Sydney Juggler James Bustar Goes Behind the Scenes

I recently sat down with Lachie for Episode 173 of the Behind the Scenes podcast, produced by Radio Voice, for a conversation about what it actually takes to turn throwing things in the air into a career. We talked about how I became a Sydney juggler, more than 25 years of professional performing, cruise ships, circus, comedy, travelling with ridiculous equipment, working alongside Kylie and some of the things that inevitably go wrong when your job involves audiences, airports and juggling props.

It was a great opportunity to look back at how all of this actually started, because there was never really a grand career plan. Somehow a kid doing magic tricks at garden parties ended up performing for audiences in more than 30 countries, and I’m still doing it all these years later.

You can listen to the full Behind the Scenes interview on Spotify, but here are some of the stories and ideas we got into during the episode.

How I Became a Sydney Juggler

I’ve been performing in some form since I was about five years old. Growing up in the UK, I was doing magic tricks at garden parties with my parents and appearing as an extra on television, and at that point I actually thought I wanted to become a magician.

That changed after moving to Australia and visiting Club Med, where I first learned to juggle. Something about it immediately clicked with me. I joke in the podcast that I moved away from magic because juggling is “real”. Obviously magic takes an enormous amount of skill, but with juggling the audience can see exactly what you’re attempting. Things are flying through the air and either you catch them or you don’t.

What started as something I enjoyed quickly became a passion, and eventually that passion became my job. More than 25 years later, I’m still making a living doing it, although what I consider important about being a professional comedy juggler has changed considerably along the way.

The Juggling Is Only Part of the Show

Lachie introduced me as a high-energy juggler combining physical comedy, circus chaos and jaw-dropping stunts, which is probably a fairly accurate description of what happens when I’m let loose in front of an audience.

My shows have always had an element of chaos. There’s juggling, physical comedy, audience participation and a lot of improvisation, and I genuinely don’t always know exactly where things are going. That’s part of the fun, because live entertainment becomes much more interesting when you’re reacting to the people in front of you rather than simply repeating a routine you’ve performed hundreds of times before.

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve become much less interested in simply showing an audience how technically difficult something is. I’m far more interested in making that skill entertaining. The juggling might get someone’s attention, but it’s the personality, comedy and connection with the audience that makes them remember the performance.

That’s something I bring into everything from corporate entertainment to roving entertainment around Sydney. The format changes depending on the event, but the job is always about connecting with the people watching.

From Six Hours of Training a Day to Juggling Jokes

When I was at Flying Fruit Fly Circus between the ages of 14 and 19, we were training for around six hours a day. Juggling became so ingrained in me during those years that now, as I approach 40, I’m not spending every waking hour trying to add another technical trick to the show.

As I joked with Lachie, these days there might be slightly more reliance on energy drinks than there used to be. My real focus is on how to turn the skill I’ve spent most of my life developing into something an audience genuinely wants to watch.

There is a big difference between being able to juggle and being able to entertain a room. For me, the challenge now is finding the comedy in a routine, reading an audience and creating moments that feel spontaneous. Sometimes the best part of a show has very little to do with the trick I originally intended to perform.

Returning to Cruise Ships During the Pandemic

One of the experiences Lachie asked me about was returning to cruise ships during the pandemic. I was incredibly fortunate to be chosen by Royal Caribbean as one of the first entertainers to return to work when cruising started again out of Singapore.

It was an unusual experience because much of the entertainment industry was still shut down. After such a long period of uncertainty, I suddenly found myself back on a cruise ship performing my own show for live audiences again, although under very different restrictions and circumstances than before.

Cruise ships have been a huge part of my career and have taken my show around the world, but being there as the industry started moving again is something I’ll always remember.

What Happens When a Live Show Goes Wrong?

With more than 25 years of professional performing behind me, there have inevitably been a few occasions where things haven’t gone exactly according to plan. In fact, keeping the show going when things go wrong has almost become part of the job.

I told Lachie about ripping my pants on stage and accidentally showing an audience my undies, which unfortunately wasn’t a carefully planned clown gag. Another time I brought two volunteers onto the stage and discovered that one of them was a dolphin trainer. Somehow that information resulted in the other volunteer lying on the ground pretending to be a dolphin, followed by a juggling club accidentally being thrown at his head. There was blood involved, although thankfully he was incredibly good about the whole thing and the completely unexpected situation somehow became a huge comedy moment.

