Jeff Civillico facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Jeff Civillico
Jeff Civillico performing on Disney Cruises on March 16, 2007
Born	(1983-05-17) May 17, 1983 (age 42)
Occupation	Juggler, corporate entertainer, and comedian

Jeff Civillico, born on May 17, 1983, is a super talented juggler, entertainer, and comedian. He's also a kind person who helps others! Jeff was the main star of a funny show called Comedy in Action in Las Vegas from 2012 to 2019. He also performed in Nathan Burton's magic show. Jeff started a special charity called Win-Win Entertainment.

Jeff grew up in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania. He fell in love with juggling when he was 11. He saw a street performer in Boston and knew what he wanted to do! In high school, he started a Juggling Club. He and his friends would perform for free at nursing homes and schools for kids with special needs. When he was 15, Jeff won a gold medal from the International Jugglers' Association! He later went to Georgetown University. There, he joined an all-male singing group called The Georgetown Chimes. He even led the group in his last year. He also created a group for performing arts students to help each other. In 2005, he earned a degree in theology from the university.

In 2009, Jeff moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, for a show called Amazed. The show didn't last, but Jeff stayed in Las Vegas. He got a chance to perform in Nathan Burton's magic show. After about a year, he started his own show, Comedy in Action. It began in a small theater at the Planet Hollywood restaurant. Later, he moved to bigger venues like The Linq and Flamingo Las Vegas. People loved his show! They praised his amazing energy, how he made the audience laugh, and his awesome juggling skills. He ended his show in 2019 to focus on his charity, Win-Win Entertainment. This group connects entertainers with kids who need a little extra fun.

Jeff's Early Life and Juggling Journey

Jeff Civillico was born on May 17, 1983. He was the youngest of three sons. His parents are Nicholas and Francine Civillico. His older brothers are John and Gene. Jeff comes from a family of doctors. His dad is a dentist. One brother is a doctor, and the other is a scientist who studied at Harvard University.

Jeff went to Holy Child Academy and then Saint Joseph's Preparatory School. When he was in school, he helped raise money for people with HIV/AIDS. He encouraged students to spend time with those who were sick. Jeff started learning to juggle three balls when he was seven. His brother taught him using a book their parents bought. His grandmother was the first person to watch him perform! After his Catholic Confirmation, he even received three machetes as a gift!

When Jeff was 11, he visited his brother Gene at Harvard University. There, he saw a street performer named Peter Panic. Peter was a juggler, and Jeff was amazed! Peter even picked Jeff to help him during the show. Jeff said that facing a big crowd was a "defining moment" for him. His parents gave him a book called Juggling for Complete Klutz. This book helped him practice and get better. He joined the Philadelphia Juggling Club. They taught him harder tricks like juggling five balls. The club practiced on the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Before ninth grade, Jeff competed at a juggling convention. He was ranked 14th among performers under 18.

Starting a Juggling Club

Jeff started the Juggling Club at Saint Joseph's Prep in 1997. He was a freshman then. He and other club members performed for free at local nursing homes. In 1998, when he was 15, Jeff won a gold medal from the International Jugglers' Association. After winning, someone offered to be his agent and have him perform in Las Vegas. But Jeff said no because he wanted to stay in school. His parents told him that school came first. He wasn't allowed to do shows on school nights.

In the summer of 1999, Jeff worked as a street performer. He used the stage name "Juggling Jeff Civillico" at Baltimore's Inner Harbor. In an interview in 2000, Jeff said that many people his age were good at juggling. But he saw himself as an entertainer with a sense of humor, not just a juggler. When he was 16, his juggling act included a six-foot-tall unicycle and spinning plates. For balancing, he used "rings, flaming torches, devil sticks, scarves and peacock feathers". In one trick, he juggled a 12-pound bowling ball, an apple, and a machete. He would slash the apple at the end!

In 2000, he juggled for kids with developmental disabilities at Don Guanella School. He often volunteered there. He taught one student that practicing every day was key to balancing a peacock feather. The summer before his senior year, he got a job at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia. He performed six shows a day with his best friend, Sean McKelvey. He performed at Busch Gardens for two more summers. In 2001, Jeff organized a benefit show for a school in Philadelphia. In high school, drama was his main activity. He also played saxophone, piano, and guitar, and sang in the choir.

