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OffStageJobs.com

@offstagejobs.com
948 followers 59 following 1.8K posts

staging.OffStageJobs.com on Bluesky, obviously. This is our official account. Written (poorly) by Patrick Hudson: Founder/Owner. We have suspended posting on whatever Twitter is currently calling itself, while keeping the account as an archive.

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OffStageJobs.com @offstagejobs.com · 28/08/2026
Yesterday we had to say goodbye to my son’s 15 year-old cat (and sometimes inadvertent contributor to this & our previous Twitter account), Benny. He was 3 months old & my son was 8 when we got him, and he was a great cat for a little boy to grow up with.
Benny, an orange tabby cat, in a small cardboard box next to a computer monitor and microphone, appearing as though he was recording a podcast.Benny on his first day with us, just 3 months old, eating in my son’s (left) room. “And now the continuing adventures of Action-Cat! And his trusty side-kick, Nearsighted Middle-Aged Man!”Benny as we sheltered together in our building’s basement during a tornado, about 5 years ago.
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OffStageJobs.com @offstagejobs.com · 23/08/2026
“Don’t go in there, Jake. There’s signs! Didn’t you see the warning about the signs?!”
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OffStageJobs.com @offstagejobs.com · 06/08/2026
My wife left these to indicate it was dead, but when I saw it my first reaction was “why is the microwave doing a Mummenschanz bit?”
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OffStageJobs.com @offstagejobs.com · 05/07/2026
Did my traditional walk to the lakeside park to watch the fireworks. Heavy fog, a result of the earlier heatwave and then last night’s & today’s storms, fully obscured them. Not even a glow was visible. Photo taken during the fireworks, which normally would be visible just above the trees.
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OffStageJobs.com @offstagejobs.com · 05/07/2026
Truly, what the founding fathers intended.
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OffStageJobs.com @offstagejobs.com · 04/07/2026
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." 250 years, with some ups and downs.
A meme from a Futurama episode featuring Zoidberg dancing on the table at Planet Express, with a text line above and duplicated below, that says "Freedom Freedom Freedom, Oy."
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OffStageJobs.com @offstagejobs.com · 02/07/2026
Gotta love when one of the moving lights starts playing wiggle-puppy at boot-up, instead of, well, booting up.
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OffStageJobs.com @offstagejobs.com · 01/07/2026
It’s important to wash your levels. Just throw them in with your laundry. Or do like I do and just forget they’re in a pocket. Now it’s clean, & HOT!
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OffStageJobs.com @offstagejobs.com · 25/06/2026
And now for a super-exclusive “behind the scenes” photo from my current show.
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OffStageJobs.com @offstagejobs.com · 07/06/2026
Your shortcut between the SL and SR mid-rails is closed on this #StageShotSunday
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OffStageJobs.com @offstagejobs.com · 05/06/2026
Morning timeline.
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OffStageJobs.com @offstagejobs.com · 27/05/2026
Over 35 years in this business, and still having some firsts: first time bringing my laptop to a grid (to do software upgrades on the DMX gateways).
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OffStageJobs.com @offstagejobs.com · 06/04/2026
Some days make this job feel very unimportant.* *Yes, yes, art is important.
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OffStageJobs.com @offstagejobs.com · 28/03/2026
Sometimes you’re programming 60 moving lights, other times this is your entire magic sheet:
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OffStageJobs.com @offstagejobs.com · 19/03/2026
I get what they’re going for here, but “spark” isn’t exactly a word I want to read in anything from my electric provider.
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OffStageJobs.com @offstagejobs.com · 08/03/2026
A first for me (to the best of my recollection) with a 5kw lamp. Not so much with its gel. Lamp was sparkly/fuzzy, and starting to be arc’y.
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OffStageJobs.com @offstagejobs.com · 15/02/2026
Here is the 1000 amp jumpstarter and its tiny charging cable sitting on top of the feeder cables providing (up to) 400 amps to part of the lighting system. In case you were wondering why it hurts my brain.
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OffStageJobs.com @offstagejobs.com · 15/02/2026
1000 amp jumpstarter, and its charging cable/power supply. I know that this works. I understand how and why this works. But the visual of this tiny cable being what charges the thing that will (potentially) output 1000 amps just hurts my brain.
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OffStageJobs.com @offstagejobs.com · 14/02/2026
Problem: 5kw fresnel with scroller slowly drops over time, despite re-tightening. Solution:
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OffStageJobs.com @offstagejobs.com · 04/02/2026
A long, frustrating day, made so much better by this decoration by a co-worker’s preschool age kid on a delayed holiday card envelope. “It’s the iPad Patrick gives me to pick colors [for the stage lights]!”
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OffStageJobs.com @offstagejobs.com · 01/02/2026
Lines, lights, and shadows. #StageShotSunday
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OffStageJobs.com @offstagejobs.com · 24/01/2026
Typical evening in Chicago.
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OffStageJobs.com @offstagejobs.com · 09/01/2026
A professional stagehand works here.
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OffStageJobs.com @offstagejobs.com · 08/01/2026
Final (probably) post of this series. The fun ads. I want that shirt.
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OffStageJobs.com @offstagejobs.com · 07/01/2026
Calming com ads.
