Sybil Bruncheon's "Hysterical Histories... Follow The Bouncing Ball"...

Ah yes... the famous though tragic Prince Юсипов вонючие шарики (Yusipov Smellibalz). Distantly related to the Czar, he gambled away his own small fortune on horse and dog racing, roulette, and billiards. He was granted a certain amount of leeway by loansharks and disreputable carnival persons because of his Romanov connection, but finally, the more unsavory of them began to use more dangerous threats trying to collect their debts from him. Once his own Fabergé eggs had been pawned along with his collection of luxury automobiles, stable of thoroughbreds, and the family silver, he was forced to join the sad Vaudeville circuit that traveled the entire length of Russia, from the Baltic Sea all the way to Siberia. His extraordinary talent at billiards, especially "novelty shots" was the draw... and of course his young children's acrobatic abilities on the balance beam, even and uneven bars, and the tumbling mats! The family was listed as YUSSY & HIS SMELLIBALLS! (postcript: The Prince and his family escaped the Revolution and emerged in New York City in 1920 as a band of performers "Saluted And Admired By The Crowned Heads Of Europe!)...

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