W.C. Fields Dummy will soon be available here for sale at VentriloquistStore.com
Though he is better known these days for his movie performances, in his youth W. C. Fields was the most successful comedy juggler of his generation. He was born William Claude Dukenfield on April 9th 1879, and again on January 29th 1880 (according to other sources). He claims to have first worked professionally as a juggler at the age of 15, in Pottsville, PA, and elsewhere at the age of 11 in Norristown, PA.
Be that as it may, it is clear that by 1899 he was working at Fortesque’s Pier in Atlantic City, NJ. Among his other duties was building a crowd by pretending to drown in the ocean and being rescued by one of the other performers. It was here that he met his future wife, Hattie, who assisted him in his act until the birth of their son in 1904.
Fields was billed as ‘The Eccentric Juggler’. On stage he dressed as a tramp, with a fake beard and exaggerated eye make up, while Hattie wore a tuxedo with tight satin pants. He did not speak during his act, but did a lot of physical and character comedy. He might drop deliberately and blame it on his assistant, or fake behind the back throws by juggling two in one hand and waving a third ball behind his back with the other hand.
He worked with balls, cigar boxes, hats and a cane. Later he developed an elaborate routine using a gimmicked pool table, in which he would bounce balls from the table to a hip pocket via bounces on various parts of his body. However, it is in the field of comedy that he made his greatest contribution to the art of juggling, making character more important than tricks (though his tricks were not easy), and turning his juggling act into a true performance.