We recently connected with John Higby and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, John thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?

I started street performing in high school in Boulder, Colorado and started to do festivals around that time as well. A few years later I did a tour for the USO to entertain troops overseas in Turkey, Italy, and Spain. My show was intimate almost like a close up magic show at first but I slowly started focusing on making a “circle show” of a larger audience with just Yo-Yo tricks. I started getting more and more international street performing festivals in my 20s since I did something different from the typical line up.

John, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I started first as a fan of street performing I was just fascinated with the art of it. I saw a performer named Zip Code Man and he knew exactly where I grew up in Alaska from my zip code. I was fortunate enough to move to Colorado when I was in high school from Alaska where there are many famous street performers. I loved how honest it was earning money from people on the street you either are good enough or you are not. I got my first Yo-Yo from my grandpa and I had become good at it after meeting a few pros that taught me how to do it with two hands so I thought I should try to make it into a street show. Being around world famous acts at festivals motivated me beyond belief being able to see them work the crowd and then actually hang out with them.

Being able to practice and get better at street performing allowed me to take it to the next level of getting actual gigs at theaters, schools, and television. The biggest thing I’ve learned is performing is not about the tricks you can do but how to make the audience a part of the show. Sometimes mistakes can turn into great jokes and can get a better reaction than a high skill routine so I try to do a blend of both of those things.

Since I do a highly accessible show people that see me will contact me to do a show so just doing a lot of shows is the best advertising possible.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Overall the biggest goal is world peace. Sounds a little bit corny but I once heard the Dali Lama say one of the biggest steps towards world peace for humans is festivals. That really stood out to me as that is what I specialize in I can really understand the idea as there is something about bringing all types of people together to have fun. Every one is uplifted. Also Yo-Yo Ma is quoted “Good things happen when you meet strangers.” Being able to do a Yo-Yo really well in a foreign country often allows me to communicate with people even outside of performing and it is a really great way of connecting with people.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

When I was a kid my grandpa who tuned pianos for 65 years told me it is best if you just pick something you love and stick with it no matter what. I did not think about it until years later what he had said but I did just that although it happened very organically over time. I’ve never made a ton of money from what I do but it is always enough and to think the Yo-Yo has taken me to 27 countries, brought me to meet my dream girl who I’ve been married to for 20 years how can I ever ask for more?

I’ve been also drawing cartoons my whole life and I just published my first book called Everybody Yo-Yos. It is a kids book with my colorful paintings and I’m finally combining my two talents and selling my book at my shows it is an incredible feeling!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.yoyoshow.com
• Instagram: YOYOPEOPLE
• Facebook: THEYOYOPEOPLE
• Youtube: YOYOPEOPLE