Last month, I went to a couple different lighting conventions. The USITT show in Salt Lake City is a show that is designed to teach todays’ college students who major in theater a thing or two. It’s a place where I see all sorts of great people who now teach or demo gear for companies as opposed to running shows themselves. I get quite an education at this show because it’s not as crowded as LDI and folks have more time to teach you. The other show was the Prolight + Sound show in Frankfurt. For those who have never been, let’s just say it’s several times the size of LDI.
These shows serve lots of functions, from classrooms to learn, to touching new gear, to networking with all kinds of folks. At each one, I catch up with old friends who have moved on from working gigs to hawking gear for a living. They demo new gear, answering questions in rapid-fire sequence, and handle several people (while answering their phones) simultaneously. It all reminds me of that commercial a couple of years ago that posed the question, “What if roadies ruled the world?”
As I walk around day two at either show, I stop at booths. Often, some young salesperson will amble over to help me. But I look at them and they are sweating bullets — at 11 in the morning. Ah, I think to myself. Another youngster who exhausted his complete supply of fun tickets while out on the town last night. Good for you. Glad you could make it in this morning, despite the alcohol resonating out of your skin. “Are you ready for that video we were going to make on your new gizmo this morning?” The head tilts down. They are in no shape to complete a single sentence, let alone talk for a minute straight. They look at me with puppy dog eyes, begging for a pass on this project. They don’t know how to suck it up after running with the big dogs.
Just Do It
Sometimes, you really have to suck it up and do your gig, because others depend on you. Rescheduling meeting times is not an option at this point. A few months ago, I had a story lined up for print. Interviews had been done and text was finalized. Just needed the photos. That afternoon, the photographer calls and says he has food poisoning and apologizes, but there’s just no way he can shoot this show tonight. Hmmm, it’s too late in the tour for me to get the show shot anywhere else. I would have to kill the piece. That means the writer wasted his time, I wasted my time setting it all up, and I have to call the LD and apologize for getting him excited about an article that will now…never happen. I had a chat with the photographer. I explained that we have to get these shots tonight. I didn’t care if he just shot the first two songs then got out of there, but he couldn’t back out. I’m sure he grumbled and swore, but he got to the gig and stayed to shoot the whole show. He took one for the team, because he was a pro.
Sometimes sucking it up has some repercussions that work in a way that can only be written off as fate. I was working with a tech named Dave Ward one day when he did something to mess up his his ankle. It wasn’t broken, and he could get by hobbling, but it was no good. He went home, and a month later I called him to come out and work on a tour with me. A couple weeks later I notice him limping. He says his leg is still messed up and it just won’t heal right. A week later, I’m working on stage, and I back up without looking and step on poor Dave’s ankle. He goes down hard and I start apologizing profusely. He holds his hand up in a “Stop” gesture. I’m baffled. He stands up and walks around smiling. I’m all confused. Turns out I stepped on his ankle just right and got it back in place. He sucked it up long enough for me to accidentally cure his ailment.
For Nook Schoenfeld’s introduction to the May 2016 issue of PLSN, go to www.plsn.me/201605ednote
