David Ferman yawned as he plopped himself down in an armchair in the crowded HUB. Although it was close to two in the afternoon, he rubbed his deep brown eyes as if he had just woken up and ran a hand quickly through his dark, thick hair. He said casually, “Alright, let’s get this started.”
For David, being asked to share the story of his fame is nothing out of the ordinary. He’s mastered world records, been on national television and performed on stage in front of tens of thousands of people. What’s one more interview?
At 19 years old, David Ferman is a professional juggler and the story of his personal journey to stardom is as much of a crowd pleaser as his jaw dropping balancing acts.
David smiled warmly and chuckled to himself as he recalled the event that would shape the rest of his life: a family vacation when he was 8 years old.
On a cruise ship he was pulled on stage during a performance by a comedy-juggling duo.
“I loved the comedy aspect of being on stage,” he remembered fondly. “We did a routine where one of the them was juggling bowling balls over his partner and me, and he would accidentally drop a ball while we rolled out of the way. The audience went absolutely hysterical. It made me realize how much fun being on stage and making people laugh could be.”
When the routine was over, the duo made a joke to the ecstatic young David about taking him on the road with them to perform.
“I believed them and I started practicing,” David laughed.
Via: juggle.wikia.com
Alone in his room after the cruise, David taught himself how to juggle three balls and became hooked. A few years later, at age 12, juggling became much more than a hobby picked up on a family trip, it became a life long path.
“I started practicing insane amounts, like no social life, just three hours a day, it’s all I did,” he said shaking his head. “Sometimes on the weekend I would knock out eight hours a day just practicing because I realized I wanted to do it for the rest of my life.”
The reaction to David’s newfound passion was mixed amongst his family.
“My brother hates juggling, but my sister was into it for awhile until she realized juggling is kind of nerdy,” he confided. “My mom just tolerates it and my dad juggles with me from time to time.”
When most 12-year-olds were hooked on video games or out playing little league, David was attending his first juggling convention. An entire gymnasium filled with jugglers much more skilled than him did not deter David’s dream, but showed him what was possible in the future.
“I saw a guy doing seven balls right when I walked in and I thought I was so good with my three balls under my leg – I thought I was creative – I would throw one up, spin around and catch it and keep juggling,” he flashed a smile. “I got there and was like ‘WTF?’ I had no idea any of that stuff was possible.”
A couple of months after the convention, he was juggling five balls and then seven balls a year later. One year after that, he entered the World Junior Championships and didn’t make it, but he refused to give up.
“I thought, ‘It’s going to be so hard to make it as a juggler. Nobody makes a living at that, but if you’re really good, you can,’” he sighed, “so I kept going.”
Every year that David entered the World Junior Championships, he improved. He started at sixth place and then jumped to second place for two years in a row and then, at age 17, he finally won first place. On top of that, he won the world championship for the most balls juggled and set the 10-ball world record.
Although David was quickly climbing the ladder in the juggling world, David never forgot about the comedy duo that pulled him on stage all those years ago. He was determined to find them and turn their joke offer of taking him on their tour into a reality.
“For years I was trying to contact them online, and finally about a year ago one of the guys finally Facebook messaged me and said he wanted to do a documentary on our story,” David said excitedly. “He wanted to start working together, and he wanted to do cruise ships with me, which is crazy because it’s what I wanted to do since I was eight years old.”
His senior year of high school, David decided it was time to take his career to the next level. He tried out for “America’s Got Talent” and didn’t get on the show.
“I was dead set on never trying out again,” he shrugged.
What changed his mind was finally meeting back up with Sean, one of the comedy duo jugglers from the cruise.
“Sean was like, ‘We’re going to work together and try to make a ton of money and we’re going to start off by getting you on ‘America’s Got Talent,’” David ran his fingers through his hair again. “It was a win-win for both of us. “
Sean’s experience and knowledge of show business made him the perfect mentor for David. He worked behind the scenes with David and helped him come up with stunts and brainstorm ideas for his “America’s Got Talent” audition.
“He helped me choreograph my routines and he would always be like ‘Don’t put your hand like that’ or ‘That looks weird,’” David laughed softly to himself.
When it finally came time for audition, David remembers how incredibly nerve wracking the experience was.
“You can see on the audition video how nervous I was in the video,” he recalls, “My hand was shaking while I was trying to light the torch; it took me 5 times to light it. I was starting to get scared and I almost asked for someone backstage to do it.”
His nerves subsided enough for him to deliver a knockout performance on the show and thankfully, the producers edited out his struggles with the lighter.
“When the audience gave me a standing ovation, I couldn’t believe what had just happened,” he uttered, “I had watched every single juggler that was on the show and studied it all and thought I could never do that. Actually going out there myself and killing it was crazy.”
Via: nbc.com
Although he was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the competition, David holds his experience on “America’s Got Talent” as the highest point in his juggling career.
“’America’s Got Talent’ was absolutely surreal,” he beamed. “It’s so crazy when people recognize me on the streets from seeing me on the show.”
David pulls himself from the captivating memories of his past successes and sighs. Students rush through the HUB without noticing him and he blends in with everyone else. He has settled into the normal routine of a college student and finds juggling school and well, practicing juggling to be difficult.
“I haven’t been able to practice at all in the past year. I did a lot of comedy writing and got my show together though,” he commented.
When asked about his current website, he looks down and laughs, almost embarrassed, “My website sucks. I need to start personal branding, but I guess I haven’t been able to yet.”
As a marketing major, he’s hoping some of his classes will tie into his pursuit of a juggling career. He’s currently enrolled in a course for show business marketing and trying to use those skills to improve his personal brand.
As someone that has worked on the concept of balance both on and off the stage, David understands how many students are torn between following a traditional path at school and truly pursuing their passion. His advice, however, is simple.
“If you really want it, you are going to put everything you can into it,” he said. “As long as you’re always doing something to move forward for it, it’s going to work out.”
David has come a long way from a little boy captivated by juggling during a cruise ship show to a young adult and student trying to build his career as a professional juggler and performer, but the passion and drive to achieve his dream hasn’t faded away with age.
“When I was growing up, I knew juggling was what I wanted to do,” he grinned, “so I’m going to do everything I can in my power to make it happen.”
To book David for a gig here in Gainesville, contact him at davidfermanjuggler@gmail.com.
