On February 1,
2001 David Boevers sent the following message to the Stagecraft
mailing list
---------------------------------------------------------------
From: David Boevers
Subject: Non-standard Theatrical Terms
Hello all, I'm in the process of compiling a glossary of nonstandard theatrical
shop vocabulary. I'd appreciate it if everyone would dip into their proprietary
glossaries and send me some good ones. Some examples to get you started:
"wikki-wikki" & "fwubida" - terms relating to unit stability
"doesee-doe" & "Iwo Jima" - referring to material handling
and my favorite so far
"Toblerones" - for periaktoi.
Anyway, let me know if you've got a good one.
Thanks much,
David
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Over the next couple of weeks list members sent in their favorite terms, phrases
and stories from their experiences working in the theater industry. I've taken
the liberty of organizing them under loosely-defined categories while trying
to maintain the conversational flavor of the posts. If you'd like to contribute,
email me at
and I'll add your terms to the list.
Hold
This End: Units of Measurement
If I Had a Hammer... The
Nonstandard Toolkit
Linguistic Diversity
Petticoat Junction: From
the Costume Shop
Squints and Squeaks
We Just Might Burn in Hell for This
Moving Scenery
Tech 101
It's a Concept: Design Style
Politically Incorrect Soft Goods
Ooze, Stickum and Slime
Casting Central
Knot Again: Rope
and Rigging
Toto, I Don't Think We're in Kansas Anymore: Terms
on Tour
Skoshe --
Measurement term, Slightly less than a nudge Spelling varies since I've never
seen it written. Stephen Litterst
Around here, I've used (in varying proportions) hair, smidge,
and scootch.
Which begs the question of conversion factors... If there are 4 hairs to the
smidge, and 3 smidges to the scootch, how many scootches are in a skoshe? Or
is a skoshe half a scootch? And where do the gnat's ass and nudge fit into all
of this? Or are those metric units? Of course, then there are units of force...
the oomph, kick, tap, and wallop... anyone wanna try those? Paul D Schreiner
Gnat's ass - unit of measure similar to Skoshe Peter Whinnery
British usage is a 'Gnat's'. To what part of a gnat's anatomy this refers I leave to your imagination, although I believe that, officially, it's a whisker. Frank Wood
Similar to skoshe, here in the South we like to use the term frog's hair, as in "Move that platform downstage a frog's hair." Mike Grismore
"Skoshe" is an Americanization of a Japanese word meaning "small amount." It's transliterated as "sukoshi," and comes out sounding like "s'koshi" and thus, `skoshe'. I first heard this as a military brat in post-War Japan, and suspect that, like so many other useful words of non-English origin, it was brought home by returning soldiers. Pat Kight
I have not heard anyone mention the smallest measurement known to the theatre world, a RCH. Commonly translated as a red c*nt hair... still meant to be a small, small amount. gregg hillmar
On the RCH topic
(which I had originally decided to avoid) I have heard distinctions in size
based on color (red being the finest hair, an RCH is a more precise unit of
measurement than a plain C hair) Colin Buckhurst
Yo-yo =
Measuring tape. Steve McBee
Slipstick = Tape Measure.
That one threw me for a loop packing for a site survey. The Production manager
asked if I'd packed slipsticks and I had a hard time keeping a straight face
when I asked what he meant. Stephen Litterst
Wasn't a slipstick a sliderule? Harold Hallikainen
Guesser... Tape measure Mark O'Brien
Or the measurement Saigons, a unit of measurement brought into being after a successful musical whose theatre plans differed from actuality. Thomas Hares
I remember mixing up a batch of industrial kitchen degreaser to clean the fish oil off of some steel and asking the head carp how much stuff to how much water, and became immediately familiar with the Some-to-Some Ratio. Chris "Chris" Babbie
When something was measured incorrectly, you must have used an Ollie instead of a Stanley. (From Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy.) Sigrid Wolf
Zimmer - another term for a cordless drill with screwdriver bits, coined by Al Fanjoy, University of Delaware
Large unit of measure: Butt Load. Obviously not a precise measurement. Be sure not to confuse the Standard with a Metric Butt Load. Sigrid Wolf
Small ambiguous units of measurement: Sure I used skoshe, but I also used smidge, dab, bit, tad, smidgeon, etc. I used these when I was with two high school students trying to bounce focus the Front of House. We never made any sort of conversion chart from one unit to another. Ken Porter
I thought I'd add to "hair, smidge, scootch and rch" one of my favorite new terms: "Just move it a snot". Not pretty, but appropriate and indeed funny. Ed Romanoff
As another synonym for "Precision Adjustment Tool", we have always called the sledge in the shop the Micro-adjuster, the idea being you can move *the entire set* by tiny fractions of a millimeter. Joel Lord
The one we always throw around here is "A metric crap load" not to be confused with a butt load, as this is metric. It is defined as the max weight that can be lifted by a person, but only if they would get hurt in the process. i.e.: a 150lb speaker
Furlongs per Fortnight is a unit of speed used to measure motorized battens, or really anything for that matter, that travels insatiably slow. The actual speed is 1.033399e-7 mph or 220 yards per 2 weeks. M. Scott
A Correction:
Furlong = 1/8 mile or 200 yards Fortnight = 14 days = 336 hours
Furlongs per Fortnight = 220 yards per 2 weeks as defined , but in mph it is .125 miles / 336 hours = 3.720238e-4 mph not 1.033399E-7 as reported by M. Scott Richard Hill
If I Had a Hammer... The Non-Standard Toolkit
Whacking stick
or Hi-tech focusing aid (broomstick) for lights? Jon Ares
Percussive Maintenance - see Whacking Stick Peter Whinnery
I have heard "Percussive
Maintenance" as Percussive Re-alignment. Sigrid Wolf
Also Knockometer. Frank Wood
One of the ones that come to mind here at Syracuse is Toshi (pronounced
"toe-she"). It is basically a large pole with foam wrapped around
one end (imagine a 18' or 20' Q-Tip). We use it to help push battens/linesets/electrics
around "obstacles" on the set. I've also seen a lighting designer
use it to "focus" an impossible to reach instrument. VERY handy! I
can't think of a load-in or strike that it hasn't been used. David M. Bowman
I wonder if that is named after Toshira Ogawa, a lighting designer who taught
at Ohio State Univ. in the late 1970s-early '80s. I remember him as a very good
lighting designer, and he could, in a pinch, do a great deal of focusing with
a stick. Long stage braces were his favorite back then. Watching him put in
a gel from 14' below the pipe was a treat. Steve Boone
When I used to
be at the State Theatre in Easton, Pa, a Toshi stick was called a Tit Stick,
cause it's used to breast things. Tony Galanti
It started out as a trick played on freshmen, but we more often than not will call a kerf a Bladewipe. It's one of those smile-when-you-say-that things. Gerald Ford
Precision Adjustment
Tool = largest sledge hammer in the shop (sometimes referred to as "precision
alignment tool") Stephanie Dawson
And the largest pry-bar with a hooked end is referred to as the Ford tool.
