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So I Married A... JugglerLeah Vriesman's husband has performed on the biggest stages from The Tonight Show to Vegas. Here's her story of being married to someone who throws chainsaws around for a living.
John Wee and Leah Vriesman
John Wee (above); John Wee and wife Leah Vriesman, and family (below) |
Throwing and catching knives, chainsaws and flaming batons is a typical day at the office Leah Vriesman's husband, and she couldn’t be happier about it. Though you probably couldn’t have told her 6-year-old self that someday she would be married to her classmate, Jon Wee.
Growing up in the same small town in Minnesota, the pair have been friends almost their entire lives—Leah remembers when Jon taught her how to juggle in the 8th grade. He knew even then that he wanted to be a professional juggler. Though she has since learned that Jon was interested in her way back then, she recalls, "I wasn’t interested in him—because at that age, I thought juggling was pretty dorky."
Even though the pair drifted apart some during college, they rekindled their friendship at age 27, when Leah saw Jon performing his juggling act on the Tonight Show. Leah was just moving to Los Angeles and she looked him up. "Our very first date—he took me hang gliding," she says, "So I thought—the juggler is not so dorky anymore."
The life of the professional juggler is similar to that of many performers—lots of travel and appearances on TV shows like The Today Show and Penn & Teller’s Sin City Spectacular, as well as playing Las Vegas at places like The Bellagio and Caesar’s Palace. But a singer or dancer won’t likely be tossing a sharpened sickle around—or maneuvering achainsaw on stage. Leah notes that the most stressful times for her come when she’s watching her husband with a potentially dangerous prop.
"As a wife of any performer, we usually know when things go wrong and the audience doesn’t," says Leah. "I’ve seen my husband swing a chainsaw over his head and back around and I saw him clip his ankle and I know no one else did. And sure enough as I watched, I could see the blood start pooling in the corner of his sock."
Still, even with the danger, Leah has supported Jon’s career—even helping him develop juggling stunts. Jon and his partner Owen Morse, co-founders of The Passing Zone, their juggling and corporate entertainment company, have sometimes called upon Leah and Morse’s wife, Dorothy, in their practice. When they developed their people-juggling act, for example, the wives stepped in. "We often are the guinea pigs. We were the ones first strung up. We were the ones that first learned in which direction do you get spun that makes you throw up—and which one doesn’t," says Leah. "We try to be both supportive and subjected to experimentation. We don’t get involved with the chainsaws or the knives though."
Dealing with the extensive travel can be tough for Leah and Jon, both 40, who now have a 6-year-old and a 4-year-old at home. Leah, a UCLA professor of Health Care Management herself, has learned to surround herself with very good friends to support her when Jon’s on the road. In fact, when the kids were small babies, they moved in order to be closer to family, which also helped during Jon’s travels. And she knows it’s difficult for Jon, especially being away as the kids have more and more events in their lives that he doesn’t want to miss.
But the pair knows it’s a unique life they’re offering their children. A juggler dad isn’t a typical job, but Leah isn’t sure the kids fully know how different their slice of life is yet. "It’s funny because they don’t think it’s all that special—they’re used to it," says Leah. She recalls when the family lived near a circus school, where Jon would go to practice and he’d always want to bring their son—to see the trapeze artists and jugglers and sword swallowers—many a kid’s dream, right? "My son used to always say, ‘Daddy, not the circus school again!’" says Leah. "It was like he was making him go sit in the back room of the bank or something."
Even if the kids aren’t always impressed, mentioning her husband’s profession definitely livens up any cocktail party. "The minute someone hears that I’m married to a juggler, their eyes pop out," says Leah, "And he immediately becomes the center of attention and everybody wants to talk about what he juggles and everybody lights up." But the real joy is knowing that her husband is fulfilling his lifelong dream, daily. "No matter what your spouse does," she says, "if they love what they do, it’s easy to support."
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Growing up in the same small town in Minnesota, the pair have been friends almost their entire lives—Leah remembers when Jon taught her how to juggle in the 8th grade. He knew even then that he wanted to be a professional juggler. Though she has since learned that Jon was interested in her way back then, she recalls, "I wasn’t interested in him—because at that age, I thought juggling was pretty dorky."
Even though the pair drifted apart some during college, they rekindled their friendship at age 27, when Leah saw Jon performing his juggling act on the Tonight Show. Leah was just moving to Los Angeles and she looked him up. "Our very first date—he took me hang gliding," she says, "So I thought—the juggler is not so dorky anymore."
The life of the professional juggler is similar to that of many performers—lots of travel and appearances on TV shows like The Today Show and Penn & Teller’s Sin City Spectacular, as well as playing Las Vegas at places like The Bellagio and Caesar’s Palace. But a singer or dancer won’t likely be tossing a sharpened sickle around—or maneuvering achainsaw on stage. Leah notes that the most stressful times for her come when she’s watching her husband with a potentially dangerous prop."As a wife of any performer, we usually know when things go wrong and the audience doesn’t," says Leah. "I’ve seen my husband swing a chainsaw over his head and back around and I saw him clip his ankle and I know no one else did. And sure enough as I watched, I could see the blood start pooling in the corner of his sock."
Still, even with the danger, Leah has supported Jon’s career—even helping him develop juggling stunts. Jon and his partner Owen Morse, co-founders of The Passing Zone, their juggling and corporate entertainment company, have sometimes called upon Leah and Morse’s wife, Dorothy, in their practice. When they developed their people-juggling act, for example, the wives stepped in. "We often are the guinea pigs. We were the ones first strung up. We were the ones that first learned in which direction do you get spun that makes you throw up—and which one doesn’t," says Leah. "We try to be both supportive and subjected to experimentation. We don’t get involved with the chainsaws or the knives though."
Dealing with the extensive travel can be tough for Leah and Jon, both 40, who now have a 6-year-old and a 4-year-old at home. Leah, a UCLA professor of Health Care Management herself, has learned to surround herself with very good friends to support her when Jon’s on the road. In fact, when the kids were small babies, they moved in order to be closer to family, which also helped during Jon’s travels. And she knows it’s difficult for Jon, especially being away as the kids have more and more events in their lives that he doesn’t want to miss.But the pair knows it’s a unique life they’re offering their children. A juggler dad isn’t a typical job, but Leah isn’t sure the kids fully know how different their slice of life is yet. "It’s funny because they don’t think it’s all that special—they’re used to it," says Leah. She recalls when the family lived near a circus school, where Jon would go to practice and he’d always want to bring their son—to see the trapeze artists and jugglers and sword swallowers—many a kid’s dream, right? "My son used to always say, ‘Daddy, not the circus school again!’" says Leah. "It was like he was making him go sit in the back room of the bank or something."
Even if the kids aren’t always impressed, mentioning her husband’s profession definitely livens up any cocktail party. "The minute someone hears that I’m married to a juggler, their eyes pop out," says Leah, "And he immediately becomes the center of attention and everybody wants to talk about what he juggles and everybody lights up." But the real joy is knowing that her husband is fulfilling his lifelong dream, daily. "No matter what your spouse does," she says, "if they love what they do, it’s easy to support."
RELATED STORIES
So I Married A… Stuntwoman
So I Married A... Knight
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