Jugglin' Jambalaya

Every year there is a juggling festival held at Reed College.  Professional and amateur jugglers and vaudevillians gather from the Portland area and around the country to lead and / or attend workshops, perform, and generally ply their craft. Matilda's extended family is heavily involved in planning, participating,  and performing and hosting the closing night party at Matilda's house.  

Mario and I went to the public performance Saturday, the acts were breathtaking and hilarious, generally at the same time.  Our favorites:  The marvelous and Matilda-fathering Rhys Thomas;  you can see some of his work here:



For Saturday's show he did an amazing bit juggling cigar boxes in rhythm to his recitation of Shel Silverstein's poem, "SARAH CYNTHIA SYLVIA STOUT WOULD NOT TAKE THE GARBAGE OUT"

Our other favorite performer was Nate Cooper, who was absolutely hysterical and a true virtuoso. Unfortunately this video doesn't do his act justice, because you lose his priceless facial expressions, but nonetheless, check it out:


For me he evokes a warped melange of Red Skelton and Fred Astaire.

Obviously, we can't wait for next years show...

Rachel got to attend the "Renegade Show" Friday night that is closed to all but participants (and features much bawdiness and heckling), as well as workshops--she came away with two new skills, one of which is juggling two balls in one hand, the other I can't describe but is also extremely cool.

Anyway...

I'm blogging about this mostly because I volunteered to cook for the party Sunday night at the Thomases, feeding 50-70 folks, mostly performers.  I made sausage and chicken jambalaya, vegan red beans and rice, and salad.  I also ordered loaves of "my" poor boy bread from Allessio. The "project" turned out to be a great morale booster.  It was a lot of work, of course, but the planning, execution was so straightforward for me. And, to be perfectly frank, I knew the food would be excellent and people would love it.  So no stress about getting it done or doubt that it would be successful.  And I did it for less than $2 per person (groceries only), with copious leftovers.  I just know how to do this stuff, and it never fails to jazz me up when my work pleases others...

Oh!  And this was great...two vegetarians* in attendance "jumped the fence" because the jambalaya looked so enticing...and came back for seconds.  <grin>

It was a much appreciated reminder that cooking is my performance art, and it features its own forms of juggling, tightrope walking, and knife tricks. <rim shot> <Applause>


* Admittedly, not strict vegetarians...