Chris "Chris" Babbie
American screwdriver = a hammer Pat Dillon
Of course I've heard this one as a Union Screwdriver = hammer....
gregg hillmar
We use to call that one a Chicago Screwdriver. Tom Hansen
I thought that that was a crescent wrench... Michael J. Banvard
Oh, you mean an adjustable ballpeen hammer... S. Mooney
And here I was just telling a crew the other day that a hammer was a bolt-driver
and a one-inch spade bit. Amazing range of uses for one tool. David
Boevers
I thought we used the screwdriver as a chisel! James Wenting
Heck, after some of my experiences with students in the shop, I thought we used
a chisel for a screwdriver! John Bracewell
Naah...
Everybody knows that *every* tool in your toolbag is a hammer, except for the
screwdriver which is actually a prybar/chisel, and the cordless drill which
is actually a screwdriver. Dave Vick
Back in my schooldays, I had a very pedantic woodwork master. What we would
all call a 'screwdriver', he would call a screwturner. If asked for a
'screwdriver', he would produce a hammer! Frank Wood
Scene from a load-in, Vancouver BC:
American Tour Staging Guy: "Y'all got the greatest things up here in Canada
- Roberston Screws. And I have them!" (Passes around the familiar blue
boxes, to the delight of the local crew.) ATSG: "And.... I have some Robertson
Screw Drivers!" (With a grin and a wink, produces several hammers,
to the dismay of the local crew.... but we were actually to use these screws
as fascia pins, and later remove them with drivers/turners.) Tom Heemskerk
An Electric's Metric = C-Wrench. Chris "Chris" Babbie
Slappin' Rag
While learning scene painting some years ago, I was introduced to a wonderful
tool - the flogger. At the time there was a 'non-traditional' (OLDER) student
in the class. She saw the purpose of the tool and called it what was - slappin'
rag. The term has stuck in my mind, and even today I teach my students the importance
of the slappin' rag. Tony Hardin
Micrometer Fine Adjustment Tool = 16 pound sledge used to shift a row
of connected platforms a scoche.
Miniature Micrometer Fine Adjustment Tool = 8 pound sledge MPTecDir
I hadn't thought
about it in this connection, but a few years ago, working with some students
where we were using a 16-pound sledge in addition to several other kinds of
hammer, the students starting referring to the sledge as the BFH. You
figure out expletive behind the acronym. John Bracewell
Tweaker: any hammer over 5 lbs that isn't the biggest in the shop (See Precision
Adjustment Tool- I was at NC School of the Arts, too) Ron Cargile
Caveman Sledgehammer:
stage weight
Friendly Persuader
- the largest sledgehammer
Glynnis - the largest sandbag
Bubba-Mag - the largest flashlight
Rope Wrench - knife Tom Heemskerk
Wazzer for a cordless screwdriver Thomas Hares
hmm, you know,
i'm so used to the things we say around the theatre, it took this long into
the thread to even occur to me that this might be considered nonstandard from
the first day's appearance in the theatre of 'self-tapping drywall screws' they
have been called zap screws, no known origin for the term. The drawer
they live in is labeled zap screws and always has been, and even the local hardware
stores know what we mean when we ask for them. And, of course, by extension,
this makes your cordless drill/driver a zap gun, which is especially
satisfying to us children of the 50's, who remember Dick Tracy's wrist radios
and buck rogers' ray guns, and are watching them become reality. We're living
in the future! Don Taco
We call 'em grabbers and grabber guns down here - sometimes tech
screws and tech guns Mikkel Mynster
In the Juilliard scene shop we had the Kraken - a Porter Cable 3hp router and Barbie's Dream Router - our laminate trimmer. At Seattle Rep we had tuffets which are low rolling swivel stools great for low projects without killing your knees. They were featured in Tech Briefs a while back. Colin Buckhurst
Poop Stick - used to prop up a long header when raising a false proscenium type flat. Merel Ray
A term we use to
indicate any tool you can't remember or don't know the name is a woo woo.
Richard Schroeder
I thought that was a jobidoo. Rigger
The other term I've always used is TyZingy instead of, "one of those plastic cable tie wraps." Sara Mooney
Audition Slippers - kneepads Colin Buckhurst
Whisky stick... Thing to mark odd shaped wood on a theatrical flat. Closely related to jump stick Mark O'Brien
Tuning Fork
= It is piece of wood cut like a tuning fork, hence the name, generally with
3/4" between the tines. One use is to quickly and fairly accurately transfer
a line from one side of a piece of wood to the other. Scott Conklin
Tuning Fork = Magic FingersDavid Boevers
We have a black box space that has unistrut along the ceiling for hanging lighting equipment. Around here, the special rectangular nuts with springs on them that thread onto the yoke bolt and lock into the unistrut are called spring bobs. Mark Harvey
Boingy Nuts: Uni Strut nuts with attached spring
Do you already have rope wrench as a monikker for a knife? Mickey Carter
Two pieces of 1X lumber joined at a 90 degree angle (into an L shape) along their lengths = Hog-trough = Whaler(Wailer?) = Strong-back Duncan Mahoney
And hampers are
hampsters around here. Susan L. Kelley
Bolt cutters = the master key (especially during year-end locker clean
up)
Another one my girlfriend just heard while volunteering at the local museum
is ghost poop for packing peanuts. Keith Houghton
Nutcracker--swaging
tool
brass knuckles--stage screw
popper - rivet gun
flame thrower--hudson sprayer Michael Sorensen
Set Finesser - a hammer
Set Adjuster - a sledge hammer Will Leonard
Wire-nuts -
Chocolate-covered espresso beans
From Seattle Rep Theatre Scene Shop:
Laurels HDPE (high density polyethylene) glides, roughly domino-sized, named
after the apprentice carpenter who got to cut and drill hundreds of them one
season. Glenn Horton
Geek Tool: A generic term for multi-tools (Leatherman, Gerber, Sog, etc.) Eric Johnson
Mr.-Make-It-Fit:
16lb. sledge
Flammer: anything you can't quite find the name of - "The flammer on
the M gun is bent. It bones the fastener." Dave Kaina
Mr. Wood - a block of wood (with electrical tape wrapped around both ends and the name MR. WOOD in the middle) used to shut of many circuit brakers all at once. Will Kent
I seem to always have to ask for the cable stretcher at focus, i.e. a 5' jumper. Shamus McConney
Here are two--used
first in Truman University's theatre department, back in the '80's and still
in use today, and another, origin unknown:
Nernee (or Nerney):
An unknown but important-appearing piece of metal or plastic. You don't know
the source, and you don't know what it is or what it's used for or what it's
from, but you do know that if you toss it out, it will turn out to be a little
used but essential gadget from a critically important piece of equipment, and
will cost a minimum of $57.72 to replace (+ three weeks of time and additional
shipping and handling). If you keep it around, it will turn out to be utterly
non-essential, and will clutter the shop for all eternity.
