For the last three decades Mat Ricardo has made his living travelling around the world performing tricks – feats of dexterity, juggling, balance and associated manipulative miscellanea. While his feet have trod the boards of theatres, the shiny floors of TV studios and the cobblestones of piazzas, his hands have pulled tablecloths off and back onto tables, flipped hats, bounced balls, spun plates, and done all manner of crowd-pleasing, jaw-dropping malarkey. 

But he has a problem. He thinks he might have run out of tricks to learn.

So, he's doing something stupid. 

Mat Ricardo is officially challenging everyone in the world to try to come up with tricks that they think he can't learn.

Anyone, anywhere, can tweet him a challenge @MatRicardo, he'll pick the most interesting ones, and then devote the next year of his life to attempting to learn them well enough to perform in front of a live audience, in his new one man show “Mat Ricardo vs The World”, which will premiere at the Edinburgh Fringe in Summer 2018.

There are some rules: 

• (1) Nothing that it's impossible or unreasonable for a middle aged man to be able to do.
• (2) Nothing that could kill him. Although a little danger is always fun, right?
• (3) No singing.

The Gentleman Juggler is gambling his reputation and going all in. One big bet – that you can't find a trick that he can't learn. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram to see how his year progresses, and don't forget to spread the word – the more people who submit challenges, the more fun we all have. 

Picture: Veronika Verve Marx

Watch Mat Ricardo's appeal below.