I didn't think a middle school medieval feast would be a big deal

I didn't expect, when I went down to Hill Country Middle School to perform this morning, that nearly all the kids and a bunch of adults would be set up in elaborate Renaissance costumes.

On the way over there I started to worry, because the impression I'd gotten was that I'd be on a stage in the cafeteria, while the kids were eating, and I thought I was going to be up there alone for a full hour, and that it would be hard to interact with the kids since they'd be eating.

But because it WAS a chaotic cafeteria environment, I instead wandered from table to table, got right in the kids faces, and did my bit. It was a lot of fun.

They even had baskets of french bread on the tables, so I was able to break and juggle the bread, a favorite Madrigal Dinner trick of mine.

I get to use my medieval costume again this year

I had unpacked my renaissance costume for the University of Texas Madrigal Dinner, and was just glorying in the fact that I can still fit into my tights (maybe it's not a feat to fit into spandex, but humor me...).

Madrigal was a ton of fun, especially since last year was the first year I've skipped it in many, many, many, many, too many years -- years which reveal how very long it has been since I was in college. But here I was, looking at my bright green costume which has lasted for so many years (since it only gets used for one week out of the year)...and then a post on the Texas Juggling Society mailing list asked for a juggler to do a middle school renaissance fest.

So that's my Friday thing this week, juggling for some middle school kids while wearing tights. Should be fun.

Video from school show

I did a show for Highland Park elementary last spring, and someone shot some video of it, which is hosted here. I didn't even know about this...I bumped into it while vanity Googling. :)

Getting a show via Craigslist

Someone on the Texas Juggling Society's mailing list posted a job that they found on Craigslist. I followed up with the person and now I'm going to be juggling at a corporate party on 9/15.

It hadn't occurred to me before to keep an eye on Craigslist for things like this, but now I'll be searching it on a regular basis.

Booking a show from the Amazing Aaron

So, you want a juggling show? Here's what you need to do:

View the available shows page to get an idea of what is available, then send e-mail to aaron AT damommio DOT com.

Let me know:

• The date of the show.
• The age range of the audience.
• Any special requests (fire? unicycle?) or things to avoid (fire? knives?)
• Your contact information (e-mail and phone, including a day-of-the-show phone number for emergencies).

And consider what I'll need:

• Performance space: Usually a 10' diameter semicircle, unless I'm doing a wandering juggler act.
• Light: Juggling takes light....lots more than a music act needs.
  
• Sound: I don't require sound amplification. But are there other activities going on that will drown out my mostly verbal act? I'll need to know about them; we should discuss the situation. Are there noisy machines? Air conditioners? Musical acts? Yes, I have a painful anecdote for each of these. :)  Hey, I can do a silent act if I need to, but I'd like to know that before I get there. 
  

When I get your message, I'll get back to you to let you know whether I'm available, quote you a price, and talk about any remaining details.

Ringling show this past Saturday

Went to the Ringling Bros. show on Saturday with my oldest daugher (9 yrs). We had a blast. Hardly any juggling at the show, but the graphic design was great. I enjoyed the all black-and-white costumes in the show opening.

There were a lot of height-oriented, heart-stopping bits....some antics at the top of a sway pole and the show climax, a wheel of death.

The sway pole act involves climbing to the top of a long flexible pole. At the top is an apparatus for holding on, and then you make the pole sway. I have to stop there, I might faint. Here's a photo of a sway pole.

The show was heavily aimed at the young, I'd say, except for the danger acts. I doubt the kids got the heart-stopping thing. But after you pay $12 for some cotton candy, your heart is already in danger. :)

Casual juggling at the Round Rock Express game

Okay, I'll pick up things and juggle them whenever I get bored; that's a given. I used to worry about seeming like I'm showing off. But hey, why learn to juggle if you're not going to show off now and then?

We went to a Round Rock Express ball game with my sister and her husband this week. The parklike atmosphere of the .... ball park ... always makes me want to juggle, and I actually juggled there when the cub scouts paraded on Scout Night. But I hadn't brought anything to juggle.

The giveaway that eve, though, was Mr. Potato Heads (with baseball player paraphernalia). So I ended up carrying three or four of them around. And so I had to juggle them.

They were funny things, too. I mean, the potato part was a good juggle item, but everything was in a plastic bag along with it. I noticed that even though THIS version of Mr. Potato Head doesn't have an opening for storing accessories inside it, the makers had scribed a groove for a pretend opening anyway. I'm not sure what the point of modeling a pretend compartment is.

So I'm standing around juggling these things when we're walking around the park, or when I'm waiting for my family to go to the bathroom (three kids, it takes a while). I heard some teenagers hollering things at me..."Oh, you should be on TV" or something like that, but in a snide way. It was nice to be grown up enough to ignore that. And then a few people stopped and were really enjoying the juggling. Same sort of material...pretty routine ball juggling, although I hammed it up for the nice people, of course. But the reaction was completely different.

I'm glad it came in that order, anyway: the bad reaction and then the good one. :)

I spend a lot of time elaborating my act with lots of additional props. It's interesting to see the fun people can get out of something so simple as me juggling three objects I happened to bump into.