Thorn: any quick sharp fastener--nail, screw, staple. "Put a thorn
in it right there."
Zeeter: Cordless drill/screw gun. Came from a bastardization of Makita. "Send that zeeter down this way when you're done." Also used as a
verb--"Hey, zeeter that thorn in for me, will you?" Nancy Whiting
Rope wrench for knife has always amused me [though I, personally cannot bring myself to actually cut a rope due to a traumatic short rope experience I had as a child]. Peter Ballenger
And when I was back at the U. of Hartford, a pinchbar (= prybar = flat version of a crowbar) was lovingly referred to as an Attitude Adjuster. As in: we'll convince that doohicky to *want* to come apart from that thingamajig. Ken Porter
Hey Jeff ( thats me heh heh heh ) run over to the "Taco Cart" (cart with grip equipment) , and get me a " Platapuss" (a vise grip with welded on flat plates for clamping bead board and a baby spud for C-stand insertion. Jeff Baer
At my high school, I once had a crew that refused to refer to the drills as anything but screwdrivers or "the whir-y things". Another crew I had dubbed corrugated nails "scrails". Laurie Thomas
While teaching intro to stagecraft at Florida State I had a student answer the question "Why use screws instead of nails?" with "Because they have better gription" I’ve used it since. Jessica Laney
Frou-frou (pr. Fru-Fru) -- tiny detail work. "I haven't finished putting the frou-frou and ditz on the backdrop yet." Stephen Litterst
"Frou-frou" is an onomatopoeic French word which literally means "rustle" but came to be used for bits of ruffle, lace and other frippery that made ladies' dresses rustle as they walked. From describing the sound, it drifted to describe the trims themselves. Pat Kight
Let's not forget the late Billy Mintzer's favorite Shmatteh - Rag, anything worthless from the Yiddish. Herrick Goldman
In Hawaii the term
wiki-wiki means hurry or quick.
Huli means to flip over top for bottom, and
kapakahi means crooked or lopsided."Shell"
To which I would
add "Hemo," literally meaning "to throw" but is commonly
used to mean shoving (usually accompanied by much grunting)
And my favorite: "Huli maka huli" where "maka" is
eye. If da bruddah wen hemo da roadcase an' slip, he go huli maka huli....
Frank E. Merrill
Terms from Down
Under:
DFL - Local casual crew as in Dumb F*** Local
Mechs or Flymans Focus - Where the LD decides their scale drawing of
a lamp means an LX bar will go between 2 close Flats with the resultant when
flying
said flat.
"fly it in/out a Leckie" - placebo trim on any flown piece.
Snotter - rope piece 6'-10' long with eye splice in one end.
Te KutiKuti (tay cutty cutty)- psuedo NZ Maori for any cutting tool,
saw, craft knife, sledge hammer required for some urgent and generally suspect
redesign.
"as ___ as a ___ thing" (eg as heavy as a heavy thing, as stupid
as a stupid...) used when short on wit when a comment must be made. Craig
Hanham; Wellington, New Zealand
Luchtklampen
= Air clamps (english) Clamps you use to rig a truss when there are no rigging
points at all.e.g. : Can you rig this truss here? Sure give me some air clamps
and I'll fix it. It's a term which is often used in Belgium in theatre and rock'n
roll when it is completely impossible to rig a truss to a structure like a grid
or the beams of the roof.
It can also be used as a way to take the mickey out of people, sending one of
the stagehands out to a hardware store and letting him ask for airclamps. I've
never known anybody who did not come back emptyhanded, but they always seemed
slightly upset.
I hope you understand what airclamps are, if not write me a mail back and I'll
send you a drawing. Tom Seeldraeyers
That's ok, Tom. In our tool room they're right between the board stretchers and sky hooks.
Beach:
sandbags
Greenie: a small screwdriver usually used for gain adjustment in wireless
mics (so named for their usual green handle). Also known as a tweaker.
Timothy Folster
Ear Goggles: headphones Timothy Folster
Mic
string, Speaker string etc - cable of various types
Mars Bar: 13A (UK domestic) 4 way adaptor block, happens to be roughly
shaped like a chocolate bar Owen Holmes
From
the Costume Shop
In the costume shop at the Shakespeare festival when they'd pull stock and
add frou-frou, etc. for the upcoming show they were polishing turds.
Tom Hansen
I was hit in the face with the fact that we have different words for the same things when having a conversation with a costume designer at a cast party. I mentioned that we'd had to "180" a platform , and he took the longest time trying to understand me. When someone else said "pick it up and turn it around 180 degrees," he exclaimed "Oh! Half a petticoat!" Mickey Carter
French Alteration: a placebo alteration done to the costume of a troublesome actor. Jenny Kenyon
Shinies: Reflective bits, usually on a costume, such as sequins, designed to catch the light and draw the eye. "That costume sure has a lot of shinies on it." Also sparklies. Dale Farmer
The stage management instructor in my undergrad used to call the box boom position the juliets, because they sat at the edge of the apron and would be perfect for the balcony scene. Lisa Adamsen
Telescoping long-range calibration device - a stage brace deployed by electricians Tom Heemskerk
Woogie lights - the ones that move without a long-range calibration device Tom Heemskerk
The bright 40
watters - placebo replacement music stand lamps Tom Heemskerk
EQ the crap out of it - placebo audio processing Tom Heemskerk
High Impedence Air Gap meaning, of course, that it isn't plugged in.
The8rgrl
On tour one time we went to a college somewhere in the southern California desert, where they had those molded-Y twofers, which they affectionately referred to as Gumbys. At least they hadn't painted them green. Tom Hansen
The theatre I worked at this summer affectionately referred to the molded rubber two-fers as rubber chickens... Andy Leviss
The Whorehouse
aka 3-fer blocks (lots of females, and one male) John D. Emery
Some of my high school electricians call 2-fers Pimps. (One male, 2 females.)
