Robert Butler’s NIGHT OF THE JUGGLER is not what the title makes it sound like.

It sounds like some kind of bizarro New York neo-noir fairytale, like STREETS OF FIRE (1984) or AFTER HOURS (1985), but it’s far more grounded than that: An ex-cop (James Brolin)’s daughter (Abby Bluestone) is kidnapped by a troubled New Yorker with a grudge against the developers who razed the Bronx neighborhood where he grew up. Problem is, that guy? The Juggler (Cliff Gorman)? He went and grabbed the wrong guy’s little girl!

Anyway, absolutely zero juggling takes place in its 100-odd minutes. Instead, it’s a fascinating display of the Big Apple at the end of the ‘70s — an odyssey from Central Park to the South Bronx — replete with mouthy cabbies (Mandy Patinkin), roving gangs in flamboyant fits, Dan Hedaya with a shotgun, porno peep shows, harried lieutenants, violent gentrification, and virulent racism.

Join us on our journey across DA GREATEST CITY ON OITH as we discuss the simple joys of a simple protagonist, how much sympathy we can really have for someone like The Juggler, and then end up talking about juggalos (of course).

References:

• Join Finn’s big queer movie night at the Trylon on November 13, 2025


• “A Juggler, an Apple Farmer, and a Psychotic Slumlord walk into a bar in a Bankrupt City…” by Lucas Hardwick for Perisphere, the Trylon blog


• Give to the Trylon’s Film Forever Fund so they never have to increase ticket prices!


• Check the calendar, preview upcoming series, and buy tickets


• Contribute to Perisphere, the Trylon blog

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Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast, Bluesky at @trylovepodca.st, and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch!

Show art by Emily Csuy. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro music by Seawind from the NIGHT OF THE JUGGLER end credits.

Timestamps

0:00 - Episode 355: NIGHT OF THE JUGGLER (1980)

4:22 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary

11:38 - James Brolin as Sean Boyd

16:57 - Mostly a movie about New York

35:11 - The NYC on display in the frenetic chase scene

43:23 - Sympathy for the Juggler

1:08:15 - The Junk Drawer

1:16:00 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 1980

1:22:34 - Cody’s Noteys: Night of the Juggalo (juggalo-adjacent trivia)