Setec Astronomy

To quote the movie Risky Business “Sometimes you gotta say "What the Fuck", make your move. Joel, every now and then, saying "What the Fuck", brings freedom. Freedom brings opportunity, opportunity makes your future.” Miles, portrayed by Curtis Armstrong, was right. I’ve largely based my career on this one simple thought. I just spent 11 days on the Holland America’s cruise ship The MS Ro...

So, this week is full up with showbusiness weirdness; greed and crazy travel. Sit back, relax, throw the Clash on the turntable and listen to this. Thursday, I drive from Toronto to Sarnia, roughly 4 hours, to be on a show at a high rollers golf tournament. That starts at 8pm. I’ll be on by 9pm and offstage by 10pm if I’m lucky. I then HAVE to drive back to Toronto, getting me in around 2a...

I live my life in airports and hotels. I liken it to the guy from the 80’s TV show Quantum Leap. I leap from airport to airport, hoping the next leap is the leap home. Professionally speaking I would never agree to travel and shows on a schedule like I'm about to describe. Occasionally your agent will convince you it’s a good idea and you say yes and roll with it. It’s never a good idea. Tw...

I’m writing this largely to record my thinking at the time as anything else. Not a soul reads this blog and its just for me, so.... here it comes. Magic and comedy are NOT art. They cannot be. They never will be. The very nature of what makes both things technically work prevent them from being art.
 By its nature art is subjective. For something to be an artistic piece the viewer must b...

I performed at the JW Marriott is Muskoka, Ontario a few nights ago. A corporate event for tradespeople. It was SO much fun. I love the venue and the show was amazing. So wonderful having a bunch of tradespeople laughing and coming up to me after the show telling me stories from working the trades. My own family are all in the trades so there’s a special place in my heart for events attended ...

Well, that was quite a long and enjoyable run over the summer in Alaska. It is my sincerest hope that Holland America line continues to use me as part of their headline entertainment lineup. I really do have a fantastic time with them, if you were a passenger, you'd have the same experience. I've never met or even spoken to the booker of entertainment for HAL, so I hope my agent conveys my g...

Agents, Speakers Bureaus, Event Planners.  These are THE most important resource a corporate entertainer has. As a Toronto based, but internationally performing corporate event entertainer here's my thinking on this topic : I'll start off with a bad example and move on. An agent I'd heard of ( with a horrific reputation ) and...

Perhaps it was the days at sea without land or perhaps it was the fantastic mood I was in from absolutely killing it for my performances on Holland America’s ship the MS Amsterdam, or maybe It was that I had good fortune to work with highly creative acts, but whatever the reason, it was one of the most productive weeks in recent times. I joined the ship in Guatemala, and sailed up to Mexico ...

Visited a friend in the hospital. One of the older acts I first met when I came to Toronto show business.   He’s one of the best comedy magicians I’ve ever seen. He was about to go in for a quadruple bypass.  I can only imagine the stress of knowing doctors are going to crack open your breast plate and fiddle with your heart. The operation was completed just the other day and he’s fine. So tha...

“This just might do nobody any good”.  The opening to one of the most epic speeches in the history of broadcast. Happy new year.  2018 is here. What are your resolutions??? One of mine is to never use that image at the top of this post again ;) Not sure what my plans are for this trip around the sun, but our history will be what we make of it. I asked myself what my hero’s might do to ...