{{short description|American juggler (born 1973)}} {{Infobox person | name = Anthony Gatto | birth_name = Anthony Commarota<ref name="grantland"/> | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1973|4|14}} | birth_place = [[Manhattan]], [[New York (state)|New York]] | occupation = {{hlist|[[Juggler]]|entrepreneur}} | website = }} '''Anthony Gatto''' (born '''Anthony Commarota''' on April 14, 1973) is an American juggler who holds several [[juggling]] world records. He began performing in [[Las Vegas]] at the age of ten.

==Early years== Born in [[Manhattan]]<ref name=Plotkin>Gatto, From Vaudeville Acro-Cat to the King of Juggling, Produced by Alan Plotkin</ref> and growing up in [[Ellicott City, Maryland]],<ref name= peacock>Smith, C. Fraser (January 24, 1983). "[https://www.newspapers.com/image/377551340/ A 'peacock' juggles in Ellicott City]". ''The Baltimore Sun''. p. D1.</ref> he learned to juggle at the age of 3, taught by his stepfather, Nick Gatto, a retired [[Vaudeville]] performer.<ref name= natural>Holzberg, Janene (March 15, 2009). "[https://www.newspapers.com/image/252326213/ The Natural: Cirque du Soleil juggler learned at dad's shop]". ''The Baltimore Sun''. p. A3.</ref> By age 5, his skills had exceeded his father's.<ref name= natural/> He was a juggling [[child prodigy|prodigy]]: world-class by the age of nine, when he won a gold medal at Circus Mondial in [[Paris]].<ref>"[https://www.newspapers.com/image/145826691/ Juggler, 12, sets own high goals]". ''Asbury Park Press'' (Asbury Park, New Jersey). p.G8.</ref>

He made his first television appearance at the age of 8 on the program ''[[That's Incredible!]]''<ref name="grantland">{{cite web|url=http://grantland.com/features/anthony-gatto-juggling-cirque-du-soleil-jason-fagone/|title=Dropped |publisher=grantland.com|accessdate=August 28, 2020}}</ref><ref name=gatto>Gatto, Anthony. "History of Gatto Ent?" May 5, 2008. [http://www.anthonygatto.forumco.com Juggling Talk.] {{Webarchive |url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181215224235/https://anthonygatto.forumco.com/ |date= December 15, 2018 }}</ref> At the age of 13, he came in third place in the individual competition at the 39th annual convention of the [[International Jugglers Association]].<ref>"[https://www.newspapers.com/image/498243023/ Convention attracts 700 jugglers and one teen prodegy]". ''Associated Press''. The Leader-Post (Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada). p. C14.</ref> Anthony Gatto appeared on [[The Tonight Show]]<ref>Fagone, J. (1970, January 1). ''Dropped''. " Dropped. https://grantland.com/features/anthony-gatto-juggling-cirque-du-soleil-jason-fagone/ </ref> in 1985. His family moved to Las Vegas when he was 14 in order to take advantage of the career opportunities located there.<ref>Boiler, Donna E. (July 19, 1989). "[https://www.newspapers.com/image/377979072/ Juggling his way through life]". ''The Baltimore Sun''. p. HCS2.</ref>

==Adult career== In 1998, Gatto met his future wife Danielle, who became his assistant during his performances. A professional dancer, Danielle added circus-style skills to her résumé to accompany her husband on circus tours. Danielle and Anthony married in 1999 and they have two children.

Gatto performed in ''[[Fantasy (Las Vegas show)|Midnight Fantasy]]'' when it premiered in 1999. As he performed largely without speaking, he quickly juggled [[hula hoop]]s, swiftly thrown [[juggling club|clubs]], and balls aimed for [[basket (basketball)|basket]]s.<ref name="Paskevich1999-11-19">{{cite news |last=Paskevich |first=Michael |date=November 19, 1999 |title='Midnight Fantasy' too much of a throwback |url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&docref=news/0FD39252A422BEFA&f=basic |newspaper=[[Las Vegas Review-Journal]] |accessdate=August 1, 2024 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20240801103956/https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&docref=news/0FD39252A422BEFA&f=basic |archivedate=August 1, 2024 }}</ref> Joe Delaney of the ''[[Las Vegas Sun]]'' said that the audience most liked the part of the show where Gatto juggled.<ref name="Delaney1999-11-12">{{cite news |last=Delaney |first=Joe |date=November 12, 1999 |title=Plenty of flesh on display in 'Midnight Fantasy' |url=https://lasvegassun.com/news/1999/nov/12/plenty-of-flesh-on-display-in-midnight-fantasy/ |newspaper=[[Las Vegas Sun]] |accessdate=August 1, 2024 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20240801103714/https://lasvegassun.com/news/1999/nov/12/plenty-of-flesh-on-display-in-midnight-fantasy/ |archivedate=August 1, 2024 }}</ref>

In 2000, he became the first and so far only juggler to win the prestigious Golden Clown award at the 24th [[International Circus Festival of Monte-Carlo]].<ref>{{cite web |title=List of previous award winners |publisher=International Circus Festival of Monte-Carlo |url=http://www.montecarlofestivals.com/siteweb/palmares_precedentes.html |accessdate=October 16, 2009 }}{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Between 2007 and 2009, Gatto's performance was a part of [[Cirque du Soleil]]'s show ''[[Koozå]]''. From 2010 to 2012, he was part of Cirque du Soleil's show [[La Nouba]].

In 2012, Anthony Gatto retired from performing in Cirque Du Soleil in order to run a concrete resurfacing business "Big Top Concrete Resurfacing LLC" under his birth name of Anthony Commarota.<ref name="grantland"/> The business was founded by him in August 2012 and is located in [[Orlando, Florida|Orlando]], Florida.

==Skills== Gatto formerly shared the record for most rings juggled and caught at least once. He currently holds the following 7 [[juggling world records]]:

;Rings *7 rings for 15 minutes 5 seconds in 2011.<ref name=JIS>{{cite web |title=List of Numbers Juggling Records |publisher=Juggling Information Service Committee on Numbers Juggling (JISCON) |url=http://www.juggling.org/records/records.html |accessdate=February 20, 2011 }}</ref> *8 rings for 1 minute 17 seconds in 1989.<ref name=JIS/> *9 rings for 235 catches in 2005.<ref name=JIS/> *10 rings for 47 catches in 2005.<ref name=JIS/> ;Clubs *6 clubs for 7 minutes 38 seconds in 2005.<ref name=JIS/> *7 clubs for 4 minutes 24 seconds in 2005.<ref name=JIS/> ;Balls *9 balls for 55 seconds in 2006.<ref name=JIS/>

==See also== *[[List of jugglers]]

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *{{URL|http://anthonygatto.com|Anthony Gatto's commercial page}} *{{URL|https://www.youtube.com/user/ator1a1m|Anthony Gatto's YouTube channel}} *{{URL|http://juggling.tv/search/anthony+gatto|Videos of Anthony Gatto juggling}} *{{URL|http://bigtopcr.com/|Anthony Commarota's concrete resurfacing business}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20190826154242/http://www.anthonygatto.com/ Snapshot of now defunct website (August 26, 2019)]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gatto, Anthony}} [[Category:1973 births]] [[Category:American circus performers]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Jugglers]] [[Category:People from Ellicott City, Maryland]]