Harry Levine
Harry Levine moved to Olympia after graduating Clark University with a BA in music. In
1984, he founded Citizens Band which performed satirical theater and music throughout the
west. He joined the Mud Bay Jugglers as a percussionist in 1988. In 1990, he began to
stage manager for Mud Bay Juggler theater shows and perform part-time as a juggler. He
joined the Mud Bay Jugglers as a full time performer in 1995.
Levine has come a long way from the Washington State orchard where he
caught the juggling bug some 20 years ago, "messing around with apples"
while working as a picker. Juggling became both a hobby and his
"therapy." When he juggles, he says, "All other things melt away — I'm
just sort of grooving." Levine turned pro in 1995, joining the Mud Bay
Jugglers, an ensemble group based in Olympia, Washington. As he honed
his juggling skills, Levine set his sights on performing with the
Flying Karamazov Brothers.
"They're silly, they're funny, they're imaginative," he says. Four
years ago he auditioned for the Brothers and finished as first
runner-up. "It was a real shot in the arm," says Levine. "Just to be
considered a viable candidate was amazing."
Last year the FKB finally called and welcomed him to the family.
Levine was given the stage name "Kuzma" (every name in the troupe comes
from a character in Fyodor Dostoevsky's
The Brothers Karamazov)
and a list of routines to learn. A member of a back-up team of Brothers,
he hasn't yet worked a top-tier international gig, but he frequently
jets to cities around the country, recorder and kilt in tow. (The kilt
is part of the FKB costume. "I'm not going to say it looks good on me,"
he concedes.) It's a crazy life being on call, and mastering the
elaborate routines demands serious discipline: That trick with the
recorder (called "4 by 4") took about 50 hours of focused practice. "It
just blew my mind," he says. But despite the challenges, Levine is
thrilled to be working with his heroes. "If you'd told me 20 years ago
that I'd be juggling with the best, I'd have said, 'No way!' But here I
am, and that's cool!"
the Mud Bay Jugglers
When he's not juggling,
Harry co-manages a non-profit arts association that presents
independent film, music, and allied arts.
Harry Levine steps onto a New York City stage
before 400 rapt onlookers.
Wearing a kilt, Prince Charlie jacket, white shirt, and bowtie, he
holds a small recorder to his mouth and plays the top half with his left
hand, using his right to juggle three balls with another juggler — who
is simultaneously singing and strumming a guitar himself. Meanwhile,
another juggler is playing the bottom half of Levine's recorder. Much to
Levine's relief, the crowd roars. "I didn't think I'd be able to do
it," admits the new member of the renowned Flying Karamazov Brothers
(FKB), a juggling company famous for tossing about frying pans and
flaming torches like so many nerf balls.