I don't take with it myself, but I do like the previously
mentioned "Rubber chicken." Jon Ares
When I first started doing theatre back in college, myself and a few others on the light crew were biology majors. We referred to the Altman lighting wrench as the Planaria, a small cross shaped flat-worm that it resembled. Thinking back now, it's one of the few things I remember from that Biology degree! Susan Kelleher
Altman wrench.... We call it a " 'Drac' Wrench" for Dracula. Susan L. Kelley
The wrench some other have called a Century wrench was called a Bash wrench in college. At one job site, I asked if anyone had a Bash wrench, and 2 of the electricians pulled out a hammer. Considering the units we were about to focus, I almost let them use them. John D. Emery
Years ago I arrived in Aruba in the carib to do a tour show ( small dance tour
) had no advance info on the venue, was carrying no gear, etc etc etc. Was informed
on the phone upon arrival (before getting to the venue) that they had a good
compliment of elbow fresnels couldn't figure out what the hell they meant.
Get to the venue, they had a bunch of Strand ( UK ) ellipsodials, base up configuration
(this was PRE Quartz) with step lenses. this was an "elbow fresnels"
Keith Arsenault
The Thing That Goes BEEP
as in: Please go get the GAM Check.
The what?
The GAM Check.
??
Black, about this long.... You plug the light into it.
???
"The thing that goes BEEP."
Ohhhhh! Scott C. Parker
Rubber rope = cable.Susan L. Kelley
Bounce Focus
- repeatedly raising and lowering an electric to ground focus it and then check
focus when a "Toshi" won't work Colin Buckhurst
Bounce focus = French focusing or yo-yo focusing. Rigger
Zen Focus: bounce focus. Tony Galanti
Carpentry Focus
- hitting a light with scenery Colin Buckhurst
Rope = orange extention cords why? ok, once i didnt have enuff rope to
secure scenery to the top of my van, but many orange extention cords... and
some people never let me forget that day. MartyBlackEagle
An extention cord
is a Stinger. Sigrid Wolf
Ma-Bob (short for "thing-a-ma-bob") is another term for a Trombone.
A length of pipe usually between 6" and 3' with a c-clamp at one end: used
for hanging lights.Sigrid Wolf
SUS (as
in Suspect): ringing out the lighting unit to find out the dimmer they
are in (dimmer per circuit) John D. Emery
STRAND: Webster's version: to place or leave in a helpless position
John D. Emery
cable swag = horse c**k Keith Houghton
Electric Rope
- extension cord
Safety Electric Rope - orange extension cord David Boevers
God-mike
= mike that the engineer uses to talk back to the performers
Fat Man and Little Boy--old style Kliegl ellipsoidals
Shinbuster--dance lights hung on booms at just the right height :-) Michael
Sorensen
or Headbuster - for the same obvious reason.... IAEG
We use the term One-Legged to refer to a broken connector on an XLR. Chris "Chris" Babbie
Alien Mother - the cage built around dimmer beach, with cable running every which way to and from it BACatlarge
Organic Multi-Image
Progression Facilitator: stick of wood used to move manual slide projector
cross faders. If you had "Rosco" in front of it it costs an extra
$100.
Non-Organic Multi-Image Progression Facilitator: same as above but made
of a piece of conduit Ken Wesler
Lumo-suck- promised to director who insisted that a fresnel's light not
bleed on area around actor. "We'll just aim a lumo-suck at that"
DBG - dark be gone - the opposite of a lumo-suck. Used with a director who didn't want a shadow under a table. "We'll just use a little DBG on that" Ken Wesler
Where I come from, it's "lumasuck" and it comes in spray cans similar to WD-40. just spray a little up behind an instrument and all light bleed vanishes! sam kusnetz
Goldsmith the Cues: Left over from the days of piano dimmer boards on Broadway, before computers did everything. The lighting cuesheets were spread-sheeted by hand in order to be able to follow the cues and used to translate the cuesheets to a cut down road version, or (when necessary) to more modern electronic boards. Derived from the paper it was done on - 11x17 spread sheets printed by Goldsmith Brothers. W H "Batch" Batchelder
Intermittent
Cyclonic Turbuloids - created by the lead Audio Tech at the Sands Casino
in Atlantic City (I think), this item falls into the placebo category. Someone
asks "What's wrong with the sound?" while the tech is trying to fix
the problem. The tech, annoyed at the interruption, replies "It's OK, it's
just Intermittent Cyclonic
Turbuloids". Also, any unexplainable audio malfunction. Mike Tartaglio
Terms relating
to adjusting the ceramic lamp base in the back of a par can, in order to alter
the alignment of the filament.
Spin the Bottle
Turn the Banana
Grab the Pickle William Kenyon
Electron Hose: any sort of electrical cable William Kenyon
Robots: Intelligent (?) lights Nancy Shaw
PEBCAC -
a term used to describe why something isn't working through the lighting console
due to programmer error........... Problem Exists Between Chair And Console
ESTO - a term used to describe why some equipment just can't be made
to operate properly ........
Equipment Smarter Than Operator Nancy Shaw
Hockey-Puck - the SCR diode block in a dimmer module
Dip-Free Cross-Fade: on the old two scene preset lighting consoles, when a designer started making adjustments in quarter points, we used to crossfade to the same exact cue. The resulting dip would convince the designer the adjustment had been made and we'd hear "oh, that looks much better." Thus, we'd be "free of the dip." Someone must have told; we now have dip-'less' crossfaders. Bill Atkins
O-N/O-F-F Discriminator: power switch
Spin the Bottle: turn the par lamp Timothy Folster
Low Copper,
High Oxygen Content Connection - It ain't plugged in. (Sounds good over
a radio.) Mark Spector
Stage Toilet Paper - its all the tape or gel scraps left of the stage
after stripping an electric that always end up stuck to the bottom of your boots.
George Fields
BeamOut: similar to "lumasuck", availible in spray cans to eliminate that little bit of light bleeding where the shutter cut just can't (or won't) help you. KT
One term I use
a lot when explaining electricity to folks who don't understand it is Magic
Smoke. The wire carries it around. Voltage equals pressure, and when the
magic smoke starts to leak out you know something is broken. The magic smoke
in the wires is also acidic, so don't touch the wires.
Zoobs: slang term for electricity. "Give me zoobs for this dimmer
rack."
Power Hose: Electrical feeder and extension cords. "Get some power
hose, we need some zoobs for the podium light."
Smoke Testing: Plugging in and turning on any piece of electrical gear
after a repair or for the first time. If the magic smoke leaks out, the gear
failed it's test.
Gozinta and goesouta: The two dmx plugs on a lighting pack or the connectors on an intercom pack. "Take this DMX cable and and run it from the board up to the gozinta on that pack, then run another from the goesouta plug over to the other dimmer pack." Dale Farmer
We
Just Might Burn in Hell for This
Does an 'Altman Wrench' resemble a 'Century Wrench'? [cast aluminum to match
the cast aluminum lekos] Richard D Niederberg
I believe it does. In our neck o' the woods, we call both a Jesus wrench.
