I was performing at a Community Event in Boghall, along with a Christian escapologist/magician/artist, and after I had performed a fire club routine to attract a crowd of people, Brian began his Christian Sketchboard routine. He is a fantastic performer with a real love for Christ and sharing the gospel.
As he got to the halfway stage in his story, there was the odd bit of laughter from the crowd, and Brian couldn't work out why they were all laughing, and then I noticed it too - A giant penguin hovering about in the background (can you see it in the photo)! Brian recovered well enough to just continue the story and got a huge round of applause at the end!

A sharp lesson - August 1999

I was on Mission in Ayr, and it came to the night's youth event, which I was asked to perform juggling at. We had a pretty rowdy crowd of mainly guys who were in a local gang, and when they saw me juggling balls and clubs, they weren't that impressed.

I challenged them to choose three objects for me to juggle, no matter how dangerous, and one of them ran to the kitchen and fetched 3 large knives. The others sniggered to themselves thinking I wouldn't be game enough to attempt this, but I had been practicing Knives earlier on that afternoon, just in case a situation like this arrived!

The theme of the youth club was "TRUST". As I was about to begin juggling the knives, everyone gathered round to watch, and my leader (Sylvia Norton) edged away from standing beside me. Some of the youth asked her if she didn't TRUST me! She told them that she trusted me implicitly and would put her life into my hands to prove it, and then lay down in front of me, face up (directly below where the knives were to be juggled) and told me to continue! This was never part of the plan! I said a quick prayer to myself, and then began the one minute routine. Sylvia had a camera, and took a photo from underneath the knifes which looks pretty impressive!

Locked out - 7 November 1998

Perhaps the funniest story of them all took place when I went on an away weekend with my Christian Union from University. We went to a Christian Centre in Arbroath. On the Saturday, we decided we would have a talent night, and each person was asked to prepare something for that night. I had brought my fireclubs hoping to be able to use them at some point, so I was happy!

I asked if I could be the final act, so that everyone could come outside and watch the routine. The whole talent night went really well up until it was time for my act!

It was raining outside, so half of the CU decided to watch from a window upstairs. The other half came out with me. My lighter had run out of gas, so I asked a friend to go to the kitchen and find some matches. When he came back, he had found 3 matches. Unfortunately, having stood outside in the rain, meant that my fireclubs refused to light on all 3 attempts. I was now faced with 15 soaking wet people and no show! The story would have been funny if it had ended there, but it continues...

We all turned to go back inside, and the first person to open the front door, broke the doorhandle! This meant that half of the CU were stuck outside, as the door was shut solidly! We discovered that there was one way back into the Centre without having to wake the owners of the Centre. we could climb up the fire escape, and climb in through a window at the top into the bedroom where the guys were staying! One of the people outside announced she was scared of heights, by which time most people were already inside. I had to walk her up each step slowly and carefully, talking her through every step, until she was safely inside!

Look out below! - June 1997

I was performing for Children 1st at a local Charity fundraiser which takes place once a year at the Council Building (Viewforth). As well as all the stalls, there was a sponsored abseil taking place, so the other people at my stall, sponsored me to go and abseil. I told them that on my way down, I would juggle 3 balls!

I had abseiled the previous year from the same spot, so I wasn't afraid of abseiling. I just wasn't sure whether juggling 3 balls would work when I was on my way down. I told the abseiling instructor what i was going to do, and he didn't believe me! I even taught two people to juggle on the roof of the building while we were waiting on our turn! When it came to my turn, I placed the 3 balls into my outside jacket pocket, until I got halfway down, and then announced to everyone that I was going to perform a quick juggling routine. The ground cleared beneath me, and I performed a two minute juggling routine, which ended in a great amount of applause! I then finished the abseil and went back to my stall!

Chainsaw Juggling - Live on Local Radio
- June 1996

I got the chance to take part in a Media workshop run by the Council. We were told that we would be putting together a half hour show for our local radio station (Central FM). We arranged a number of interviews, and planned some hard hitting topics we could discuss, but found that we still had 6 minutes to fill. Someone suggested that I should be interviewed, as I was about to audition for Circus School in London. Everyone agreed, so I was given a 5 minute interview, which still left us short by a minute! It was decided that through the use of sound effects and voiceovers, I would pretend I was juggling chainsaws live in the studio!

E-mail me if you would like me to send you the Juggling Chainsaws soundbite (360kb approx)!

Levitation - July 1995

I was uptown in Stirling one day, and noticed a street performer. I also noticed some friends who went to the juggling club, so I went over to speak to them. The performer asked for a volunteer, and all my friends pointed at me! The performer asked if I would like to be levitated, and then lay me down on 2 chairs. It was at this point, I noticed that my mum and my Gran who just happened to be passing, were also in the audience! The performer told some jokes, and then removed one of the chairs, and I was still lying horizontally! Amazing! My friends took the photographs you see here.

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