College and Performing Arts

At Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., Jeff was very involved in the performing arts. He was part of The Georgetown Chimes, an all-male a cappella group. In his last year, he was the group's leader. He also started the Georgetown Performers' Union. This group helped performing arts students meet and practice together. He also helped create the Georgetown Props, a juggling club at the university. In 2005, Jeff earned a bachelor's degree in theology. In 2011, he was the president of the Georgetown University Alumni Club of Las Vegas.

In 2009, Jeff ran the Walt Disney World Marathon to raise money for Special Kids, a group for kids with special needs. He jogged 26.2 miles (42.2 km) while juggling three balls! This sport is called joggling. He was the first person in the marathon's history to joggle the whole distance. In 2013, Jeff raised $10,000 for Special Olympics Nevada. He rappelled down the 350-foot Planet Hollywood building for charity! In October 2013, he hosted "Caesars Got Talent". This event raised money for Opportunity Village, a Las Vegas group that helps people with intellectual disabilities. Jeff once said that his parents truly meant it when they told him, "You have to do what you love."

Jeff's Amazing Career

When Jeff was 18, he got an offer to perform on a cruise ship starting in Cartagena, Colombia. His parents were worried, so his older brother went with him. No one from the cruise met them, and their luggage was taken! His juggling props from childhood were lost. This included the juggling clubs he used to win his gold medal. Jeff and his brother were stuck in Cartagena with no luggage. They finally got on the ship in Manta, Ecuador. Since he had no props, Jeff had to create a new show in three days! He used watermelons and cantaloupes instead of beanbags. He even balanced pool deckchairs on his chin instead of juggling clubs!

In 2008, Jeff performed at the Gallo Center for the Arts in Modesto, California. A journalist called his show a "special brand of kinetic comedy with juggling, balancing and unicycling". Milt Larsen, who started Hollywood's The Magic Castle, said Jeff was one of the best jugglers he'd ever seen. In his show, Jeff juggled an ax, a rubber chicken, a Shake Weight, a Furby, and a flaming torch!

By 2009, Jeff was performing 200 times a year for Disney Cruise Line and at many company events. He has performed at the White House and the Kennedy Center. He has also performed in many cities across the U.S. and at Atlantis Paradise Island in the Nassau, Bahamas. Jeff has also led "team-building" workshops for big companies like Wachovia and Honda.

In 2009, Jeff went to Las Vegas for a short-term show. He stayed and got a 12-minute act in Nathan Burton's magic show. People loved his performance so much that they asked if he had his own show! Based on this, Jeff and Nathan found a place for Jeff's show at the Planet Hollywood restaurant. Even with little advertising, Jeff's show was almost always full. Jeff said his show wasn't just about juggling. It was "all about the connection with the audience and the fun, playful character".

During the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2020, Jeff started doing virtual events. He became an online host for companies. He even hosted a virtual fundraiser for the American Heart Association.

Comedy in Action Show

Jeff's show, Comedy in Action, moved to The Quad (now called the Imperial Palace) on May 26, 2012. Jeff kept performing in Nathan Burton's magic show, which helped promote his own show. After Nathan moved to a different theater, Jeff started producing his show himself. At first, Comedy in Action was a one-man show. Jeff had no assistants or showgirls. In December 2012, Alonzo "Turf" Jones, a hip-hop dancing contortionist from America's Got Talent, became Jeff's opening act.

Mike Weatherford from the Las Vegas Review-Journal said Jeff's early act was "one of the most memorable bits". Jeff would pick two strong men from the audience to help him get on his unicycle. Weatherford was impressed by Jeff's quick jokes. Once, an audience member caught a marshmallow that bounced off the stage and threw it into Jeff's mouth! Jeff joked, "You just got his DVD," and gave the person a prize.