Chris Davis
Although I think
the term has pretty much disappeared from recent usage around here, we used
to call the small set bolt on that locked the yoke stud on a Century C-clamp
a Jesus Bolt. I think the origin of the term was the amount of profanity
occasioned by any of the following:
1. Finding the bolt just loose enough so that, although it felt OK when you
focused, the instrument would slip at the slightest bump.
2. Finding that someone had removed the bolt altogether.
3. Finding that someone had gotten overly enthusiastic in trying to make sure
that the instrument was tight, wringing the head off the bolt.
4. Finding that the bolt was loose, but that the unit was hung in a position
such that you couldn't get a wrench in to tighten it. John Bracewell
Pan bolt being
the Jesus Bolt ('cause that's what you say when it breaks), or the awh
S%#T screw. Susan L. Kelley
When I was a kid, my dad showed me a little spring retaining clip that installed
in a groove in a rod to keep stuff from sliding off the end. He told me it was
Jesus Clip. When I asked him why, he told me that's what I'd be saying
when every time it flew off somewhere as I tried to get in on or off. I'm afraid
that, over time, my name for these has gotten a bit longer and a lot less spiritual.
Also applies to really small cotter pins. Ken Erfourth
Nails and spikes
20d (4") and larger = Jesus Nails
Screws and lags longer than 3" = Jesus Screws Duncan Mahoney
Jesus factor... allowing something to not be quite right Mark O'Brien
See also Jesus Paint
We would dead dog legged platforms at one theatre. That is flip them legs to the air. Scott Conklin
wikki-wikki & fwubida - terms relating to unit stability David Boevers
Along the lines of wikki-wikki is wonga-wonga. Scott Conklin
Barbecue
(bar' bi kyoo), v., to flip over a flat or similarly flat piece of scenery while
carrying it horizontally. [From the process usually applied to nice racks of
baby back ribs. As in, "let's barbecue this flat before we Iwo Jima it
(thanks to someone else for a term new to me) or the pretty painted side is
going to face upstage"] Jim Dougherty
I've heard rotisserie for that same maneuver. MissWisc
We call it Surabachi-ing a piece here. (After the mountain on the island
of Iwo Jima.) Dave Vick
This is similar to the term 180 [as in degrees of arc] a flat or set
piece, whether on the X, Y, or Z axis. Richard D Niederberg
The Muncie 180 = when you put the scenery down and the stagehands switch
ends. A friend swears two students did this in Muncie when told to 180 a flat
and put it in the truck. Brian Crow
86, as in "86 that platform before you put it down." Meaning, I believe to reverse it or "do-si-do" it. '86' is supposed to have originally come from the food service industry. It meant that the item was no longer available from the kitchen, The cook would shout "86 the tomato soup!" as he poured the last bowl. The migration to the bar and club industry included the original (to be out of a certain drink) and also referred to patrons who were no longer welcome. "He's 86'ed, he can't come back in here." In theatre, I have only heard this referred to meaning to lose the item, as in "86 these flats (strike). Anyone who knows where the original came from, I'd love to know. Chris "Chris" Babbie
Float [I]
- lower a canvas flat by footing it, and letting air resistance cushion the
fall
Float [II] - dismantle scenery by pretending it's actually canvas flats
Tom Heemskerk
Falcetti - to stand on the unloaded side of a frame and pretend to foot it for the guys actually touching the scenery. Always taking the lighter side of anything heavy. ie. "Dave go Falcetti that wall while they rig it to the pipe. Named after an actual Local 33 stagehand. Dave Dawson
New York a Show means to label all pieces and parts of equipment in the shop prior to load-in. Nancy Shaw
When working with
my crew, a phrase often used is "kill this". which generaly
means:
a tool: to get it out of direct sight or put it away
scrap wood: to throw out
a set piece: to strike. Heidi Hunt
It's
a Concept: Design Style
One of my professors often designed in a style he referred to as Circus Wagon
Baroque Stuart Wheaton
One designer I
work with loves Firch and Gnerr (sp?) which refers to rustic set dressing.
The firch is hard stuff (tools, farm implements etc) and the gnerr is softer
(foliage, burlap etc). Colin Buckhurst
Toblerones - for periaktoi. David Boevers
Our shop calls them Pterodactyls Sarah Gowan
These are probably
quite ancient but there are two materials I've come to realize are utter necessities
demanded by virtually all designers and especially technicians. They are:
Unobtainium: when nothing else will do;
Instantanium: when you need it right away and overnight delivery isn't
fast enough. Ralph Bloom III
Re:Unobtainium: it comes from Faroffistan Jay Young
Acoustinite Audio Enhancing Flooring similar to Masonite
Strange thing about Acoustinite.......it's properties change in direct relation to the benefit of the person that is being asked to do the labor.....as in, if it's already down, audio quality will be better if it stays down........ Damon Carvalho
Politically Incorrect Soft Goods
Front Curtain: House rag, or just rag. Mikkel Mynster
West Coasting
soft goods Herrick Goldman
East Coasting -- traditional flying of a drop
Mid-Westing -- tripping a drop Stephen Litterst
West Coast...
Tie the scrim to itself, and throw it in the bag or hamper.
East Coast... Stuff the damn scrim in the hamper. Mark O'Brien
How 'bout - goods:
legs = tormentors
borders = teasers
Or the look on the new kid's face when we say we're going to "hang the
blacks"?? Tom Hansen
Reminds me of one of the worst notices I ever saw posted on a call board:
"Volunteers needed to dead hang blacks for Raisin In The Sun". Sorry,
it's true :-) Chris Davis
Yeah, I've experienced that. On a related note, one of my students thought I
said "stretch the Muslim" not "stretch the muslin" on the
flat frame...that also brought a look of abject horror... Shawn Palmer
I learned never to use that expression. My first tour with my previous employer
through the highlands and lowlands on Virginia. We were in a KFC/Taco Bell discussing
what we had to do after the lunch break. The TD said "Well, I think we
need to hang the blacks before we do anything else." The restaurant got
quiet. We finished eating in quite a hurry and got out of there. It's draperies
and legs and stuff for me now. Stephen Litterst
Sitting in a bar at lunch. Just finished hanging the soft goods for a show.
