On January 22nd, I had a show at the Galilee Baptist Church in Gorham, Maine. Due to other commitments, neither my wife, Sue, nor our daughter, Rose, was able to attend this show. I was admittedly nervous going into this show as my most recent show in Livermore was less than spectacular (See previous blog). However, there was no need, as this time, my juggling was flawless, and it was my best all around performance in recent memory. It reminded me of the line from the Jackson Browne song, “We forget about the losses, we exaggerate the wins.”
I opened the show with “Dry Bones Dance”. I knew if I avoided this routine after my frustrations three nights earlier, I would become more and more likely to avoid it in the future. (Sort of like what they say about falling off of a bike.) Before this show, however, I cut the eye holes of my glow in the dark skeleton mask to make them wider, and that made all the difference. Not only did this allow me a better field of vision, but using this mask instead of an all black mask as I’d done in earlier performances, made a much better costume. A glowing headless skeleton was, well, just kind of weird. In the end, the routine was perfect, and the audience loved it.
The rest of my juggling was just as strong. Not only that, I took some risks that I’ve avoided lately. I ended “Hallelujah” with five different sized balls, ranging from a golf ball to a basketball. I also did four different sizes on a double balance board in the same routine. For the first time in a while I performed back crosses with machetes. It was just plain a great evening.
Now, if I sound boastful here, please forgive me. I have battled repetitive motion injuries for years, and I have had to rethink and relearn many patterns. It feels wonderful to have re-attained tricks I have not been able to perform for, in some cases, years. And for that matter, bad performances like the other night are due more to other circumstances than my RMI.
Getting back to the show, the audience, an AWANA club of children from kindergarten through sixth grade, was excellent and seemed to enjoy every minute. I focused on routines that stressed the importance of knowing Scripture, as “faith comes from hearing, and hearing the Word of God.” I trust that some of the children learned something; clearly they all had fun.