Your worst theatre injury
- Thread starterTechiegirly
- Start date
Glad I'm not the only one who thought that!
Certainly not the worst injury, but the other day I had managed to cut myself with my serrated Leatherman blade in the thumb...band-aids were readily avaliable but their glue did not hold after being exposed to water. At most, with the steady amount of hands on work I do, the bandage lasted a half-day. However, other readily avaliable materials were gaff, electrical, and masking tape. The masking tape is abundant and wrapped four or five times around the cut will easily last all day. Yet, the electrical tape's elasticity bandaged the wound with a much nicer seal. I've yet to use gaff tape, but I imagine, a gaff tape 1st layer with an electrical tape 2nd layer would make a nice bandage.
Stay safe!
Nik
Flickr: nikgwolf512's Photostream
Stay safe!
Nik
Flickr: nikgwolf512's Photostream
While working on the old Ice Show at Busch Gardens, I sprained an ankle on the ice during a scene change. It wasn't the worst injury in the world, but I had to finish the high speed scene change by pushing set pieces hopping on the ice on one foot, then hopping to the fly rail and moving 3 linesets. I promptly fell over in the wings and was replaced by the followspot guy.
Spikesgirl
Active Member
Yesterday, I had my orthopedic surgeon tell me that my active days backstage are drawing to a close and that he wants to work one show a season - period, that includes design and SMing. Of course, I can still work in the front office, since that's just computer work...not a happy camper today.
We had something like this happen with one of our shop staff 2 years ago. A bone spur pressing against his spinal cord forced him to retire on disability at 57 years old.
I was working with IATSE local 76 in San Antonio in the late 80s doing a Tina Turner show. She was onstage doing her last number, "Proud Mary" and I was on the mezzanine level of the venue, standing on a 2' riser with some other hands, watching the end of the show. Just as she finished the number and the crowd was going wild, I turned to step off of the riser to make my way down a really long set of concrete stairs to get backstage. Just as I stepped off of the riser, there was a blackout. I stepped into space....missed the floor and landed in the stairwell and proceeded to go end over end for what seemed like 5 minutes until I hit the doors at the bottom of the stairwell. As I lay at the bottom of the stairwell trying to assess the damage that I had done to my body a fellow stagehand who saw me tumbling came rushing down the stairs to see if I was ok. Not seeing any blood or bones sticking out, he said I would be ok and he was going back up to see her do her encore. Well, the injury was one of the worst that I have ever suffered. My right patella, kneecap, was all but shattered. It took almost 6 months before I could really get around again.
Drewdesign
Member
Spikesgirl
Active Member
I'm a hands on kinda girl - all right, stop it right there, you guys! In a 'real' theater, it would be a different matter, but I work in a community theater and the SM wears many hats, including setting the stage and props. It's rough when you can't get down on your hands and knees to place spike marks or tape out a set (which I physically couldn't do before I saw the doctor).
Designing (for me) means spending lots of time bent over a drafting table as I draft by hand. Then there are the elevations, thumbnails, etc and then moving on to the models. There are trips to the store with the shop foreman to get the right trim, fabrics and our designer is also required to dress the set - hard when you can't move furniture (my weight limit is currently set at 10 pounds) or twist and turn to get through second hand stores and the like. My surgeon want me to not to anything for the next six months to see if it has any impact on the progression of my injury. Since I am under his care, he can call the shots as he sees fit. I don't play along, I lose my disability.
cdub260 - I lost my position as shop foreperson at 47 and have been volunteering at community theater since. It's okay, but I sure miss the money I was making and the equipment I had to work with. Disability is okay, but only pays 66% of your last established salary.
I've decided that it's okay though, at least it's getting me out of designing a show I didn't want to design and SMing a show I'm preferred not to have SM'ed. There's always FoH...
Sony
Active Member
Personally, the worst I've ever done to myself is slice my hand open. One of the people I was working with though decided she would try and use the table saw all by herself even after I offered to help her...she ended up almost cutting one of her fingers off and needing stiches. I ended up having to do damage control and drive her to the medical center. She hasn't used power tools since...
codered11343
Member
I had a gash in my head from when a actor dropped a female stage-pin from a 20' cable on my from about 15'. Had to get 4 stitches in my forehead.
But I did get a funny quote from it all. After this happened, I was in my schools infirmary for a hour getting patched up, and when I get back my LD was saying that the actor kept apologizing and saying that he was so sorry over and over again. After about 45 minuets of him apologizing to him, he told the actor, "We get it, your sorry this happened, but it doesn't change the fact that you still hit Ray in the head with a stage pin!!!"
That still makes me laugh when I think about it.
But I did get a funny quote from it all. After this happened, I was in my schools infirmary for a hour getting patched up, and when I get back my LD was saying that the actor kept apologizing and saying that he was so sorry over and over again. After about 45 minuets of him apologizing to him, he told the actor, "We get it, your sorry this happened, but it doesn't change the fact that you still hit Ray in the head with a stage pin!!!"
That still makes me laugh when I think about it.
That is pretty amusing.
One guy who graduated last year had the habit of dropping things from large distances, with impeccable accidental aim. He hit my lighting teacher with a gobo, and almost with a color frame, but she dodged. He also tossed a 10' stage pin cable off of a genie lift, and it landed in a coil around a girl who was taking a break from unscrewing seats (we have to strike he first two-three rows to get to some of our lighting positions) as well as a couple other instances with rolls of color and the like.
If you're working Audio in Cincinnati, watch out for him.
(Yes, we told him not to throw things. No, it didn't help.)
Now draft them in scale!
Sorry about your ego, and your pain, but at least it makes a good story. (Plus you landed on your feet, like a cat, or an electrician.)
So the worst injury I have had was when I was actually in a show that was using swords. During one of the practices I turned around and the guy "somehow" missed the other huys sword and slashed me across the back. It was dulled, but still hurt for awhile.
My worst tech accident had to be when I was setting a piece of scenery into it's fitting slot (so that it could be easily taken in and out during performances) my foot somehow got caught underneath and was locked in place in the slot under the set piece. My toes were black and blue there for awhile!
My worst tech accident had to be when I was setting a piece of scenery into it's fitting slot (so that it could be easily taken in and out during performances) my foot somehow got caught underneath and was locked in place in the slot under the set piece. My toes were black and blue there for awhile!