They'd been in hampers for quite awhile and were dirty. I turned to my foreman
and said..."after lunch break out the corn brooms for the crew and beat
the blacks. The bar got very, very quiet. We explained. We left. We never went
back. Bill Sapsis
Anybody ever yell "Kill the workers"?? Pat Dillon
Not exactly the same but it jogged my memory of the time I was told to go get a "dead baby seal" to weigh down a flat jack. My face must have looked pretty horrifyed, cause he broke down and pointed to a pile of cut inner tubes turned into sand bags. Dead baby seals. Merel Ray
Since we're in North Carolina, we can do this, but I wouldn't use this term above the Mason-Dixon line. When you're in a BIG hurry, and you run the border (leg, other stage black) into the floor and roll it up in a big, round ball (down its longest side, of course) so that it resembles a giant hay bale and toss it into a hamper, this is "Southcoasting". John Andrew MUNRO
Along the lines of “southcoasting” a soft good, sometimes things get blintz-folded around here, describing a piece of goods that begins being folding with the best of intentions, only to end up looking like a ball of mess. This usually happens to large panels like blackout drapes. Chris Kennedy
Hard Goods - As opposed to soft goods aka anything that is flown, but is not made of fabric, Example, portals, drum kits. Coined during a Blast! tour stop. Donald Kramer
Casting
Central
Full Cleveland : producer type in a pale green leisure suit, gold chains
and white patent leather shoes. Paul Richardson
The Canadian version of this is the Full Nanaimo, except the leisure
suit is white.... Charlie Richmond
Not to be confused with the Nanaimo Tuxedo, which is always a skookum
plaid, and is never to be tucked in nor buttoned up. Tom Heemskerk
Nut driver = former, directionally challenged, employee with ability to superimpose side of truck and carport roof ........ and not notice. MPTecDir
Garlic Snapper
- classical musician
Thumper - dance school performer unlikely to turn pro
Posers - non-working personnel, just above groupies
Board-Treader - a one-time performer from way back when, at a reception
Tom Heemskerk
Rake Rat - the skinny guy who has to go under the deck to "toe it in" Colin Buckhurst
And I don't know if we want to go that route, but there's the whole world of nicknames for all of our various jobs (board whacker, squint, squeak, stage mangler etc) Colin Buckhurst
Gopher = the person who gets supplies (especially the decaf coffee and bagels) John D. Emery
Circuit Tester - the new guy on the crew or intern. Wilma's system wasn't well-grounded. Usage: "Hey circuit tester, grab that pipe and see if it's hot" Ken Wesler
Diva Patrol - person who walked an actor to their car/apartment Ken Wesler
Toad - a box-pusher or volunteer (because they just do what they're "toad") - also called an Egyptian (think pyramids) Glenn Horton
Stage Carpenters and/or Scenic Techs are Wood Weasels, Wood Butchers, Deck Jocks Mike Tartaglio
Meter Maid: a production manager (time and money), also a Clockwatcher ("when's break?") Bill Atkins
A good rule of thumb for the audio assist - Always eat what the mixer eats so if it's bad, you both get sick and you don't have stay and mix the show alone. And if you do get to go out for lunch/dinner and the mixer doesn't, be sure to tell him how good it was when you get back. Mark Spector
"You've
been dutched" - made the victim of an inept repair or assembly. After
a Florida stagehand. Have you noticed that most stagehand locals have members
named Dutch, Liverpool, Junior, Hairball, and Animal?
Riggers and flymen are sometimes nicknamed "yo-yo". Bill Atkins
Splattering - misspelled form of painting technique. Richard Schroeder
I always like gooshi-gooshi
or nuckemfuky for mastic, sealant, or caulking. "Shell"
'Round here that blue stick-em they sell for poster art and for stabilizing
props is well known as Schmooie Andrew D Carson
Fluffyshmoogoo
- light weight spackle Kurt F Oian
I worked in a regional theatre years ago that called water-based contact cement
(it was green or blue colored), Gorilla Snot. Tommy Louie
No NO NO That stuff is Smurf guts, or Pureed Smurf.... Stuart
Wheaton
If we want to stretch "technical" to include makeup (and why not?), we've always referred to cheapo hair gel as Elephant Snot. The same term was often applied to the wallpaperpaste mixture used to wet down and apply muslin dutching back when we still used soft-covered flats Pat Kight
I recall that the yellow Insulating Lubricant for pulling wires was known as Elephant Snot. Richard D Niederberg
Expanding polyurethane
"spray foam" = Elephant Snot Duncan Mahoney
How about Jesus paint? Back at USU, we used to have a 5 gallon paint
bucket that all the paint leftovers went into that would be mixed up and used
as base paint. Since it would sit for weeks at a time, it would get rather ripe.
We'd send freshmen over to get the Jesus paint. When asked why it was called
that, we'd pry the top off and say, "Whew! Jesus!" Michael Sorensen
At one school I
was at, we called this stuff toxic waste. Here at OU, it's lovingly called
ass paint. Clare Adams
I hope this doesn't upset anyone here, but at one of my schools, that bucket
of musical comedy grey (olde paints in one bucket) - the students call
it the dead infant grey due to the unholy smell. Jon Ares
And the color is poodle s**t brown after you mix 'em all! Susan L.
Kelley
BooBoo Be Gone: flat black paint
Roll of Paint: Gaffers tape used to "paint" an object black Ron Cargile
Holiday - You missed a spot! Sarah Gowan
Stupid 88: that gooey crap used for texturing Dave Kaina
Monkey Snot: the double stick gel-like tape used to "install" small scenic pieces on larger scenic pieces. Nancy Shaw
Spooge (and Spooge Gun): Any caulk-type product and the tool used to apply same. First heard at a farm auction in PA Amish country, and too good to pass up. Spooge is now used for any thick, sticky, messy product you slap in or on something else to add texture or fill in gaps. Nancy Whiting
When the Shui Won't Feng - Architecture for the Theatre
Black Box - obvious to us but I think the rest of the world thinks flight recorder when they hear it Colin Buckhurst
We have a closet that's below a staircase which is only about 3'6" clearance, known as Tattoo's Office. Gerald Ford
Dimmer Beach, Monitor Land, Guitar World - production areas onstage Tom Heemskerk
Bastard Stage - prompt corner on the off-prompt side Tom Heemskerk
Gravity Well: Roughly cylindical area of space centered on anyone working at heights from the floor to the person working.
Here at the Phoenix Theatres, University of Victoria we have a furniture storage room called Wicker World, another storage area called Hobbit Land and our Gel storage/Lx fixit space is called Sick Bay. Keith Houghton
Blender Sports - Opening night party in the tech offices Glenn Horton
Halfway House: area for set storage between the stage and shop. Keith Taylor
At USM we have 2 main spaces - the "Thrust" and the "Black Box". In between the two spaces catwalks is our lighting storage room called "The Cave" after the Bat Cave from Batman. It got it's knickname because our LD Grad student has a pouch with about 3 multi tools and pens, pencils, knives, lighters and cigarettes, named the Bat Pouch. Jason "Blue" Herbert
Another dilema was solved when working at a local high school which had four electrics. When we were screaming instructions to each to focus we had to say words not just letters so......starting from the house going up stage. A-Audience, C-Center (Stage), D-Drop, but B was a problem because it was over the pit, and there isn't a b word other than bassoon and that isn't cool, so we coined the term Borchestra. Andrew Woodbridge
Favorite term for
the video production area: Video Village. Always makes me think of Hillary..."It
take a village"...sometimes more truth than not in video production.
