Growing up in Westminster, young Andy Sapora dreamed of navigating the stars as an astronaut. Today at 29, he is working with the wildest of stars, juggling and joking on stages around the world.

A performance by the Flying Karamazov Brothers 16 years ago altered the direction of Sapora's life. So impressed was he, that joining the troupe became a driving ambition.

"I saw them and said, 'That's for me,'" he said.

It took 16 years, but in January, after days of rigorous tryouts, Sapora was called to the brotherhood by the renowned stars of catch and kitsch. He immediately adopted the family motto juglito ergo sum (I juggle therefore I am) and a Russian name: Nikita.

The arduous journey from the audience at that inspirational show in Washington to the spotlight included three years at Oberlin College, a stint at a theater school in Paris, another at a circus college in Brussels, Belgium, and ultimately, life as a starving actor in Los Angeles.

"They should put up a warning at the [California] state line, that says 'Don't even try,'" he said of his initiation into the acting world. "Everybody [there] is working as an actor or trying to."

Sapora said he knows he is one of the fortunate few. He is traveling the country as a "long lost, newly found brother," juggling all sorts of oddities and tossing a silly brand of humor to audiences everywhere, including the Columbia Arts Festival, where he performed Saturday.

The troupe, formed in 1973, launched a nationwide search this year so it could offer "two different shows in different places at the same time," according to its Web site.

Founding members auditioned numerous candidates at the family compound in Seattle. Sapora, a juggling standout at Westminster High School, famous for his flaming torches, may have had a slight edge with a Karamazov who had seen him perform in Paris. Still, he had to prove his skills in individual and group juggling, music, martial arts and acrobatics.

"They also had to show how funny they are," said stage manager Kristina Wicke. "That was a big factor, and Andy was up to it."

Sapora is listed in Flying Karamazov Brothers play books as Nikita, part of a foursome performing the show Catch!

"The family resemblance and genetic zaniness is downright astonishing," the Web site says of the four new "brothers."

Company manager Rhonda Sable said Sapora played well with others.

"Andy has been a Karamazov fan for a long time and knew a lot about the troupe," she said. "He has a certain sensibility that impressed the founders. He really knew the Karamazov thing."

"It was easy to get into their style. Silliness is me," said Sapora. "These guys have been my heroes for years. It was not hard for me to fit in."

The 'Karamazov thing'

The "Karamazov thing," he said, is comic sensibility or a vaudevillian schtick. That works best through interaction with the audience. The troupe is so in tune with the audience that it has frequently started the show over for theater latecomers.

"You can tell really stupid jokes and if you sell them with heart and soul, the audience will laugh," Sapora said. "The fact that you think it's funny is what is funny. If you push it far enough, they will laugh."

The newly chosen brothers had to comb through the sacred text that is their calling -- Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov -- and rename themselves after a character.

"I had to dig deeper into the sacred text, because all the main characters were taken long ago," said Sapora. "But, fortunately, it's a very long book. Nikita is actually the drunken husband of a woman whose confession to a priest is detailed. He never really has anything to say, but it's OK. He's in there."

Nikita's bio is deliberately vague, Sapora said. His talents include mechanical aptitude, seamanship and linguistic ability. Sapora can tinker with a clunker, teach basic sailing and translate love letters into fluid French or sketchy Swedish.

"It's all true but very irrelevant," said Sapora.

The new brothers started slowly -- "like a new baby" -- with the troupe, doing one show a week. The schedule now is two weeks on and two weeks off.

"This is the best living I have ever made in my life," Sapora said. "I have gone from starving actor to one who eats well. I finally told my dad he didn't have to pay my health insurance anymore."

'Loving every minute'

His parents, Robert and Carol Sapora of Westminster, both college English teachers -- he at Western Maryland College and she at Villa Julie College -- said they planned to pack the audience at the Rouse Theater with family and friends. Their son also invited a few of his favorite high school teachers, but told them he long ago lost track of his flaming torches.

Now that he has found a job that he loves, Sapora plans to stick with it as long as he can.

"As long as it's fun and it works, I will keep doing this," he said. "So far, I am having a great time and loving every minute."