Viral Video
In 2006 Bliss enjoyed widespread fame when an online video of his juggling finale became a viral internet sensation. The five minute video shows his energetic finale where he juggles 3 balls to Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End by The Beatles. The video was widely circulated via email and blogs with an estimated 20 million viewings within the first 40 days alone. Total views to date are estimate to be over 80 million.
The video caused quite a stir in the juggling world, with Bliss appearing as a guest on Penn Jillette's radio show, Penn was himself a juggler and is associated with the World Juggling Federation. Many jugglers were surprised and confused by the success that Bliss had found with such a simple juggling routine. In response to this, Jason Garfield, a highly accomplished technical juggler, recorded a parody video of Bliss' finale using much more technical tricks and with five balls rather than three. This video is a more technically demanding performance set to the same music, which attempts to emulate exactly Bliss' performance with two extra balls to contend with. This video also went viral, further boosting the fame of the original.
Following the success of his "Grand Finale" video, the UK musician Fatboy Slim ran an online competition on MySpace asking for fans to submit juggling videos for the single release That Old Pair of Jeans. The competition asked whether you can "Juggle to music like Chris Bliss" and featured a video of Bliss juggling three balls in his unique style to the single. John Augustus "Gus" Tate was announced the competition's winner on Fatboy Slim's MySpace on August 2, 2006.
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