L. Michael Roberts

L. Michael Roberts was born of Canadian parents in the Republic of South Africa. He moved back to Canada in his late teens to correct the situation.

In school Michael studied the regular subjects along with art, art history, classical and vocal music.  As an art student, he was interested in the 'Op-Art' movement and experimented with optical and kinetic art, building several motorised sculptures.  He also sang in several Gilbert and Sullivan operettas but found he was more interested in the lighting, sound and production aspects of the shows.  Thus began a life-long interest in the technical aspects of show production.

Michael saw his first laser show at the Toronto planetarium in 1975 where he was inspired by a performance of Laserium the pioneering laser light show.  The beauty of the images and the vibrant colours drew him back again and again until he fell in love with the concept of drawing and painting with light.   He became a laserist when he purchased his first laser and designed and built an X-Y projection system in early 1976. He was the first in Canada to offer "have laser show - will travel" services.

He began by performing simple laser beam effects with rock bands, at corporate shows and special events.  Over the years he has upgraded his systems with the addition of graphics and animations, beam tables, 3D graphics and other advanced technologies.  He has performed laser shows for major corporations, designed choreographed and performed laser and fireworks spectaculars, created movie special FX and toured internationally with renown rock bands.

In April 1978 he originated the Laser Dance Party which combines the traditional elements of a DJ, sound system, and dance lighting with a live high-tech laser show.  He has toured this, his favorite show, internationally performing at thousands of parties and raves in Canada, South America, Africa and Europe

Michael is an award winning laser artist and animator.  He loves to create dancing character animations. He published the world's first Laser Clip-art catalogue and his award-winning animations can be seen in a variety of shows and locations around the globe.

L. Michael Roberts is the author of "Laser F/X: The Light Show Handbook", a 400+ page technical manual on laser displays considers by many to be "the bible of the industry". He has had technical articles and papers published in The Laserist, Photonics Spectra, Laser Talk, Laser Effects, Laser Focus, and other publications.

L. Michael Roberts is an avid fan of Electronika, especially trance and techno.  He thoroughly enjoys choreographing laser with lighting effects so as to enhance the visuals at parties.  His performances at raves and parties have found him working alongside artists and DJs as Paul Oaknfold, Max Graham, Dr. Trance,  Union Jack, Danny Tenaglia, Star Sound Orchestra and many more.

In the last few years, Michael has turned his attention to the design of systems and products for use in laser displays.  He acts as a consultant and product designer to various manufacturers in North America, Europe and Asia, as well as providing marketing services for systems and products.  Some of the equipment and systems in use throughout the world for professional laser shows are based on his designs and technology.