Joy of performing keeps Al Simmons going after props lost in fire, pacemaker surgery

The day after he got out of the hospital to have his pacemaker put in, Al Simmons was back on stage and performing — albeit against doctor's orders.

He was the reviewing officer at the annual inspection of the Royal Canadian Air Cadet Squadron in Steinbach, Man., and despite being ordered to take a month off, he squeezed in a performance.

"I get a lot of joy out of being on stage. There's no way I'm going to stop doing that," Simmons said Thursday, less than a week after the operation. "I'm just going to have to adapt slightly."

The prominent, prop-comedy children's entertainer was recently diagnosed with atrial fibrillation, or in his words, his "heart is beating so crazily no blood is going anywhere."

He's also on beta-blockers in case his heart beats too slowly, and blood thinners to avoid the debilitating stroke he was told he had otherwise been headed for.

He said he "really took it easy" during that show, but he also reminded the cadets in attendance of the program's motto, which he says has helped him throughout his life after his time with the cadets: "Per ardua ad astra," or, "Through adversity to the stars."

"Little did I know it would hit home," he said. "This year, for sure."

'Bring it on'

Simmons says he's spent a 50-year career adapting. He's been doing a lot of it this year.

In February, he was forced to rebuild his quirky collection of homemade props after a fire in his "Magic Workshop" destroyed nearly all of his life's work. The following month, he was onstage with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.

"There's lots going on. But I guess, you know, when this happened, I could've said to myself, 'Oh, woe is me, and I give up, I'm taking this as a sign to give up,'" Simmons said.

"But instead I just said, 'OK, bring it on, what else you got? Let's see what else can go wrong — but maybe this is it.'"

He didn't cancel a Thursday performance at the Winnipeg International Children's Festival, either, although he made a few tweaks.

"I wasn't convinced I could ride my bicycle horse without injuring myself or somebody, so I just rode it in place on stage," he said.

He also instructed the audience to yell at him if he raised his left arm too high — prohibited by doctors because it could dislodge the wires in his pacemaker — and relied on help from his crew to get dressed and move his props.

He'll continue to perform in the festival throughout the weekend, and he says he's booked steady throughout the summer. Practically speaking, he says he's not in the position financially to stop working, although he does need to "learn to say no."

"Believe it or not, being a self-employed entertainer is not a good way to get a retirement program in place," he said. "I've got no choice, I've got to work."

But he said he's still got the world's greatest job.

"The bonus for me is, they say laughter is the best medicine, and I travel the world making people laugh, and just hearing people laugh makes me feel better," he said. "So I think I've got the best medicine going."