Jon Wee and Owen Morse don’t normally resemble Gomez and Uncle Fester, but in the 1991 feature film “The Addams Family,” the jugglers stood in for the stars (Raul Julia and Christopher Lloyd) in the climactic Mamushka dagger-passing scene.
That movie debut came several months after the two began their comedy juggling act as The Passing Zone, according to their press material. They met in 1986 at a juggling convention and instantly knew they were destined to be a team. They waited until graduating from college first, but rather than pursuing careers in psychology and economics, they started throwing stuff into the air.
Two weeks after their first performance together, they won the silver medal at the International Jugglers Association teams competition. The next year, they took the gold.
That recognition earned an invitation to appear at the renowned Comedy and Magic Club in Los Angeles, where a “Tonight Show” talent scout booked them for their first national television appearance in September 1990. Host Johnny Carson enjoyed them so much, they were asked back less than a year later.
WHAT IS THE PASSING ZONE?”They’re like The Flying Karamazov Brothers (but more hip), Penn & Teller (but cleaner), The Smothers Brothers (but younger), Cirque du Soleil (but American), Blue Man Group (but less blue), the Blue Collar Comedy Tour (but funny) and Carrottop (but less, well, Carrottoppy), all rolled into one.”– www.passingzone.com
They were featured in the fifth season of “America’s Got Talent,” hold four Guinness World Records and won 18 gold medals and an Award of Excellence, highest honors, from the International Jugglers Association. They often cater their shows to corporate audiences on the value of teamwork.
Tonight, they’ll bring their new show to the Cumberland County Playhouse in Crossville, Tenn.
In “Gravity Attacks!,” the performers invite the audience to join them in their fight against the world’s most destructive evil force: gravity.
The Passing Zone puts gravity in its place, sending chainsaws, torches and knives flying through the air, as well as three people from the audience who will float through space.