Charles Peachock juggled balls, clubs, rings, knives and comedic wit at his Vandal Entertainment performance Wednesday night.
America met Peachock in 2011, when he appeared on season 6 of America”s Got Talent and made it further than any juggler in the history of the show.
Peachock said he began juggling nearly 30 years ago because his brother took up the act.
Kira Hunter | Argonaut
Professional juggler Charles Peachock performs a trick with a student during the Vandal Entertainment event held Wednesday night in the Bruce Pitman Center.
“I couldn”t have him doing something I couldn”t, so I had to learn a little bit,” Peachock said. “Then it got to be a sibling rivalry type of thing.”
Vandal Entertainment Lectures and Performing Arts Chair Camille Aubrey saw Peachock perform at a conference in November and said his act stood out.
“It”s really impressive,” she said, noting his ability to play the piano with tennis balls he was juggling.
And Wednesday night, Peachock kept his Vandal audience clapping and engaged throughout the whole show.
“It was fantastic,” said Hailey Johnson, UI freshman and computer engineering major. Johnson and some of her friends had seen Peachock on TV, but came to the event because Simon Shindler, freshman and chemical engineering major, had enjoyed Vandal Entertainment events in the past.
Peachock said he visits about 20 schools a year, along with corporate events and cruises. At non-school functions, he said audience members are already gathered in one place, almost obligated to watch.
“People at schools could be doing any number of things, which leads to a very enthusiastic audience,” Peachock said.
Peachock said smaller audiences, such as the one at UI, give him the ability “cut loose” and get away from a perfectly-timed and scripted performances.
“If I did the same thing all the time, it wouldn”t be as fun,” Peachock said.
Several audience members joined Peachock on stage. One held a cigarette in his mouth while Peachock attempted to hit it loose with a club, one assisted Peachock by throwing and catching one of four clubs he was juggling, and third student laid on the ground – with his eyes covered – while Peachock pretended to juggle knives over him.
The audience also saw tricks still that were in progress for Peachock – in one such trick, he balanced a club on his head, allowed it to fall behind his back and blindly kicked it over his head to start juggling.
The grand finale of his performance was two popular acts from America”s Got Talent – a lights-out juggling act with glow-in-the-dark objects followed by several songs on the piano, including “My Fair Lady.”
“Everyone I was sitting around was just freaking out,” Aubrey said.
Katelyn Hilsenbeck can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @Katelyn_mh