Another gem for the audio mix position (aka: Front Of House) is the term: Mix
World...probably because the universe revolves around them. Tom Moyer
Archeological
Sorting: How the storage room is arranged. The oldest stuff on the bottom,
the newest stuff on the top. 'I sorted prop storage archeologically. ' Dale
Farmer
Back to Top
One of my favorites
is the thing you sometimes found when setting up your set for the first time.
We used improved stage screws a lot and after the set was in position we want
around and put inserts into the floor to hold down our jacks. when there was
already one there, it became a Magic Hole. John Chenault
Wonky = not ezzackly plumb, Chris "Chris" Babbie
Marketing Repair = "Oh, yeah, thats custom distressing, we
didn't charge you for that..." Chris "Chris" Babbie
Dog-earred referring to flat condition, Richard Schroeder
I hadn't thought of this in a long time, but when I first got to Ithaca, we
had a student who didn't know the correct name for ethafoam backer rod. So he
called it electric dildo! John Bracewell
Our properties instructor has her own language in the shop which we have dubbed
"Sandeez":
Staple the piss out of it - be sure the upholstry material is well secured
Tits on a worm - a very detailed prop Kurt F Oian
Gak - little
frou-frou stuff
[Insert country of your choice] Road Case - cardboard box on tour
[Insert another country of your choice] Velour - tarpaper used as masking
or skirting Tom Heemskerk
Jiz / Kak - same as gak, when used as a noun. (*Gakked up* being something else entirely)
Toeing in - driving nails or screws at an angle Colin Buckhurst
Gazinta - A piece of hardware that fits into another (that piece gazinta the other one). Susan L. Kelley
"...like
a monkey f***in' a football" = used to describe the situation when
a person or group isn't really qualified for the task they are trying to
accomplish ... (see also "cluster-f***") Fred Schoening,
Jr.
see also Goat Rodeo IAEG
I always thought it was... This looks like 3 monkeys trying to f##k a football.
Mark O'Brien
And the sound guys refer to it as three monkeys trying to f*** a balloon. It
adds a soundtrack to the vivid visual... Chris "Chris" Babbie
...so the client is represented by a committee of three, none with stage experience; their lighting guy is colour blind; their two sound guys are deaf; it's the first show of the tour; and we are into the 9th hour of a 5 hour load-in. Somebody (it may have been me) refers to it all with a spontaneous approximate spoonerism, calling it a "flustercluck"... Art Norris
Around here "I'm going to find a wrench" is the polite way of saying that you're headed to the restroom and might be there for a while. Christopher Hofmann
Working on films,
I learned that a clothes pin is a C-47 Sigrid Wolf
C-47 is the military parts number for a milspec wooden clothespin of specific
dimensions and pinch strength. Richard D Niederberg
...and let us not forget some of the nifty phrases the military have generously
loaned us, such as:
FUBAR = F***ed Up Beyond All Recognition
SNAFU = Situation Normal: All F***ed up Fred Schoening, Jr.
TARFU = Things Are Really F***ed Up Colin Buckhurst
OSRIC = Oh S**t, Run In Circles Stephen Litterst
From Australia : "Kangaroo Edward" (Roo Ted): Australian euphamism for non-op (or, more precisely, the FU part of SNAFU) As in "that light is Kangaroo Edward" Regards from Down Under - Bruce Heath
MUNG(ed): Mashed Until No Good
MUNG: Miscellaneous Unclaimed Nonessential Garbage. Much more colorful than 'Misc' when labeling a drawer or box containing leftover bits + pieces. Told to me by my father. Although he was at one point a techie, this may have originated from a coworker in a photography studio. Ken Porter
SANO: cleaning the stage space for the arrival of the talent John D. Emery
Tango Uniform - which is code for TU, or Tits Up. Refers to anything totally dead. William Kenyon
IN: Down
OUT: up
STRIKE: lots o' work John D. Emery
Going over to the dark side. When a tech auditions for a role. Randy
Whitcomb
To beat upon something with a hammer until it resumes working or moves into
position = Dynamic Recalibration Duncan Mahoney
To break apart scenery with a sledgehammer = Scene Shop Croquet Duncan
Mahoney
A term an old engineer I worked for once frequently used described pounding
the side of a rack or a piece of equipment until it started working again. The
term: lateral maintenance.
"Lose this":
phrase spoken to someone being handed an item that needs to just go away.
We had had a minor train wreck during a show, and were discussing it in a rather
animated fashion afterwards in the bar. I said something to the effect of '...and
everyone was yelling at me, and I couldn't get the knife out of the dog...'
A couple of people nearby were apparently quite taken aback. So for non-standard
terms I would add:
Train Wreck
Knife
Dog
BACatlarge
finger welding--anytime you get a shock Michael Sorensen
From Kansas City's Starlight Theater (thee ate' er), the shop motto (a dozen years ago or more): "Measure it with a micrometer, mark it with a chalk, cut it with a chainsaw." (I actually saw painted scenery being trimmed onstage with a circular saw, with actors onstage, during tech rehearsal - while those of us in the house (8000-seat outdoor theater) were dodging spent shells from the city's July 4th fireworks being shot off from the field behind the stage.) Glenn Horton
"NFG" -- the label that goes on non-operational equipment. Cris Dopher
Gridfrog- the noise made from the grid if a tech finds the need to break wind while working overhead (or anywhere, for that matter). Also known as Texas Barking Spiders. The odor is explained by saying "probably just some old paint". Mike Tartaglio
We routinely use something called an HBR. It stands for Hassle-to-Benefit Ratio. When the HBR gets to be negative, we go for a drink......... Simon Raybould
Gravity Test, v. to drop something (usually being thrown out anyway) from a great height to make sure gravity is still working. Brandeis University, 1994. We did a Gravity Test with a huge wooden desk during strike, trying to see if we could hit the dumpster from the 4th floor (rather than carry it all that way). Yep, Gravity Works!