Then there was the time I arrived at the airport with the wrong road case. I’d recently moved house and managed to bring a case containing folded towels instead of my show equipment. I was dangerously close to boarding a cruise ship with everything I needed for a beautifully organised linen cupboard and very little I needed to perform a juggling show.

The Strange Reality of Travelling With Circus Equipment

Being a professional Sydney juggler who regularly travels overseas also means I’ve spent a lot of time explaining my luggage to airport and customs staff. When you’re travelling with unusual circus equipment and a pogo stick, your bag tends to attract slightly more attention than the average suitcase.

I’ve had situations where airline staff didn’t believe there was genuinely a pogo stick inside my luggage, so I’ve had to take it out and demonstrate it at the check-in desk. Standing in an airport bouncing on a pogo stick while trying to convince someone that this is legitimate professional equipment is one of those moments where you realise your career has taken an unusual turn.

These strange travel experiences have become part of the story of performing internationally. The show itself might only last 45 minutes, but sometimes getting everything required for that show through an airport provides just as much entertainment.

Building Something Bigger With Kylie

We also spoke about the work Kylie and I now do together. Kylie originally started Cirqular Entertainment herself, and after I eventually got the guts to ask her to be my girlfriend, we started working on the business together.

At the heart of what we’re trying to create is connection. We want circus and live entertainment to give people a reason to interact, laugh and experience something together. That idea has also grown into Chaos Meets Circus, where Kylie and I combine our different circus backgrounds and performance styles.

The same thinking has influenced the way I approach roving entertainment. Some of my favourite moments aren’t necessarily the biggest tricks, they’re the unexpected interactions where a group of complete strangers suddenly find themselves laughing together because something ridiculous has happened directly in front of them.

For events that need more than Kylie and me, we’ve also built a wider network of professional performers through Event Act Connect. That gives event organisers somewhere to find everything from circus performers in Sydney to roving performers and other entertainment options.

Can You Really Make a Career as a Performer?

Towards the end of the interview, Lachie asked what advice I’d give someone who loves performing but thinks turning it into a full-time career might be impossible. My answer was that at some point, you have to be prepared to take the risk and actually do it.

It’s not always an easy career. There are incredible opportunities, but there are also uncertain periods and plenty of hard work that audiences never see. The other thing that has helped me enormously is being part of the entertainment community. Meeting people, asking questions and not being afraid to ask for help can make a massive difference, particularly when you’re starting out.

There are people throughout the circus and entertainment industries who have already faced many of the challenges you’re going to encounter. My advice is to get out there, meet them and learn from them. If someone wants to reach out to me for advice, they’re always welcome to do that too.

More Than 25 Years of Throwing Things in the Air

Looking back through the conversation with Lachie made me realise just how strange the journey has been. What started with magic tricks as a kid eventually became juggling, and juggling has since taken me to festivals, agricultural shows, corporate events, cruise ships and audiences in more than 30 countries.

There have been enormous stages, tiny stages, incredible opportunities, customs officers, ripped pants, misplaced road cases and countless moments where I’ve had to work out what to do next while an audience is watching me. Somehow this became my career, and I still genuinely love doing it.

Today, that career can mean performing a comedy juggling show on stage, becoming part of the crowd through roving entertainment, working alongside Kylie through Chaos Meets Circus, or helping clients find the right event entertainment in Sydney through Event Act Connect.

Listen to Behind the Scenes, Episode 173

A huge thank you to Lachie and the team at Behind the Scenes for having me on Episode 173 and giving me the opportunity to talk about what actually happens behind a career in circus and live entertainment. We covered plenty more in the full conversation, including cruise ships, working alongside Kylie, the businesses we’ve built and what the future looks like as I head towards the big 4-0.

Listen to James Bustar on Episode 173 of Behind the Scenes on Spotify.

If you’re looking for a Sydney juggler for an upcoming event, you can find out more about James Bustar, explore my corporate entertainment and roving entertainment, discover what Kylie and I create together at Chaos Meets Circus, or browse a wider range of Sydney entertainers through Event Act Connect.