Pam’s niece was visiting from the mid-west in August and she wanted to treat her to an evening at SAK Comedy Lab.
SAK strongly encourages all non-vaccinated students to wear a face mask while in the class area.
An inherent risk of exposure to COVID-19 exists in any public place where people are present. COVID-19 is a contagious disease that can, in some instances, lead to severe illness and death. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), senior citizens and people with underlying medical conditions are especially vulnerable.
Pam, her niece and I wore masks the entire time. Under this situation I wore a KN-95. I noticed that ushers also wore masks but as the audience filled in the seats there were no masks in sight. None. When the audience had filled in I turned around and saw that one lone woman also wore a mask.
The SAK seats up to 60% of their pre-covid maximum capacity. They provide one seat open between groups. That is a full two feet of social distancing. They advised online that, if you are uncomfortable being in a venue that feels somewhat dense with people, now might not be the best time to attend their shows. They politely request that all guests wear a mask in the venue regardless of vaccination status. It can be removed when you are seated with your food and drink. If wearing a mask while at a live venue isn’t your thing, they completely understand. I can vouch for the fact that veeeeery few took this advice seriously.
The performers are all vaccinated and are not masking while on stage. The performances consisted of some of the cast belting out some amazing show tunes. Chase Padget whose work I have admired from past Fringe shows was among the cast, and he did a stellar job. They all killed it. If you want to laugh yourself to death, this is the place to do it.
A few weeks after this performance, on August 20, 2021, a member of SAK’s Front of House staff reported a positive Covid-19 test. Because the staff work closely together, they decided to take their shows down for the weekend out of an abundance of caution. This was the first time since the pandemic began that they took a show down.
In August 2021 alone, more than 9,000 residents died in Florida from COVID-19, making it the most deadly month of the pandemic in the Sunshine State. Yet looking around this audience you would think that COVID was a thing of the past. Florida is way ahead of the nation’s other five largest states in a race no one wants to win. In the last six months, Florida has recorded nearly 90 deaths for every 100,000 residents, by far the highest among the six largest states. Florida’s death rate over that period is more than three times higher than in New York and more than five times higher than in California. In fact, only Texas has a rate that is at least half of Florida’s.