Setec Astronomy

Placeholder for my thoughts on Covid

Read this and hate on me all ya like, but here it is. As of today 7 million Canadians can fly, get on a train and leave the country. The Canadian travel ban for unvaccinated has lifted. That ban lasted for 10 months. A right they never should have lost. For many months they couldn’t enter an open air food court, movie theatre, restaurant or rec centre, while everyone else could. Until today t...

Holiday Performances

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything.  I was starting to think why bother? Hasn’t this been a time? Zoom conferences and conventions, zoom lag, exhaustion from sitting in front of a computer for a convention. Everything I anticipated would happen has, except for one important factor. ME.I hadn’t realized that the very thing to fight the zoom fatigue and...

Am I Retired?

On Thanksgiving I'm grateful for this: Packed up my gear into a flight case and put them in the garage today, knowing full well its a reality I'll never use them again. Of everything so far in this pandemic, that was the hardest pill to swallow. It made me angry and sad and sick to my stomach. I freely admit I drank those feelings away. But I am grateful for the 30 year...

Virtual Reality

Stand up comedy, the business of making people laugh in a group, was always arithmetic. Formula, personality, crowds reacting in a certain way because setting and conditions, how they're seated, temperature of the space, the general mood of society. It goes on and on. They all play into why people laugh in a room. Its NOT simple, trust me. In the world of covid, live c...

Reality

Reality as I see it is this : overall the ‘rona isn’t going away. None of these pandemic type viruses have. So how to live with it ? When they find a vaccine people will be fearful to take a new one without seeing its effects on humans. They’ll want to see how it works and it’s side effects over some time in the real world. It’ll be a long time before that gets done, an...

Economics of Virtual

You keep saying artists should innovate. That the innovators will shine. The problem for online performers is the way iTunes killed revenue for musicians, virtual shows will kill it for stage artists. Pricing for online shows continues to drop. Sure there will be outliers. Acts who make money and even become successful. However for every one Beiber, there's 5 million...

Morrissey Magic

The owner of Morrissey magic, Herb Morrissey died Aug 14 2003. The same day as the Toronto blackout. I bet his death caused it. He had that kind of force of spirit. I try to post about him on the anniversary of his passing. The kind of person who without trying, was able to create atmosphere in the shop that made y...

Virtual Magic

“All the world’s a zoom stage, And all the men and women merely virtual players; They have their disconnects and their log ins; And one man in his time loads many programs, His acts seven seconds not ages “ - Matt and Shakespeare combination quote Accept Defeat :

My Stranger Things Story

The month we hunted the music : Four weekends straight a neighbour and I have been hearing music.  It starts around 11pm and goes until 2:30am. Sometimes audibly close and others farther away.  Ebbs and flows like the tides, never in the same place.

Comedy Clubs

I headlined a show at the Comedy Bar in Toronto a while back. Comedians, myself - a comedian doing magic, and a mime were on the show. The large part of my income and professional work as a comedy magician is at corporate after dinner events and cruise ship theatres. Still, I started in this business in comedy clubs and I still have a...