Friendship House, in South Portland, Maine, is a voluntary sobriety house for men.  It has been a regular part of the LOL schedule for a few years now, as well as my own yearly tour.  LOL went to Friendship House on a Monday afternoon in May to do an outdoor show. The audeince loved what they did, and the kids had a blast!

We arrived early, which allowed us to set up and have Luke run through his eighth grade solo.  For whatever reason, Friendship House has an amazing rope swing in a tree in their yard, so the kids had a great time on that.  Then, after a picnic lunch in their yard, it was show time.  As always, LOL opened with their high energy opening routine in which each performer is introduced individually.  Since this was a show in the evening, a few of the students were unavailable, but the ones who were present went above and beyond filling in for their classmates.  Mary was outstanding as a 'ditzy airhead' in Prodigal Juggler' and Isaiah was terrific as the younger son in the same skit.

The highlight of the show, no doubt, was Luke's eighth grade solo, which was all done with devil sticks.  He wrapped up his solo with fire devil sticks on a balance board!  He was a hit.  But, as usual, the biggest highlight was interacting with the audience afterwards.  The kids have gotten so good at this, and it is important for them to see that these men are not 'drunks' or 'winos', but men trying hard, with the help of Jesus, to get their lives back on track.