JUGGLEMANIA!!!
Summer Reading. No two words evoke more in the feelz department of any Youth Services librarian. The programs, the swag, the parents, the PAPERWORK! As a lowly circulation specialist, summer reading means that I become special attache to the Youth Services librarian for the summer. My poor circ cohorts are stuck signing kiddos up for summer reading, dispersing prizes, and cleaning up dropped book bag massacres. Me, I become the Almost Ansel Adams of programming photography. Apparently my skill (ha ha) at capturing programs in action on an ancient digital camera was noticed, and I'm not complaining, as it means that I get to watch every special program our library puts on! YAY!
Okay, I don't get to just take pictures. I also pack around a stupid amount of chairs, tables, and library detritus. Most summer reading special events days I feel a bit like a clown, photographer, roadie at a classic rock or Wiggles concert, and stress relief counselor. Can you tell yet that I love summer reading?
Yesterday was the official kickoff and the last day of school at the elementary school next door to our branch. After struggling to find a parking spot due to all of the parents overflowing into our parking lot because of the last day of school BBQ next door, I exited my little blue car with a big ol smile on my face, for summer reading shenanigans were about to commence.
The library's garbage bin was still sitting on the sidewalk as it is emptied on Tuesdays. There was a bespectacled man in a blue mini van sitting to the right of the can, and I paid him little mind as I juggled two full book bags of library items I was returning, my lunch, my purse, and rolling the can up the sidewalk. Suddenly I heard this voice,
Did I have one of those? Was my first thought as I looked up to spy a rather well conditioned glasses wearing man smiling at me.
"Yah, I'm here early, just grabbing a sandwich. Then I'll unpack." This juggler was talking to me like we were old friends.
Dude smiled and returned to what I hoped was a most excellent sandwich, and I found myself looking forward to his performance for he totally made a favorable impression.
The next hour evaporated in a whirlwind. We don't have a big meeting space in our tiny library branch so we rent the community center next door for big events. Yesterday was great because I had a volunteer! I love temporary interns! His name was Kyle, and Kyle and I set up free stuff tables, made a reader board to point people in the direction of the community center, and moved a ton of tables and chairs so the jugglemaniac Rhys Thomas could have plenty of room for his performance. I was having a blast and trying really hard not to squeak out one of my favorite movie lines of all time:
"Don't you point that gun at him, he's an unpaid intern!" (I'll send $1SBD to the first person who can name the movie that line comes from in the comments!)
It was almost show time, I grabbed the library's ancient Kodak Easyshare digital camera and down to the community center I sashayed. One-hundred and twenty-five people later the show began.
Now, a lot of the time our special events are repeats of previous years, but Rhys Thomas was new. I was especially intruiged to see his performance because it included "Stunt Teddy" What in the wide world of forks was a freaking stunt teddy?
Each Summer Reading has a theme. This year's is "Build A Better World." I know this because I have a super, fancy black t-shirt adorned with the slogan in rainbow colored script. No way I'm forgetting it as it is emblazoned across my chest on program days. Rhys started his program by tossing a kendama around on a string all fantastically. He never said a word and over the next few tricks the crowd had quieted down and was watching him in enraptured silence.
The red Dickie pants and sequined bedecked juggler went on to explain the purpose of his show. He told the kids the way to building a better world is through two things: curiosity and willingness. His combination of circus tricks and scientific explanation was incredible. There were history lessons on the origins of juggling, a tennis ball juggle-orated Tongan folk tale, and the trotting out off the ever-anticipated Stunt Teddy.
I almost snorted when Rhys and Stunt Teddy did their first trick. Stunt Teddy was chained up and the juggler quipped that the chaining was:
I bit the inside of my cheeks and choked back a laugh, an action that I completed many times throughout the show, for while never inappropriate, there was an incredible amount of quips of the dry and sarcastic variety.
Upon closer inspection of Stunt Teddy's costume we could see that he was:
The Beardevil's final performance was being shot out of an air cannon at 40lbs of air pressure, soaring across the mouth gaping passel of astonished and delightfully screaming children.
Stunt Teddy went on to chill in his chair and Rhys continued on. He shot an entire bucket full of spring snakes onto the jubilant crowd of youngsters out of a homemade apparatus consisting of a Home Depot bucket and other science-like accoutrements.
During the talk about failure and how it was an important part of trying he recited a poem and dropped some of the blocks he was doing tricks with three times during the exhibition recitation. I think he did this on purpose to demonstrate the principle that he was talking about:
One of my favorite moments was when Rhys pulled on some Justice League boxers for his final trick, turned around, pointed to his left bum cheek and said, "Ooh! I didn't mean to Flash ya!"
Those hero bedecked undies gave him the extra support he needed to stand on a rolla bolla and juggle a bowling ball and two knives. The man went hard for an hour, explaining, wise-cracking, and performing like a champ. If you ever get the chance to watch a performance by Rhys Thomas I totally recommend it. You will not only be enthralled, you'll probably learn something, and at the very least you will be totally entertained!
And as always, all of the images in this post were taken on the author's juggled, along with the library's ancient camera, iPhone.
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