How can a pup without a nickname run with the big dogs?
On my most recent tour, I was lucky enough to have three A-list lighting crew chiefs and one 19-year-old soon-to-be-A-list guy on my crew. The three seniors in the group were all well seasoned, experienced and competent. Our one youngster was very capable and motivated, but lacked experience. It was only fitting that we bestowed upon him a proper nickname. He was clearly the puppy in a field of big dogs, so I started calling him Pup. He rejected the nickname at first, but then starting responding with woofs and barks over radio and solidified his nickname. He rejected Pup at first because he thought his nickname should be “two-stitch” after a recent work injury that required the intensive medical procedure of two stitches. However, few of us get to pick our nicknames. Others bestow them upon us, and rarely do we get to choose what sticks and what doesn’t.
Was ist Los?
My name is fairly recognizable because a mispronunciation of my last name is synonymous with failure. I get that all the time. It makes for a decent conversation piece. I can always tell who actually knows me and who is pronouncing my name for the first time based on how confidently they pronounce Lose. Pronounced Lōs. Most people in the industry know me by that name. A few people remember when I went by the nickname Hillbilly, which was given to me in the shop at Vari*Lite by David “Lucky” Louckes. We had three Chris’s that worked in the shop. So we became, Cowboy, Cornfed and Hillbilly. Cornfed was big, Cowboy wore a cowboy hat, and I rarely wore a shirt without the sleeves cut off.
All of our nicknames fit us, and we were happy to clarify which Chris was in trouble when. The name Hillbilly suited me just fine for several years. I did an entire tour with Pearl Jam as Hillbilly. The house electricians immediately recognized me as the dimmer guy, and they could always remember my name. When we returned to their venue a year later, they could still remember my name, even though we hadn’t been around for over a year. The nickname got a little lost in translation during the 2004 Athens Olympics. Hillbilly is not an international term. The Germans didn’t fully understand what a Hillbilly was, and the closest translation was Hinterwäldler, which means backwoodsman. Then when I started touring with Bonnie Raitt I was amongst the least hillbilly of the bunch, so the nickname began to fade. Once I started to get into corporate gigs, the nickname died when the account rep refused to introduce me to their clients as lighting designer Hillbilly. I think we can all understand that.
I told you that story so that I can tell you the stories of some other phenomenal lighting professionals who live by their much-better-than-mine nicknames. These are the stories of the best nicknames in the biz.
Charlie “Cosmo” Wilson
Cosmo received his nickname from production manager Morris Lyda at a Miss USA Pageant in 1985 when there were two Charlies on the crew. Cosmo had to choose a nickname or have one chosen for him. He piped up with ‘Cosmo,’ and it has stuck ever since. Even though his family still calls him Charlie, he had his name legally changed to Cosmo in 2003 “just because everybody called me that, plus I got the domain, ‘cosmo.com,’” he says. Cosmo continued by saying “Well, I feel that I have done well with my talent, abilities and work ethic, but having my nickname did and does set me apart.”
Victor “Squeeks” Zeiser
Squeeks started the interview off by saying, “I’m a 100 percent believer of owning a nickname, and I’ve benefited a ton from it.” Squeeks was bestowed his nickname by Todd Geer, currently production manager for Frost Productions in New York. Squeeks had an uncharacteristically squeaky voice that made a few people listen twice. Instead of shying away from the nickname, Squeeks owned it. The benefits of claiming the nickname were twofold. One, it stops any one from feeling inclined to make fun of his voice, because he has already beaten them to it. Second, it makes for a solid icebreaker at the start of each day. Inevitably, someone will ask, “How did you get that nickname,” and his response is generally, “I don’t know, no one will tell me.”
Today, Squeeks is so proud of his nickname that he named his company Squeek Lights. In the first few months of Squeek Lights, he overheard an LD say to another, “The one thing you gotta know about renting gear from Squeeks is that, once the cases come out at a load in, every single person is going to be like ‘Oh, you know Squeeks?’” It was then that he realized just how important a nickname was.
Jerry “Hodgie” Vierna
Hodgie is one of the most competent lighting crew chiefs that I have had the pleasure of working with. Thanks to his nickname, I knew of him long before we ever worked together. People would mention about Hodgie doing this and Hodgie doing that. The name stuck in my head. The first time that I was able to work with Hodgie was at Rock in Rio Las Vegas. As soon as I heard his name on the gig, I could already tell that things were going to go smoothly because his reputation preceded him. Hodgie got his nickname from a guy nicknamed Flapper, simply because he looked like Hadji from Jonny Quest. The resemblance is obvious. Hodgie keeps his nickname professional. His brother is the only one outside the business who knows who Hodgie is. Hodgie says, “Keeping family and this business separate is grounding.” When I asked him more about the power of a nickname, he said “Nicknames are fun and do make it easier sometimes for people to remember you among so many people with your name.” There are several Jerrys in our business, but only one Hodgie.
Steve “Six” Schwind
Steve Schwind credits Harold Jones, Carmen Rodriguez and his buddy Eric “Guido” Perry for his illustrious nickname. He got his nickname while his tour was still in rehearsal. Six was told they were going through techs like crazy. So, he headed out. He walked through the doors at rehearsals. And, people he’d never met before were saying, “You must be number six,” and, “Hi, Six.” While in the production office to get his laminate and credentials, it stuck forever. They handed him his pass, and it just said “Six” on it. So naturally, he asked. “What’s this ‘six’ crap all about?” He was promptly informed that they had already fired five techs ahead of him. Six says that he was also told, “We have had five guys out here and gave them all nicknames. You are just a number to us!” Obviously, his skills proved that he wasn’t just a number, because there was never a seven. Six continues to tour under the nickname to this day.
Chris Lose is a touring lighting director who abandoned the nickname “Hillbilly” because he was embarrassed to tell the director of operations at Genentech about it. Feel free to nickname-shame him at www.q3lv.com.
