Up in the Air for Earth (August 16, 2006)

By Stacy Trevenon [ stacy@hmbreview.com ]

Montara juggler Doug Nolan leafs through a sheaf of thank-you notes written in crayon. They're from classes he has visited with his Rock Steady Juggling act.

"I like the part when you rode that unicycle while you juggled those rings," reads one note. "I learned that California has to save water."

In school shows, Nolan displays sneakers, rolls of paper towels, a machete, juggler's clubs or an old bowling ball, and has the kids pick three for him to make fly.

Their choices are predictable: "It's always the machete and the bowling ball," he said with a chuckle.

Less predictable is the fact that Nolan explains how the objects are made of recycled materials (even the machete, which comes from recycled steel). His show sneaks lessons in with fun.

"They'll walk away knowing I juggled outrageous things, but all made of recycled material," he said.

Stewardship of the earth is one of several messages Rock Steady Juggling gently but effectively teaches with juggling, comedy, magic and audience participation.

Through the 3-year-old nonprofit, Nolan brings original shows to schools, fairs, corporate audiences and community events like "Oohs, Aahs and Giggles" in Half Moon Bay Friday.

Oohs and Aahs is an entertainment program for all ages provided through Half Moon Bay Recreation Services Division. It wraps up its 2006 summer series with Rock Steady at 1:30 p.m. at the Ted Adcock Community/Senior Center, 535 Kelly Ave. in Half Moon Bay.

It will be "Eco-tainment," Nolan's "best-of" act culled from his recycling and water education shows. Those, plus conflict resolution, are the three main Rock Steady show themes.

With age-appropriate dialogue, Rock Steady shows help kids absorb grown-up themes.

"We Can Work It Out" teaches kids to "use your words" to work out problems. With corporate adults, it emphasizes collaboration.

"That's one of those things you like kids to learn," said Nolan, a boyish 41, who draws on his own fatherhood (his daughter Sadie Grace is 2 and son Jasper is 5.) "This is a foundation for life skills."

Besides founder Nolan, Rock Steady is co-writer Sara Felder who performed with San Francisco's Pickle Family Circus, office manager Robin Fontaine and D. "Heart" Heartlife, Nolan's East Coast college buddy who lured him to California. Rock Steady has other shows and is funded by water and regulatory agencies.

Nolan juggles colorful soft rubber balls, plastic rings, juggler's clubs, machetes. Or he gets original with recycled paper towels, or hops up on a six-foot unicycle. He might use a 36-inch inflatable earth to explain drinking water, or juggle balls labeled "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle." And he calls young volunteers onstage to help him spin rubber balls on their fingertips.

"My philosophy is, they do something extraordinary no one thinks they can do," he said.

He admits it's a challenge to make kids both laugh and want to respect the environment - in 40 minutes. It's particularly challenging in sessions with up to 300 kids.

"It's not just an abstract 'reduce waste,'" he said. "It's a specific idea - here's how you can (help). I want them to get a message they can walk away with."

Nolan's optimism was always rock steady. Originally from New York, he discovered juggling at 17 and learned it from a book he took everywhere, even on an Outward Bound trip to North Carolina. "I'd go backpacking and couldn't believe the stuff I'd schlep along. I was hopelessly addicted to juggling."

Pursuing a degree in environmental studies at the University of Vermont, he met fellow avid juggler "Heart" and found his studies "really spoke to me." Heart persuaded Nolan to go to California and put his talent to work for the environment.

Hoping to broaden his skills, he also got an advanced degree in acting from the American Conservatory Theatre, which "took what I do in school shows to the next level."

When not juggling, Nolan performs with Montara musicians Paul Godwin and Mark Verlander as The Sippy Cups, which plays early-1970s rock parents enjoy. A non-musician, he gives Sippy his character sketches, juggling, clowning and lyric writing.

But bringing Rock Steady to schools is where his heart is.

"Comedy shows are wonderful but if I'm contributing to making the world a better place by having those kids have an 'aha' moment, that's why I do it," he said.



That's Eco-Tainment! (April 20, 2005)
Juggling and magic performance celebrates Earth Day at Walter Hays

by Sue Dremann

In celebration of Earth Day this Friday, Doug Nolan will don his bowler hat and take up a watermelon, raw egg, tree branch and machete to teach students the fundamentals of water conservation and recycling.

