What to do when waiting for a show to start

[philhaney]

Well, this should make ship happy. As I'm the flyman for a production that runs every June and July, once my checks are all done I've been reading Jay O. Glerum's Stage Rigging Handbook - 3rd Edition.

It is my desire/ambition to become an ESTA Certified Rigger......

[derekleffew]

Originally Posted by philhaney

...It is my desire/ambition to become an ESTA Certified Rigger......

In that case you might want also to take a gander or two at Entertainment Rigging: A Practical Guide for Riggers and Managers by Harry Donovan.

May I also suggest spending the $35 and taking a practice exam, just to see where you stand/need improvement?

A fine and worthwhile goal.

[philhaney]

Thanks for the tips. I will look into both.

I picked this book up yesterday for the history:

[MillburyAuditorium]

Originally Posted by edmedmoped

I hope they're not crunchy!

Haha, nope, our snack of choice, Twizzlers : D

[edmedmoped]

^ Nice .

[SethRoBoDean]

My crew plays Phase 10 back stage. It usually takes them 2 or 3 days to finish one game.

[hhslights]

Usually SM, ASM, Sound op and myself get a game of Euchre going in the booth. It never fails to entertain. It eats away at time and only requires four people and a Euchre deck of cards. It is also easy to abandon if need be.

[ruinexplorer]

Oh, hey, I think I was ratted out. Thanks Gaff.

Sure I spend time on CB during my show (my boss knows and approves as I know when not to as well). I also spend time reading the industry rags online or print (whichever is handy). One never knows when you will need to go on to a new position and might as well keep up with the Jonses. I have also been researching new gear to potentially replace some of our aging equipment (not just anything will fit into a multi-million dollar production, including top of the line stuff).

We preset and then take a dinner break, so all of our systems have been checked (every light, every speaker, every prop, etc.). That always gives us leeway to fix anything or prepare to do without during any given night (on occasion you end up missing a break). During our break, there are varous activities including reading, watching DVDs, checking email, or my favorite, Munchkin!

[Blah067]

I'd much rather be sitting around doing nothing than trying to fix a problem, or worse yet, for one-days...asking what act is going first...(I REALLY hate those...)

Typically I'll be hanging out on the internet, checking all my CD's playback cues or board assignments...

I like to do a 5-minute to show channel check... not as a primary "catch a problem" but as a "self security" type thing... I like going into a show knowing that everything on my sound board is working properly...

Occasionally I'll be on headset telling the pit to "shut up". eh. whatever I feel like I guess...

[photoatdv]

Off the top of my head, there's only one show that I can think of that I've actually been bored waiting for it to start. No, wait, that was the show I was "interning" on. Since it was a completely professional show, my only job during the actual show was to make sure no one bothered anything or anyone :-).

Shows I'm working on... usually since we had a small crew at my high school we had multiple jobs. On the last dance one I was: ALD, SM, flyman, and scenic. I considered myself lucky if I wasn't fixing cues in blind! And we'd do a 2-2.5 hour out call usually. Once I even had a 4 hour early call :-).

Some of the more interesting ones I've done: 5 minutes out looking for a doll that will drink a bottle of water, 8 minutes out gelling lights while yelling at the production company techs to get the dimmers plugged in, trying to figure out why I hear water in the headset then finding out out TD's mic bleeds even when its off and he's in the loo, discussing how we're going to call the show, telling the dancers the fly systems brake handles are NOT costume hooks and that they can't sit their prop on an arbor (duh-- but IDK how many times I've gone to take a fly cue and had to throw costumes/props out of the way), find my missing spot ops... you get the picture.