Christina M. Parmelee, a reviewer for Today in Las Vegas, said Jeff "feeds on the reluctant" and makes everyone a fan. She noted that Jeff's "remarkable rapport" with the audience was key to his show. He used audience members to make the shows "personal and memorable". She concluded that Jeff loved being a headliner and "thrives on the chance to just be his ridiculous self."

Caroline Fontein from VEGAS.com said Jeff's "self-deprecating humor makes him both relatable and amusing". She praised his juggling skills. He juggled "glow-in-the-dark laser balls and pins" that changed colors. This made it look like he had two pairs of hands! Laura Damian from Today in Las Vegas said Jeff had "the energy of a hummingbird and the comedic timing of a veteran street performer". She wrote that he "seamlessly integrat[ed] members of his audience into his show". In 2013, Comedy in Action was chosen by USA Today as one of the "Best of Las Vegas Kid-Friendly Attractions".

In 2012, Jeff used the Internet to ask fans to donate to his "The People's Arch" project. This was a 20 feet (6.1 m) high by 40 feet (12 m) wide inflatable arch for his show. It would explode out of a case and inflate in 20 seconds! He also added fire effects and projection screens to his show. In 2014, Jeff started "Juggle-Vision". He put a GoPro camera on himself so the audience could see what juggling looked like from his view!

The first episode of Jeff's TV show idea, Vegas Strip Search, aired on Travel Channel in 2013. In the episode, he visited different places to find unique performers. He met a fire eater, a whipcracker, a pogo-sticker, and a chainsaw carver. The whipcracker he chose performed in his Las Vegas show.

Jeff had knee surgery in late 2016. He had completed 923 shows before taking a break to recover. He returned to performing at Flamingo Las Vegas in 2016. After recovering from shoulder and knee surgeries, he returned to entertaining in 2017. He performed at Paris Las Vegas once a week. This was a special schedule he requested because he had many requests for corporate shows. Author Bob Sehlinger called Jeff "a world class juggler with insane energy and a wit quicker than that of most stand-up comics". He said Jeff performed at a "blistering, almost manic, pace while bantering with the audience". In 2019, Brock Radke from the Las Vegas Sun praised Jeff for charming everyone with his "nonstop one-liners, seamless skills and a goofy yet self-aware style". Jeff performed his last Comedy in Action show in Las Vegas on December 18, 2019. He decided to focus more on his charity, Win-Win Entertainment, and on corporate shows.

Win-Win Entertainment Charity

Jeff Civillico is a kind person who loves to help others. He started a non-profit organization called Win-Win Entertainment. This group connects charities that need entertainment with performers who want to volunteer their time. It can be hard for charities to find good entertainers for their events because it's expensive. Also, entertainers might not want to perform if the equipment isn't good. Win-Win Entertainment helps by getting and setting up the stage, sound system, and other equipment. In return, the performers put on a free show! By November 2013, Win-Win Entertainment had helped 25 charities. By August 2015, they were doing about three to five events a week!

Win-Win Entertainment has helped many organizations. These include the American Cancer Society, The Shade Tree Shelter, St. Jude's Ranch for Children, and Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth. They also help charities get show tickets and performer merchandise to sell at silent auctions.

The charity's second yearly fundraiser, "The Headliner Bash 2013", featured many famous performers. These included singer Véronic DiCaire, American Idol star Taylor Hicks, magician Mac King, and the cast of Jersey Boys. Win-Win Entertainment organizes multiple shows each week at children's hospitals and places for disadvantaged youth. They focus on hospitals on Wednesdays and senior centers on Thursdays. They also work with the United Service Organizations at Nellis Air Force Base and Creech Air Force Base. They help with baseball games for special-needs kids. In 2019, the charity was helping people in Las Vegas, Minneapolis, New York City, Orlando, Phoenix, and Reno.

Other Cool Things Jeff Does

In 2018, Jeff became a special helper for the Las Vegas Natural History Museum. He was their first "brand ambassador"! He helped the museum get more attention and create new events. After ending his Comedy in Action show, Jeff performed at corporate events all over the country. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Jeff taught free weekly juggling classes online using Zoom and Instagram. He also performed as a master of ceremonies for online company events. He did magic tricks and even had confetti during a show for the American Heart Association in 2020!