Thom Wall (born February 9, 1987) is an American juggler and variety entertainer from Saint Louis, Missouri, USA. NPR has called him "one of the world's most notable jugglers."
Wall is known for his avant-garde performance style, cultivated through training at the New England Center for Circus Arts, lessons with mime Karen Montanaro, and training with long-time friend Curtis Carlyle. In 2009, Wall competed at the World Juggling Federation's "Winter Blitz" event. No judge had seen any of his creative five-ball tricks performed before, so his routine was deemed unscoreable. In 2017, the Smithsonian Institution called Thom an "elite practitioner of the craft of juggling."
Thom is one of the last gentleman jugglers performing in the world today - a performance style where relatable objects are manipulated in clever ways. His work with mouthstick and balance have given him a notoriety in the circus world, often being referred to as "one of the world's top jugglers". In 2015, Dr. Salvador Calva Morales, chancellor of La Universidad Mesoamericana in Puebla, Mexico - home to Mexico's traditional circus school - was quoted as saying "...I dare say that [Thom] is the greatest balancer in the entire world." In 2017, Smithsonian Magazine referred to Thom as "...an elite practitioner of the craft of juggling." NPR has called Wall "...one of the world's most notable jugglers."
In November 2017, Thom married fellow circus performer Chloe Somers, who worked with Thom to revive and popularize the old circus discipline of "bottle walking" in the United States. The two separated in 2019, when Somers signed a contract with The Seven Fingers.
Thom left Cirque du Soleil's show Totem after its premiere at London's Royal Albert Hall in January, 2019, to pursue work on cruise ships. He was quoted as saying "My time here has been amazing, but 1,500 shows is... yeah, that's enough for me. Maybe I'll come back, but it's not in my plans for the immediate future." He worked for Cirque du Soleil as a headline act from 2014 through 2019. Wall now lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he teaches Circus History and Career Planning at Circadium: School of Contemporary Circus.
In the fall of 2021, Wall joined Cirque Mechanics' revamp of their flagship show Birdhouse Factory.
In 2022, Thom returned to working as a headline entertainer for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines.
Career Highlights
In 2014, Thom competed at the International Jugglers' Association (IJA) Senior Stage Championships with a traditional mouthstick juggling act. This act was awarded the bronze medal, making it the first time the discipline has been awarded a competition medal in the championships' 67-year history.
Thom was hired by Cirque du Soleil in April 2014 (to replace juggler, Greg Kennedy) in their touring show Totem. He worked for the company in a temporary position, performing shows in America, Canada and New Zealand before being replaced by Chris Chiappini in September 2014. Thom was then rehired by Cirque in February 2016 as a last-minute replacement for the Japan tour - this was possibly the fastest re-integration ever into a Cirque du Soleil show, as Thom was given eight hour's notice before catching a flight to Tokyo. After the Japanese tour ended in the summer of 2017, he signed a full- time contract with the company as their permanent juggling act. He performed with the show through their European tour in 2019 before moving on to work for Royal Caribbean International as a guest entertainer, performing his own show on cruise ships.
In 2013, Thom was the first person to ever juggle six knives. To date, he's the only person to accomplish this feat.
In 2014, Thom and Benjamin Domask debuted their new creation "The Dinner and a Show Show" at the Kansas City Fringe Festival, where it received top honors.
In 2015, Thom joined the Celebration Barn Theater's new performance ensemble in their creation of "Traveling Light."
In 2017, Thom was the face of the American juggling tradition at the 50th annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C., where he hosted panel discussions and performed a daily lecture and demonstration of the history of juggling. The show he presented there, called On the Topic of Juggling has been referred to as "part stand up comedy, part TedX, and part juggling show."
Also in 2017, one of the glasses from Thom's mouthstick act was inducted into the Museum of Historical Juggling Props in Middletown, Ohio. Museum curator, David Cain, reflected on the induction of this gentleman juggler's props by saying "Thom is one of the brightest stars in the juggling world. He has a wide array of skills but what he is known for few people (jugglers) do."