New Poll - pranks
Sun, 26 Oct 2003, 03:05 amcrgwllms3 posts in thread
New Poll - pranks
Sun, 26 Oct 2003, 03:05 amLatest poll submitted is about final night shenanigans....do you approve? Do you participate?
Multiple answers are acceptable, but please only vote once.
Cheers,
The Poll-tergeist
[%sig%]
Multiple answers are acceptable, but please only vote once.
Cheers,
The Poll-tergeist
[%sig%]
Re: poll results- pranks
Sun, 16 Nov 2003, 05:05 amIt seems there are very few of us who have never pulled any onstage pranks.
When this poll was submitted, I added the category "The audience must never be aware", as I feel that this is the most important rule, and if absolutely adhered to, any shenanigans should never therefore get too out of hand. It seems a great number of you agree.
(Another good rule might have been "none of my cast members or audience should be physically or psychologically disfigured by my prank"...but there wasn't the room on the form...)
215 participants, giving 312 votes over the past fortnight. Because multiple votes were allowed, I've recalculated the percentages here to reflect the percentage of total participants (rather than votes) who agreed with each statement.
The Audience must never be aware 92 votes 43%
Harmless gags are ok 47 votes 22%
I disapprove entirely 45 votes 21%
Depends on the type of show 42 votes 20%
Backstage only please 30 votes 14%
Love to pull pranks always 25 votes 12%
Gags for the audience I can accept 16 votes 7%
Never pulled a prank myself 15 votes 7%
47 voters thought harmless gags were okay, but 45 voters disapproved entirely....were they perhaps the perpetrators and victims of the same incidents?
I also think it perhaps not only depends on the type of show, but on the type of cast member you're targeting, and when. There are some people who will thrive on a surprise incident and be able to cope without being thrown, or at least the timing of the surprise will allow them to deal with it without disrupting the play for the audience or other cast members. We all know there are others who may be unequipped to handle it so well, and what may have been envisaged as harmless fun may backfire or become cruel or just stupid. Remember your duty to your audience, who have paid to be entertained - not to watch you entertain yourself at their expense.
Confident improvisers will usually take things in their stride - the whole point of shows like the Big Hoo-Haa is for the cast (and audience suggestions) to chuck a spanner in the works and dig a big hole for everyone....the skill, and delight to watch, is their ability to then rescue each other out of the hole, in a way that still serves the story. (Not easy, but much easier in a show where you're making up the script than in a Pinter play, for instance).
Now that the poll results are in, would anyone care to continue the thread with examples of onstage pranks / practical jokes...?
Cheers,
The Poll-tergeist
When this poll was submitted, I added the category "The audience must never be aware", as I feel that this is the most important rule, and if absolutely adhered to, any shenanigans should never therefore get too out of hand. It seems a great number of you agree.
(Another good rule might have been "none of my cast members or audience should be physically or psychologically disfigured by my prank"...but there wasn't the room on the form...)
215 participants, giving 312 votes over the past fortnight. Because multiple votes were allowed, I've recalculated the percentages here to reflect the percentage of total participants (rather than votes) who agreed with each statement.
The Audience must never be aware 92 votes 43%
Harmless gags are ok 47 votes 22%
I disapprove entirely 45 votes 21%
Depends on the type of show 42 votes 20%
Backstage only please 30 votes 14%
Love to pull pranks always 25 votes 12%
Gags for the audience I can accept 16 votes 7%
Never pulled a prank myself 15 votes 7%
47 voters thought harmless gags were okay, but 45 voters disapproved entirely....were they perhaps the perpetrators and victims of the same incidents?
I also think it perhaps not only depends on the type of show, but on the type of cast member you're targeting, and when. There are some people who will thrive on a surprise incident and be able to cope without being thrown, or at least the timing of the surprise will allow them to deal with it without disrupting the play for the audience or other cast members. We all know there are others who may be unequipped to handle it so well, and what may have been envisaged as harmless fun may backfire or become cruel or just stupid. Remember your duty to your audience, who have paid to be entertained - not to watch you entertain yourself at their expense.
Confident improvisers will usually take things in their stride - the whole point of shows like the Big Hoo-Haa is for the cast (and audience suggestions) to chuck a spanner in the works and dig a big hole for everyone....the skill, and delight to watch, is their ability to then rescue each other out of the hole, in a way that still serves the story. (Not easy, but much easier in a show where you're making up the script than in a Pinter play, for instance).
Now that the poll results are in, would anyone care to continue the thread with examples of onstage pranks / practical jokes...?
Cheers,
The Poll-tergeist