The Passing Zone | |
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 Jon Wee (left) and Owen Morse in an undated publicity photo | |
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| Website | www |
The Passing Zone is an Americancomedy-juggling duo comprisingJon Wee andOwen Morse. Wee, originally fromMinnesota, and Morse, a California native, met at ajuggling convention innorthern California in 1986 and decided two years later to team up. Since then, the Passing Zone has won 18gold medals from theInternational Jugglers' Association (IJA) and holds fiveGuinness World Records.
The Passing Zone was one of ten finalists out of hundreds of acts to perform during thedebut season ofNBC'sAmerica's Got Talent where, despite finishing as "the highest rated comedy act," Wee and Morse "lost one million dollars toBianca Ryan." They also appeared during the 11th Season ofNBC'sAmerica's Got Talent, where they were eliminated in the semifinals. They have entertained as part of theRoyal Variety Performance for England'sPrince Charles—sharing the bill withTony Bennett and the cast ofRiverdance, among others—and also have been "guest performers" at theWhite House.[1][2] The Passing Zone performs regularly for some of the top corporations in the United States while "inspiring groups to be betterteams."[1]
Jonathan Wee is one of three children of David and Karen Wee and was raised inNorthfield, Minnesota.[3] A performer since age 14, Wee preferred to juggle with partners. He performed with two childhood friends, calling themselvesThree of Clubs, and worked the Minnesota Renaissance Fair. Wee admits that they "were really pretty bad," although in the end he figures that fair officials "thought, 'we'll let them in.'"[4] Owen Morse, ofTustin, California,[5] began performing in high school, crafted a 15-minute-long, sports-themed routine set to music, and eventually earned work through an agency in Hollywood, playing the Sawdust Festival inLaguna Beach while in high school and working atDisneyland while in college.[6]
A mutual friend introduced Wee and Morse at a jugglers' convention inSan Jose, California, and they spent the next year corresponding regularly. The two met again at the IJA convention inAkron, Ohio, and decided to pair up in 1988[4] for the Teams Championships inDenver, Colorado, where they took thesilver medal only "two weeks after their first performance together." The following year, they took the gold.[1]
Wee elected to move tosouthern California after he graduated fromLuther College that spring. Morse graduated one year later fromUniversity of California, Irvine.[4] By the end of 2006, Morse was living in Tustin with his wife and their two daughters while Wee lived inHermosa Beach with his wife and their son and daughter.[6]
Wee and Morse spent several years honing their act at comedy clubs, trade shows and colleges. They were the first jugglers documented to pass eleven clubs between them.[7] In addition, their performances have been seen as innovative, having created such routines as "The Chainsaw Ballet" (performed toThe Blue Danube)[8] and "people juggling" (featuring three audience members hanging from special rigging).[9] All in all the pair owns fiveGuinness World Records and has collected 18gold medals from the IJA.[1]
The Passing Zone was among the varied acts taking part in theRoyal Variety Performance atDominion Theatre in 1994 for England'sPrince Charles, who called their act "very clever, although I'm glad I wasn't sitting in the front row!"[2] Wee and Morse have performed duringhalf-time shows atNBA,CBA andNCAA sporting events. They have been featured on such television programs asComic Strip Live,The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (in 1990 and 1991),[6]Donny & Marie andLive with Regis and Kathie Lee.[10] They were hired as jugglingstand-ins forRaúl Juliá andChristopher Lloyd inThe Addams Family (1991), performing "in the climactic Mamushka dagger-passing scene."[11] In 2005, the pair took part inPenn Jillette's comedy documentaryThe Aristocrats,[12] and appeared as juggling chefs in an episode ofHell's Kitchen.[13]
Wee and Morse have been "guest performers" at the White House. They also were hired to provide guest commentary forESPN's coverage of theWorld Juggling Federation competitions.
The men actively market their act to corporate events, where they demonstrate the concept of teamwork by bringing executives and employees to the stage and by using the company's products and logos as part of their act.[1] They have performed to stress the value of teamwork for such diverse organizations asBoeing,Deloitte and Touche,Hewlett-Packard,Mattel and theUnited States Army.[14]
The Passing Zone made its first appearance duringseason 1 ofAmerica's Got Talent, as part of the Chicago auditions aired on July 5, 2006. Wee bounced a rubber (prop) bowling ball off of Morse's face ("to make sure you're paying attention"), then climbed onto Morse's shoulders while Morse balanced on aRola Bola long enough for the duo to juggle a total of six flaming torches in unison. The judges' assessments were not unanimous;David Hasselhoff rejected them ("That's the act?!") whileBrandy andPiers Morgan wanted to see more.[15]
Wee and Morse replicated "people juggling" for thesemi-finals on August 2, 2006, winning over the audience and Hasselhoff ("I think I have just gotten out of 'I Hate Jugglers Anonymous'. I thought that was fantastic!").[16] One of ten acts to return for the finals two weeks later, The Passing Zone brought Hasselhoff to the stage and, as all three men wore torches atop construction helmets (and with Hasselhoff holding four spinning plates), Wee and Morse passedsickles back and forth around him.[17] Though Morgan thought they had done well, the act finished in the bottom five when the results of the viewers' vote were announced on August 17, 2006.[5]
The Passing Zone auditioned forseason 11 ofAmerica's Got Talent in an episode broadcast on July 5, 2016. Wee and Morse asked judgeHowie Mandel to lie on the stage; Morse straddled Mandel while juggling a mouse trap, a flaming plunger, and a taser. Wee then jumped over Morse while continuing to juggle the items. The act was put through to the Judges Cuts round,[18] where their knife-throwing routine ended with Mandel in a dunk tank and earned them a trip to the live shows.[19]
Wee and Morse returned to "people juggling" for their next performance, this time juggling judges Mandel,Heidi Klum, andMel B.[20] They were eliminated from the competition the following night.[21] They returned to the competition as the judges' wild card act, set to appear during the show's second semi-final week.[22] As promised, their act included judgeSimon Cowell and "more risk of death" with numerous flaming torches.[23] They were eliminated by popular vote.[24]
| Year | Film | Role | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | The Addams Family | Gomez and Fester Addams as jugglers | Stand-ins forRaúl Juliá andChristopher Lloyd |
| 2005 | The Aristocrats | themselves | |
| 2005 | Hell's Kitchen | themselves | 1 episode Season 11, Episode 16[25] |
| 2019 | Holey Moley | themselves | Appeared as The Distractor |
| 2021 | Game of Talents | themselves | Season 1, Episode 5[26] |
