Juggling Field Notes

After they’ve accepted that juggling can sometimes be a job, the next question most people have is… “okay, but where do you do that?” Even though I’ve been juggling professionally since I was a young teenager, that question still stumps me sometimes. I’ve juggled for 8 kids at a living room birthday party and for a stadium of more than 10,000 people, on truck bed trailers in the Arkansas summer sun and under the (equally hot and bright) stage lights of century-old theaters. So there’s no easy, elevator-pitch-style answer to where you might find me juggling for an audience, because the only way to have this job is to be able to make it work just about anywhere.

It’s virtually impossible to perform for the exact same audience twice, and every venue is equally as unique… well, I’m not sure I’d call the busy hallway of a retirement home a venue, but you get the idea. That means if I want people to enjoy it—which I usually do—every juggling show has to be handcrafted for the job. And no matter how much I plan, I still never really know how a show is going to unfold until it does. Sometimes I’m still not totally sure what happened until I’m already on the drive home, carefully thinking through what got good laughs or applause; appreciating the once-in-a-lifetime moments that I wish could happen every show; or finally thinking up a good zinger for the beer-breathed heckler in the second row.

Whether it’s because of the lessons I want to carry forward for next time or the thrill of nailing my latest trick in front of a cheering crowd, there are some shows I never want to forget (and some that I’m still trying to). I’m a sucker for documenting life, so my Juggling Field Notes are where I recount the stories of over 15 years of juggling in every corner of Arkansas and across the South.