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Catch 'em if you can
PAULA PETERS
STAFF WRITER
 FALMOUTH - On any given day
you can find Allan Moniz and Bob Pettengill slapping paint on a house,
and Geoff Way programming or designing Web pages in front of a computer.
Then something snaps, and they are The Suspenders.
Al
Moniz finds a unique way to show off his juggling props.
(Staff photo by RON SCHLOERB))
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A cross between the Three Stooges, Bozo the Clown and Harry Houdini, the
juggling troupe combines synchronized bumbling, magic and stunts.
After a
bit with plate spinning and tossing a giant yo-yo back and forth, Moniz
teased a group of children at the Falmouth Jewish Congregation last month.
"You want
to see us juggle, right? You want to see us juggle?"
The children
were giddy with excitement and cheering for more. That is when the clowning
around turns into a display of the dexterity.
Moniz,
49, and Pettengill, 53, can each keep five balls in the air. Way, 40, can
juggle seven.
Their craft
is the result of years of practice that began at Moniz's home in the early
1980s when he and Pettengill were commuting to Bridgewater State College
together.
"Bob showed
up in my living room one night and showed me juggling - that's how all
this got started," Moniz said. A few months later they recruited Way and
were a threesome.
They are
all members of the International Jugglers Association and very serious
about the trade.
At school
and church functions, community activities and private parties, they perform
at least 50 times a year and have played from San Diego to Switzerland.
Locally
they perform at Cape schools and libraries and are regular street performers
in Mashpee Commons and the Chatham Fourth of July Parade.
Getting started
Moniz, a married
father of five, began entertaining children running a merry-go-round and
writing comic book scripts for Tweety & Sylvester and Bugs Bunny characters.
He studied theater in college and is a regular performer in productions
on Cape Cod, most recently at the Waldorf School in Bourne.
He prides
himself in being the most conservative member of the troupe, but he gives
the most animated performance, ogling children with his big brown eyes,
putting on a wide grin and producing a hearty laugh.
A divorced
father of two, Way learned to juggle from his science teacher at Falmouth
High School where he is a 1980 graduate. Way majored in physics in college
but dropped out to pursue a fascination with perpetual motion. When he
isn't juggling - or programming - he teaches a class in how to ride a motorcycle.
Considered
the technical genius of the group, Way plots the stunts and masters the
skills he teaches to his Suspender mates. Way introduced the unicycle to
the group shortly after they got together.
"Everyone
was doing it, we had to get with the times," he said.
Pettengill
was raised in Brockton and served three years in the Army before moving
to the Cape. A military theme often emerges in his routines. He earned
a degree in history at Bridgewater State College. Pettengill serves as
the mild-mannered straight man and writer/director of many of the skits.
He often casts himself as the butt of a joke.
The tallest
Suspender, Pettengill prides himself in being able to recognize the children
in the back of the crowd when it comes time to recruit volunteers.
"To be
the chosen one, first you have to be sitting politely," he says. "Then,
I'll pick one of the kids from the back first, to make sure they don't
feel left out."
Invitation to join in
The Wednesday
rehearsals at the Gus Canty Community Center in Falmouth begin at about
7:30 p.m. and are open to anyone interested in learning to juggle.
At a recent
rehearsal, small, spry and strong Way showed off by grabbing on to a vertical
railing and suspending himself horizontally by his grip on the bar.
Moniz and
Pettengill warmed up by tossing half a dozen pins between them while having
casual conversation. It is an act they practice on their day job, passing
paint brushes while balanced on construction staging.
"I love
to practice without people watching. I just love doing it," Moniz said,
pins flying overhead in his personal enrichment exercise. "Then there is
being in front of a crowd when it really clicks."
Stepping
into the routine, Way blended his own pins into a mini juggling tornado
and finished the thought for Moniz: "There is something about doing a show
and getting people to a state when they can't stop themselves from laughing."
Juggling
is a great skill to master, Pettengill said, because it instills confidence
and a sense of accomplishment. He first learned it from his high school
basketball coach who "thought it would make us quicker."
"It reinforces
the connection between mind and body, between the creative and analytical,"
Way said. "There is a combination of visualization with rhythm and patterns
in movement and time that is unique to juggling."
For Moniz,
juggling is more concentration than coordination.
"You get
into a heightened phase of concentration, and when you do it for a while,
it's like a zone."
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