Al Simmons, as The Human Jukebox, on CBC's "Summer Festival," a national TV series from various cities across Canada. This episode was recorded in Winnipeg's Assiniboine Park in May of 1980 with host Arvel Gray.
In 1977 Bart Bourne, an eccentric Winnipeg genius saw Grimes Poznikov playing trumpet as San Francisco's Automatic Human Jukebox. This inspired him to build a wooden performance box for his friend Al Simmons who was "between gigs" (unemployed). Bart convinced Al to stand in it at Winnipeg's Old Market Square. Al installed noisemakers and props and became: "The Amazing, Perplexing, Sensational, Neat: Human Juke Box" (Two-bits a laugh.) Al redesigned the JukeBox using corrugated plastic to make touring easier. For 6 years he entertained audiences at festivals across North America, including The Vancouver International Children's Festival, Hamilton's Festival of Friends, Pete Seeger's Hudson River Revival and the Winnipeg, Vancouver, Mariposa, Thunder Bay, Edmonton, Faro Yukon, and Bear Mountain NY Folk Festivals. Al is still a baggy-pants vaudevillian but he now thinks "outside the box."
Correct answers to Arvel's questions...
-Al's wife Barbara sewed all of his costumes.
-Al found out he couldn't earn a living as a human jukebox. That's why it has been collecting dust in his shed since 1983. Perhaps he should jack the price up to a $2 Canadian coin. Watch a loonie for a toonie. www.alsimmons.com

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