Online pop art a hit for 'bubble doctor' in lockdown
Sometimes, reality can come along and pop your bubble. But as Sideshow performer and seasoned carnie Shep Huntly, aka Dr Hubble, can attest, you just have to take a deep breath and keep going.
When the coronavirus lockdown ruined his Glastonbury plans, the performer wasn't deflated for long.
Huntly, pre-doctorate, was making bubbles in his Byron Bay yard one day to entertain his daughter. Everyone walking by his house stopped to watch.
"I thought, ‘There must be a show in this' and that was the start of my journey as a bubble man." Huntly became Dr Hubble eight years ago and went from sideshow to star of his own gig.
"As part of [circus collective] The Happy Sideshow I did huge, stadium rock shows and motorcycle stunt gigs. As a bubble performer, things have been a bit calmer."
Hubble hit The Lost Lands Festival in Werribee and had jaws of all ages agape. "Bubbles are true magic; they are magic without deception," he says.
Dr Hubble, aka sideshow performer Shep Huntly.
Huntly has mastered the specific skill of making a square bubble. How? A magician never reveals his secrets.
Before coronavirus came along Huntly was ready to blow up at the United Kingdom's most revered festival.
"I have played Glastonbury maybe 10 times. This would have been my first time performing at Glasto as Dr Hubble."
Instead, wearing a tuxedo T-shirt and a gap-toothed smile, Huntly has turned his loungeroom into a TV studio that beams live shows to fans through Zoom Meetings.
"Families have tuned in all across Australia and from as far away as London and Las Vegas," he says. Huntly's wife, Simi, holds the camera while nine-year-old daughter, Goldie, is on sound, lights and MC duties.
"All I want to do is spread joy and keep people happy," Huntly proffers. It's not such a square idea.
- Dr Hubble's Bubble Show, Sat, 11.30am-12.30pm. $5. www.facebook.com/drhubblebubbleshow/