For the past 15 years, through his performance business Rock Steady Juggling, Nolan has used juggling, music, audience participation and a little bit of magic to turn kids in schools on to the four R's -- reduce, reuse, recycle and rot.

On Monday, April 18, Nolan performed "Eco-Tainment! A Recycling and Water Conservation Assembly" before 500 students at Walter Hays Elementary School.

"The reason I do this is so that kids will walk out empowered, with tools they can bring home," Nolan said.

Nolan uses magic and juggling to keep kids enthralled and illustrate the concepts he's trying to get across. Colorful objects are in constant motion, appearing and disappearing. He asks questions, jokes around and sings.

A flip chart, titled "H20 Yeah!" illustrates the cycle of water, from the ground to clouds to rain to a surfer riding ocean waves. Nolan commences juggling three clubs as he talks about the cycle of water and ways to conserve it, using the clubs to illustrate the movement of water from ground to sky. Within minutes, the kids begin to respond.

"Rain falls from the sky to the ground; and that's called?" he asked

"Accumulation!" the kids shouted.

"Juggling is a great hook. It's a wonderful vehicle in teaching a rather dry topic," Nolan said. The tricks visually match the ideas I teach." He keeps his message simple, sticking to three core ideas, which he repeats throughout the show.

Then he moves back to the idea of water conservation again.

"What are some tips for conserving water?" Nolan asked. Students and teachers volunteer ideas, such as running the dishwasher only when full, taking a shower instead of a bath, filling the tub only half-full, and turning off the tap while brushing teeth.

An unsuspecting teacher who volunteered an answer is called to the stage. Nolan plops a helmet with a stick that looks like a toilet plunger on top of the teacher's head. As he reviews the five tips for water conservation, Nolan puts a spinning plate on top of the stick and then adds four spinning plates to stands held by the teacher's outstretched arms.

Each is added as he calls off another of the five tips the students had suggested. Students and teachers alike roar with laughter.

When the 40-minute show nears completion, Nolan takes to his 6-foot-high unicycle, wobbling precariously on the narrow stage, Everyone is on the edge of their seats as Nolan takes up three shiny, sharp-bladed machetes. The blades are made from recycled steel. Once again, he brings home the three lessons of conserving resources -- reduce, reuse and recycle -- by deftly juggling the machetes while riding the unicycle.

Nolan's routine may be a blast for kids, but is it truly educational?

"I learned a lot from him, and I thought it was really fun," said third grader Sarah Ohlson. "I learned to turn off lights more and I will take shorter showers."

In the past, Nolan has performed his shows throughout the Palo Alto school district. He also keeps a busy schedule performing throughout Bay Area, Southern California and the East Coast.

A passionate environmentalist, he has a degree in environmental studies and experiential outdoor education from the University of Vermont, with a side passion for juggling.

Looking for ways to create an environmental ethic in students, he collaborated with a longtime friend in 1990 to develop "The Greatest Show 4 Earth." After six years, the program evolved into a series of assemblies including "The Amazing Adventures of the Recycling Wizard!" where a school janitor morphs into a waste-fighting superhero.

Kids also get a chance to become environmental superheroes, when a student volunteer joins Nolan on stage and becomes "The Worminator" in a story about worm composting.

At 39, with boyish good looks, the trim and charismatic Nolan keeps in shape through the continual honing of his skills and indulging in his passion for surfing. He keeps his surfboard on his car, heading for the waves on his way to his home in Montara, which he shares with his wife Elizabeth and two young children.

At home, he practices what he preaches. Nolan and Elizabeth hire contractors who use green building materials. They compost food scraps and recycle plastic -- buy things in bulk to reduce package waste, and support organic grocers. If the tap is dripping, or food scraps need recycling, Nolan will bring it to his family's attention.

"There's a joke in our house: Isn't it impossible to be living with the Recycling Wizard?" he said, laughing.

But Nolan stresses he isn't dogmatic. The only downside to his job is all of the driving he has to do -- and that means using gas.

"But I'm getting a bio-diesel car, and I'm very excited," he said.