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OffStageJobs.com @offstagejobs.com · 06/01/2026
“How can I be sure these ads are really from 1980?” Well…
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OffStageJobs.com @offstagejobs.com · 05/01/2026
Unexpected holiday train is the best way to ride a holiday train.
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OffStageJobs.com @offstagejobs.com · 05/01/2026
It’s early, my heat has been out for 2 days, and I still need to eat breakfast before the call starts. But at least I didn’t approve this ad from 1980:
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OffStageJobs.com @offstagejobs.com · 03/01/2026
Continuing on this: back when a lighting console was truly a full console, with its own support structure. Also, I want every console ad to have people (real or painted) doing the “ta-dah!” pose.
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OffStageJobs.com @offstagejobs.com · 02/01/2026
Continuing on this, “The Best Choice is Always Kliegl!” 3 ads for the Performer series of lighting consoles (one in color!), and a “Klieglights for the 80’s!” Unfortunately, this period was near the end of Kliegl’s 100 year run. Many of Kliegl’s design concepts remain in use today.
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OffStageJobs.com @offstagejobs.com · 01/01/2026
It’s not a Sawzall, it’s a Cutawl! Seriously, kinda want one, though they do not appear to be made anymore.
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OffStageJobs.com @offstagejobs.com · 01/01/2026
My wife brought home a bound set of Theatre Crafts magazines from 1980, and I thought I’d share some of the ads we found. Some of which (like this one) I swear were still being run largely unchanged in the early to mid 90’s.
A black and white ad for Boston University School of Theatre Arts, using a low quality (by today’s standards) photo of the house of a proscenium theatre as viewed from house left, looking house right.  The house right box, as well as the balcony and ceiling, is visible in the upper half, while the dark seating on the main floor is used as background for the white text of the ad copy itself.
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OffStageJobs.com @offstagejobs.com · 23/12/2025
Theatre is a serious business.
Man in jeans wearing green elf shoes with red trim and toe-curl point pom-poms stands on a steel floor next to a pile of 6-circuit multi-cable.
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OffStageJobs.com @offstagejobs.com · 04/12/2025
Venting a CO2 dewar (off camera) about 8’ away from the near side of this lift. Vent nozzle is about same height as top rail of lift basket. 410 PSI venting through an opening a little bigger in diameter than a pea. #LifeInTheTheatre
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OffStageJobs.com @offstagejobs.com · 02/12/2025
Me: “I keep having all these important conversations, but I’m not sure anyone is taking me seriously.” Me having those conversations:
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OffStageJobs.com @offstagejobs.com · 30/11/2025
When they say the performance has been canceled “due to unforeseen circumstances,” this is the real reason. #StageShotSunday
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OffStageJobs.com @offstagejobs.com · 29/11/2025
Booth tree is up. We can have Christmas now. A tradition going back over 25 years.
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OffStageJobs.com @offstagejobs.com · 17/11/2025
Someone in the lighting shop got fancy with the donuts. #StageShotSunday
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OffStageJobs.com @offstagejobs.com · 12/11/2025
Steps to the past… er… future.
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OffStageJobs.com @offstagejobs.com · 10/11/2025
So… If you are waiting on a reply to your account confirmation request, there seems to be an issue either with my email program or Google at the moment. If you have recently sent an account confirmation request, I likely have confirmed/activated the account. Please try logging in.
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OffStageJobs.com @offstagejobs.com · 09/11/2025
Shovel-based rigging is the only true form of rigging. #ChangeMyMind #StageShotSunday
A shovel, balanced on an overhead pipe and a cable swag running parallel 3 feet away, holds is used to hold up a different cable swag.
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OffStageJobs.com @offstagejobs.com · 26/10/2025
Amazingly the first time I’ve seen someone keep a theatre manual in a booth. #StageShotSunday
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OffStageJobs.com @offstagejobs.com · 19/10/2025
Lights in shadow. #StageShotSunday
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OffStageJobs.com @offstagejobs.com · 17/10/2025
Broadway In Chicago looking out for their (largely suburban resident) audiences tomorrow. And honestly, partnering with Metra is a good idea for all productions year-round.
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OffStageJobs.com @offstagejobs.com · 13/10/2025
7 years ago today:
Highlight of Day 1 of Open House Chicago:

Little girl, maybe 5 years old, comes back to the lighting system demo laptop I have set-up.  She defiantly clears the last cyc color her siblings selected, and then presses the button to start the mirror-out rainbow chase.  She turns toward the stage, nods her head in satisfaction as the chase starts, and says, matter-of-factly:  "There!  Now my day can continue."  And walks away to rejoin her family.
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OffStageJobs.com @offstagejobs.com · 12/10/2025
October is for baseb… er, pumpkins.
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OffStageJobs.com @offstagejobs.com · 12/10/2025
Ah, well…
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OffStageJobs.com @offstagejobs.com · 12/10/2025
The things I do for my audience during a playoff run (but only at preshow, intermission, & postshow).
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OffStageJobs.com @offstagejobs.com · 06/10/2025
Ah Michigan, protecting me from simple tasks.
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OffStageJobs.com @offstagejobs.com · 21/09/2025
Screenshot for reference.
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