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One thing’s for sure: juggling unicyclist Mark Wilder lives up to his name. An engaging and charismatic entertainer with a larger-than-life personality and contagious enthusiasm, Wilder captivates audiences young and old with his gravity-defying, mind-boggling feats at private events, birthday parties, festivals, concerts, carnivals, churches, schools, retirement homes and pretty much anywhere he can find a flat surface, high ceilings, and a willing audience.
A resident of Morro Bay in San Luis Obispo County, he is a popular attraction at the world-famous Thursday evening San Luis Obispo Farmers’ Market and has performed as a special guest at such events as the I Madonnari Festival, Avila Beach Pops Concert, Taste of San Luis, Arroyo Grande Centennial Celebration, SLO Symphony Summer Camp, Live Oak Music Festival, Arroyo Grande Strawberry Festival, Pismo Beach Clam Festival, and the Isla Vista Juggling Show.
Born outside of Boston, Massachusetts, Wilder has been unicycling as a hobby for over ten years (becoming equally at home on the unicycle basketball court, mountain trails and the highway) and discovered his knack for entertaining large audiences during his days as a college mascot for Evergreen State College in Washington. However, his performing career did not begin until 2010, shortly after learning to juggle. Wilder immediately felt it was what he was born to do and has been performing juggling acts, practicing with a local juggling and unicycling club, and teaching anyone who will try ever since.
Aside from the entertainment value, Wilder passionately believes that juggling and other circus arts offer powerful creative, physical and social outlets for children of all ages. As such, he works to share his passion at local school assemblies, after-school programs, youth arts programs, and even alternative therapy centers. He also recently won the City of San Luis Obispo’s Volunteer of the Month award for teaching elementary school children to juggle.
Having hiked the Pacific Crest Trail, backpacked across Spain and trekked through Patagonia, Wilder is also a natural athlete and outdoorsman, and he brings that dynamic energy and spirit of adventure to every performance. In between gigs, Wilder can be seen training on local trails and country roads for future planned unicycling tours over the Cascade Mountains and across Argentina, or practicing on local courts for the world unicycle-basketball championships in Italy in 2012.
To find out more about Mark Wilder or to book him for an event or sponsorship position, contact him at (530) 902-3293 or wilderjuggler@gmail.com, or find him on
Facebook. To see videos and pictures, view the "Mark Wilder Gallery"
