The Wiggles asked David Russell to be Captain Feathersword but he said no

When the Wiggles created Captain Feathersword, they wanted David Russell to audition for the role. But he turned them down.

David Russell doesn’t do regrets.

So the former professional juggler, magician and children’s entertainer barely pauses when asked if he ever thought about what could have been when The Wiggles asked if he wanted to audition for a new role they were creating in the early 1990s.

The character was Captain Feathersword, the friendly pirate who has gone on to entertain generations of children with his skivvy-wearing, dancing and singing mates.

Mr Russell was the perfect candidate. He was already an experienced children’s entertainer who had spent two years working on a cruise ship off Japan before returning to Australia and establishing himself as the go-to clown in Sydney’s kids’ birthday party scene.

He had also run a magic store and taught The Wiggles’ yellow-skivvied lead singer Greg Page some magic tricks.

David “Juggs” Russell making balloon animals at his property in Aldinga Beach. Picture: Ben Clark

And he had performed as the warm-up act for the Wiggles in several shows at The Domain in Sydney, wowing thousands of children with an energetic mixture of juggling, unicycle riding, making balloon animals and magic.

But when The Wiggles asked if he wanted to audition to become Captain Feathersword, it was a flat no from Mr Russell.

“I didn’t even entertain the idea,” Russell, now 52 and living at Aldinga Beach, says. “People sometimes say, ‘Oh, I bet you regret that’ but no, not at all.

“They were already famous and doing their thing, so I knew what I was turning down, or not applying for, but I wasn’t interested. Not at all.”

Firstly, it was the wrong time of his life. Russell was the father to two young children, had another one on the way and a fourth would come along not much further down the track. He wasn’t ready to give up his young family for a life living out of a suitcase, performing around the globe.

Secondly, he was nervous he wouldn’t be able to meet The Wiggles’ already famously high standards around polish and technical excellence.

David “Juggs” Russell juggling batons at his property at Aldinga Beach. Picture: Ben Clark

And thirdly he didn’t want the public scrutiny that he knew would come with joining Australia’s most talked about children’s act.

And so he turned down the chance to become Captain Feathersword, despite acting as magic consultant on The Wiggles self-titled 1997 movie.

Thirty years later, he has no regrets. Although he no longer performs professionally as a children’s entertainer, his juggling, magic and balloon animal skills remain a hit with both his own grandchildren and kids of friends and relatives.

He no longer juggles knives, chainsaws or fire clubs like he once did back in the day, but can still comfortably juggle five balls at a time, whips up balloon animals in an instant and is more than happy to give the Sunday Mail a quick tutorial in fire breathing.

The semi-retired former professional firefighter and army reservist moved from Sydney to Adelaide five years ago and is known universally as Juggs - short, of course, for Juggler.

He is a volunteer team leader for Operation Flinders, leading groups of often troubled teenagers on week-long hikes in the northern Flinders Ranges.

He has also spent the past few months preparing a 1990 Volvo he’s christened Chiquitita for this year’s SA Variety Bash, for which he and his team, named Team Abba, raised $10,000.

David “Juggs” Russell blowing a fireball from his mouth at his property in Aldinga Beach. Picture: Ben Clark