The Rock House Teen Center has been in the small town of Oxford, Maine for decades at this point.  It has had several changes of directorship, including the tragic loss of Maine Christian music icon Barry Lowe, who died in a car accident on his way to the center on a foggy December night.  Between this loss and the Covid-19 pandemic, it wasn't clear if they would survive, but they have thanks to the dedication of a group of volunteers who believe that the teens who might not play sports or go to dances still need a place to hang out on a Friday night.  Last week I had the blesing to do my third show of this year at the Rock House, and I've loved it every time.

I won't lie, Friday night gigs are not easy during the school year anymore.  After teaching all week, to have the energy or motivation to then go out and do a show is becoming more and more challenging.  But God is good,and one more cup of strong coffee helped as well.  When I started setting up the gig, I was beginning to think I could pull it off.  What is especially nice about the new leadership at the RHTC is they feed the teens a meal at the start of the evening.  This means, the juggler also gets a free meal as well.  This time it was shepherd's pie, and it was both tasty and filling.  I was on right after the show in place of their usual devotional time and prior to when the game room would become available to the youths.

The kids were with me from the start.  I did a new routine (only performed once before at my school's talent show) which involves three consecutive and interconnected card predictions.  Of course I did a lot of standards such as "When the Saints Come Marching In", the resurrection illusion / story, and dove and rabbit productions.  The teens who were present (only about a dozen total) fell in love with the rabbit, but it was really the birds that brought the house down.  While waiting to perform, they laid TWO eggs, which I showed them audience after the production.  They found that really cool.

I ended with machete juggling followed by the hand guillotine, another fairly new one, and some closing comments about the grace of God.  Upon leaving the center, I found myself more energized than I started, and - with the exception of a rough start to my cigar box routine, my performance was surprisingly on pointe for a Friday night gig.