loved being able to learn everything on my own,” she said. “I think I just needed something that I could do on my own and really get better at.”

Bayles joined a youth summer circus and took circus classes. Now in her early twenties, she is a seasoned performer, juggling in circuses and other venues in France, Israel, England, Belgium and other countries. She will travel to Finland in the fall.

“A dream come true,” she said. “I think it’s kind of an adventure from my 20s, maybe before I settled down and got a real job.”

Bayles is currently finishing her degree in kinesiology. Her mother said she is thrilled about it.

Bayles also enjoys a certain fame among jugglers around the world. For three consecutive years, she was number one in the “Top 40 Jugglers”.

David Cain, author of “Juggler for Jesus” and owner of a juggling museum, considers her “the best female technical juggler…by far.”

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

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

“These are tricks that no one else in the world can do as well,” he said. “You know, usually when people juggle behind their backs, they’re either juggling balls or they’re juggling clubs. Almost no one juggles rings behind their backs because it’s super, super hard to do, and not only has Delaney done it with, you know, four or five or whatever. She can do it with seven. It’s incredible.”

Bayles is one of two dozen jugglers and the only woman capable of juggling seven clubs for more than 100 throws.

This summer, she could become the first juggler to win all three stage competitions organized by the International Juggling Association.

“This is a big deal,” Cain said.

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

His favorite practice space is a spacious room with a fireplace and a flue encased in river rock that extends from floor to ceiling 20 feet high. A fan is attached to the side to make room for flying clubs and rings.

Conventional ceilings are simply too low for many tricks, and outdoor conditions are simply too unpredictable. She has never had to leave the house to find a space high enough to accommodate her high-flying tricks.

“I think ultimately if there was one thing, yes,” Bayles said.

Cain said jugglers around the world can recognize this piece, even without seeing her juggle, because they have watched many of her videos.

“This piece is one of the most iconic pieces,” he said.

But perhaps his success isn’t just in his living room. One word Cain often brings up is “perseverance.”

“If you’re a juggler, you’re fighting gravity, and that takes a lot of persistence on your part,” he said. “Most failure is about overcoming failure over and over again,” he said.

“As jugglers, we often get used to failure,” Bayles said. “It’s a part of life and it happens much more often than success, especially if you don’t waste time or learn.”

A one-legged juggler with seven clubs

A century before Bayles juggled seven clubs, another Utahn had apparently accomplished the mind-blowing feat: Quentin Thomas Wells’ grandfather, John Phillip Thomas.

In his book, “The Juggler,” Wells writes that Thomas would start juggling with five clubs, then his brother, Cos, would add two more.

Wells said Thomas, born in Utah Territory in 1876, learned boxing from a book and then added club swinging, which he learned from that same book, to his exercise routine.

Juggling with clubs is an exercise that originated in India and Persia. Thomas learned to juggle with these clubs and began to be noticed for his talent.

He received 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.

The very day he left, Thomas had an accident that changed his life.

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

Thomas offered to help and pulled the pin, but his foot got stuck. He couldn’t get out of the way as the train backed up and crushed his leg. Doctors amputated his left leg below the knee.

After recovering, Thomas returned to work at the salt company, continuing to box as the world’s only one-legged boxer and juggling on the side.

It was around this time that Wells says his grandfather learned to juggle with seven clubs. It’s not a feat to keep in the record books, Cain says, because there’s no definitive proof.

Thomas passed on his juggling skills to two of his daughters, who performed in vaudeville theaters.

“He was a courageous and very strong man. He had the opportunity to become famous and rich, and he lost it,” Wells said. “But he didn’t dwell on it. He recovered. He got married. He had five children who all became successful and prosperous.”