Throwing or Slinging Pig: the process of loading or unloading counterweights William Kenyon
Buttering Mouse Turds - doing non-essential paint notes
Stick a Fork in It - its done. Bill Atkins
Cattywampus: for something rickety, skewed, otherwise misaligned or approaching failure (cannot remember the name of the prop tart who taught it to me but she was good theater folks) Eli
Working in a small theatre, in the middle of Pennsylvania has led to the use of the term Cattywampus to describe the normal state of our delivered lumber. This term means that the wood is not only cupped, but bowed and warped. Andrew Woodbridge
Doofer: this is more of a Stage Managerment term, I guess, referring to a rehearsal prop that is standing in for the real thing. Taken from, this isn't the real thing but it will doofer now. KT
Boat Anchor:
Any heavy object that is useless but still kept around 'Just in case...'. Derived
from what would be a better use for the object in question. See also Doorstop
Doorstop: any nearly useless heavy object that has not yet sunk to boat
anchor status. Dale Farmer
A mate of mine, Ken, refers to a CTTM, Crash Tinkle Tinkle Moment. It is that moment at which a, usually expensive, piece of equipment meets an irresistible force or immovable object. These moments usually happen when you have had a visit from the Fuck Up Fairy. Kevin Blyth
When you have a problem that cannot be explained or is an operator error...we call that an I.D.10 T. Error. It's more polite to write it that way, especially if it's your boss. Jonathan Barber
Tips - Canadian
pipe-ends
Pipe-ends - American tips Tom Heemskerk
Tail-down - To suspend a batten or other piece of scenery below the real
batten, for various reasons, usually with aircraft cable. Tom Hansen
(Contractor's name withheld) Bowline - a term I heard somewhere we were
recently to describe the not-a-knot used by said contractor's employees to send
stuff to the grid. BACatlarge
Triple Halifax
- that knot ya run across that you can't identify, but has more ins and outs
than conceivable
Predator Knot - same as above Tim Resch
Around here, that's a Triple Yocum, named for Jim Yocum, one of our prop
guys who is genetically programmed to be unable to tie any knot
properly. (Can I get an amen, Phil Johnson/Rich Lindsay?) Also known as a Halifino
knot. As in:
"What kind of knot is *that*??" (with disgust in the voice)
"Halifino..." Dave Vick
We call those knots
a friction knot. Don't know what kind of a knot it was meant to be, but
friction seems to be holding it.
Along those lines (sorry for the pun) how about the gopher knot: any
knot that requires you to go for your knife to "untie" it. John
D. Emery
Lotsa Knot:
similar to the "Friction Knot". Lotsa ins and outs and loops and whatever
that will probably hold but shouldn't have been used.
Gravity Knot: Same as "Friction Knot" and "Lotsa Knot".
It holds due to the gravity of the situation should it fail. Ron Cargile
Many years ago I was preparing to rig a production of Peter Pan in a theatre in NC. After getting the theatre specs, told the producer that she would need batten extensions in order for us to hang enough track (so that the operators were well into the wings). I was told "OK." When I got to the theatre, there were no batten extensions. When I asked why, she said that no one there knew what a "batten" was. When I pointed it out to her she said, Oh, you mean a "BAR." I think I have been on at least two jobs since where I have heard this term used. Delbert Hall
Have we had Sundaying as a reference to tying a snub line yet? Colin Buckhurst
Hasn't everybody at some time wished they had a Sky Hook to magically hang something. Especially where there is no fly space! Sigrid Wolf
Breasting AKA: Hootering (being PC; cuz there is a restaurant with that name) John D. Emery
Spanner
at The Herberger Theatre Center, Phoenix AZ: a loader who puts one foot on the
T-track while loading (not allowed - thats for Uncle Bill) John D.
Emery
Piss on that bag: adding just a few more pounds to a sandbag John D. Emery
And of course, woof! means "that's good, lock it." That was coined when someone on the rail got impatient and said "SPEAK!!!" Mickey Carter
Pipe end: McCarter's (Princeton, NJ) definition: "where the pipe ends, and the air begins" John D. Emery
Counterweight =
Pig Duncan Mahoney
Cheesebourghs have become Cheeseburgers Steve Waxler
Picnic Line: the hand line with a bucket on the end from the fly floor or loading bridge to the deck. Used to send small parts and (mostly) coffee aloft. W H "Batch" Batchelder
Hatchet Knot: any knot you need a hatchet to undo Keith Taylor
Double-Twisted Chicken Hitch: just like it sounds ( from the collected wisdom of John (Ugli) Bradshaw "If you can't tie a good knot...better tie a lot of knots") Eli
Holy Knot - This is a knot of seemingly random twists loops and hitches that you either a) pray will hold will you tie it, or b) pray the culprit responsible for it gets hit with a rather large sandbag as you dig out your Knot Wrench. Jeremy Hopf
"Duck or Bleed line set coming in mid stage." It's pretty self explanatory. Andrew Woodbridge
Back to Top
Toto,
We Aren't in Kansas Anymore: Terms on Tour
A couple of decades ago in summer stock I overheard an actor talking about the
tools in the scene shop refer to the radio alarm saw. John Himmelberger
Radio alarm saw
reminded me of a tool we use called the nomadic air gun. the name obviously
from badly spelled test answer. Richard Schroeder
Brownwood Texas, February 1978
Joffrey II Dancers Tour.
Venue: HS Auditorium
Crew: HS Students carrying empty Coca-Cola cans to spit their tobacco in ( I
am not makin this up )
First Order of Biz:: Clean dead rodents out of dressing rooms before company
arrives ( I am not makin this up )
Second Order of Biz: Scratching head at first then trying to not laugh too hard
when finding out that their term for glass rondels is Gelatoids ( I am
not makin this up ) IAEG
Many years ago I used to do sound for the annual lampoon show done by the graduating
class of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. It was an extravaganza
of effects and scenery, with the humor tending toward the gynecological. Over
the years they had developed an entire lexicon of "theatrical" terms,
and I decided it was easier to speak to them in their language. A few examples:
Battens were "poles", drops were "flyers".
You'd "cone in" a followspot to make the beam smaller. One
would "tease a flyer down" until it was at the right height
at which point it was correctly "teased". And of course stage
left and stage right were reversed -- that was the only one I asked them to
change, to protect my sanity. Paul Garrity
My friend John
Tissot tells another tale of the Three Rivers, about the time he was loading
in at Pittsburgh's Civic Light Opera and the house electrician came up to him
and asked what he should do with the killer whales.
"The what?"
"The killer whales. You know, the whales! With the killers in them!"
"WHAT?!?!"
After a few minutes of this, it was discovered that the electrician was saying
"color wheels" in Pittsburgh-ish. Paul Garrity
When Washington Ballet came through our hall, they had "Beer Pusher" listed on the trucks inventory. We said "beer pusher?" They said at a college stop one of the "stage hands" saw their hand truck and said "oh, you have a beer pusher" they said "a beer pusher?" The kid said "Yeah that's one of those things the guy at the beer store uses to push the beer kegs around." Curtis S. St. John
Gak: From folk music festivals. Everything else on a stage that doesn't belong to the sound crew or the backline guy. Music stands, chairs, cups of water, etc. Dale Farmer
[name of person or animal] piss. Gatorade or other electrolyte drink for the crew at tent events. If it starts to taste good, you are getting dangerously dehydrated. Dale Farmer