-I just found out that Miguel (DOUGLAS KONDZIOLKA AKA MIGUEL) of the DON JUAN AND MIGUEL SHOW has passed away I’d been going to The Sterling Renaissance Faire since I was in high school and every time I went, I made sure to catch at least one of their shows, if not all four (which they did per day). I loved their skits and it was one of the main reasons I’d go to the Faire – as well as one of the main reasons I stopped going when they were no longer there. It just wasn’t the same…

-This is a pic of me (shamelessly promoting my band CAROLINE BLUE of course (HA!)) with (L. to R.) Miguel, me and Don Juan back in 2010 taken by my girlfriend at the time (when she could tolerate me as opposed to currently). They had so many great one-liners; I have to admit that I even used some of them during a few shows for my band in-between songs. I also bought some of their DVDs at the time. The skit that immediately comes to mind via memories was the one where Miguel played The Queen of Spain. Miguel liked to go down into the crowd and pick people to go onstage or to do something to them. In the case with The Queen of Spain, he’d usually pick a guy to get an “extreme 3D experience” with his “balloons.” 🙂 He would also pick out attractive women to bring on stage to be part of one of their skits. I don’t recall if he picked my girlfriend at the time (she was a hottie), but I know we did get pics with them after the show that year. There were many years where I wasn’t able to attend the Ren Faire to see them either due to musical, acting and / or regular job commitments. I tried when I could. I recall one time, I was in a time crunch, and I drove to Sterling from Syracuse, caught one show, got a DVD and left (not seeing anything else) cause I had to go to work (I think) so yeah, I was a fan 🙂

-I saw that he had a stroke in February 2024 and survived, but sadly had to retire from performing. I have a few friends who have recovered from strokes (for the most part) and I was hoping the same for Miguel, but it was not to be…

-R.I.P. Douglas / Miguel…