What to know
- Toronto resident Wade Stokan is a social media content creator with nearly one million followers, after he started filming juggling videos in 2024.
- Stokan started juggling in Grade 10 after being inspired by Cirque du Soleil. He’s been juggling for the past 15 years.
- His juggling videos feature everything from trending songs to his favourite track, the B-52s’ “Rock Lobster.”
- Stokan says he’s angry at AI deepfakes for stealing his videos and impersonating him and smaller creators.
Wade Stokan is a jack of many trades. He’s a music and gaming writer by day, and a juggling maestro by night.
The Toronto resident posts nearly daily videos of himself juggling to music in his kitchen across Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. Since taking content creation seriously in 2024, Stokan has turned his niche hobby into a viral sensation, racking up hundreds of millions of views and nearly one million followers across his social media channels.
Curious about his rise to the top of the “flow art” community, Now Toronto sat down with Stokan to find out when he learned to juggle, why he loves “Rock Lobster” by the B-52s, and how he feels about the never-ending AI deepfakes mimicking his videos.
A skill that would set Stokan apart
Stokan says his juggling journey started about 15 years ago when he was entering Grade 10. As a theatre kid, he wanted to find a skill that would set him apart from everyone else. He knew juggling was “the one” after watching a Cirque du Soleil performance.
“I knew like my brother was into Rubik’s cubes, but that’s not for me. I was trying to figure something out,” Stokan remembers.
“I saw a Cirque du Soleil performance of OVO, which was a show all about insects. It had a juggler who blew my mind.”
While taking a test in high school, someone gave Stokan a stress ball. Seizing the opportunity, he then stole two more. He says learning to juggle with weightless foam balls is not something he recommends anyone. Balls with a bit of heft are necessary to build hand-eye coordination, muscle feedback, and control.
“I think that’s why it took me so long. But I’ve always been a very determined person, and if I really get into something, I have to milk it for all that it’s worth. I have to see what I can get out of this before I put it away,” he says.
“Rock Lobster” by the B-52s
Stokan has great taste in music. In each of his juggling videos, he’s slinging balls to his favourite bops — like “Pop Musik” and “Drop It Like It’s Hot” — or trending songs, like Adéla’s “Nicole Kidman.”
But his most commonly used song of all time is “Rock Lobster” by the B-52s. Stokan says his love for the B-52s is all thanks to his parents’ fun and eclectic taste in music.
“Growing up, I loved the B-52s. My parents always had really fun eclectic taste, especially when it came to [music from] the 70s and 80s.”
He first juggled to “Rock Lobster” during Saturday Night Live’s (SNL) 50th anniversary. His mom suggested the idea after watching the band perform during the special.
“I was like, ‘That’s a pretty good idea, I can’t believe I haven’t done that song,’” Stokan details.
“I made a video one day of me juggling to the B-52s. I tagged them and SNL with a caption like, ‘Love seeing the B-52s killing it on SNL.’ That video now has 30 million views.”
Stokan says shooting his shot totally worked out. Now the band reposts his videos and has invited him to shows. He says he’s formed an online digital friendship with the band.
AI deepfakes
Becoming a social media sensation has its upsides and its downsides. For Stokan, the biggest downside are the never-ending AI deepfakes that steal his videos. Fake accounts have been taking his videos, running them through generative AI, and slapping a new face and upper body on top, before reposting it as organic content.
Stokan says it could be the size of his account, but just in the last three weeks, he’s received over 30 messages informing him that his videos have been stolen by AI.
“I’ll have people say to me, ‘Do you know this person?’ I’m like, ‘Well they’re not real, so how could I know this person?’”
Although Stokan feels grateful that he’s put juggling in front of more eyes and uplifted fellow jugglers in the “flow arts” community, seeing fake AI accounts steal from him — and smaller creators — makes him extremely angry.
“It really upsets me when I see these [AI] accounts stealing from smaller creators,” he says.
“I have a brand already — people know my kitchen, people know my style. But when I see people stealing from smaller accounts and [AI account] wind up getting paid, but the actual human being doesn’t, it makes me angrier than like any other thing I can think of.”
Tips on learning to juggle
When asked if he has any advice for aspiring jugglers, Stokan says it’s not a quick skill to learn, but he’s adamant that “any human being can learn to juggle within 30 minutes.”
He says you need three things: a sense of rhythm, weighted balls (navel oranges are a great substitute) and space in front of a wall.
“I always say stand in front of a wall and always focus on throwing one. You always want one ball in each hand and one ball in the air, and you are swapping the one in the air with the one in your hand,” Stokan explains.
“You have to be in tune with rhythm and you have to be in tune with your body.”
