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Author Topic: Practical Jokes Kyle Murphy Film Handler Posts: 3 From: South Bend, IN, USA Registered: Feb 2005 posted 02-27-2005 10:45 PM                     Jason, I've seen some of your posts, you really don't seem like a pleasant person. My antics have never caused harm and I am one of the hardest working employees at my theatre. All of my co-workers would vouch for me. And so would my managers, especially considering I am moving up to management. You can have fun and be a good employee and get stuff done. You don't have to be uptight to be a good boss either. That's just my opinion  |  IP: Logged Jason Black Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1723 From: Myrtle Beach, SC, USA Registered: Nov 2000 posted 02-27-2005 10:54 PM                        Kyle, No offense taken, but allow me to make the following comment to you. I see that you've contributed two whole posts and you already know how to 'read' into the posts made by others. Go back, read my post again, and actually take a second to think about what I said. Sometimes, in life, one has to take two steps back and think outside the box to get a firm grasp on the 'entire' situation, as could. I, in no way, made reference that you were not a good employee. Moving up to management means very little (with regard to an employee's overall ability). If you don't believe it, go look around 60% or better of the multiplex's of today. You're correct, you can have a good time at work, with the customers, and with co-workers. Knowing where to draw the line is the vital key regarding your 'antics' (with patrons). I wish you nothing but the best, as I would any aspiring theatre employee. While you may think my words aren't nice, I just don't sugar coat anything becuase, in life, nothing is sugar coated. It is what it is, plain and simple. If you can't deal with that, management, of ANY kind, is not what you need to pursue.  |  IP: Logged Will Kutler Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1506 From: Tucson, AZ, USA Registered: Feb 2001 posted 02-27-2005 11:03 PM                     I agree with Jason. While practical jokes can be fun, they can easily get out of hand. I used to really love practical jokes, but I have seen occasions when innocent fun with no real anomosity intened ended up leading into fist fights and other serious problems because the jokee was truly offended. In todays day and age, were people can be unpredctable, it may be in your best interest to refrain from practical jokes with customers...especially when a business transaction is involved. Cheers K  |  IP: Logged John Pytlak Film God Posts: 9987 From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922 Registered: Jan 2000 posted 02-28-2005 10:44 AM                        Any "practical joke" that harms or risks presentation quality or could result in an angry or dissatisfied customer is very poor showmanship. If a cashier tried that "joke" on me, I'd expect the manager to take disciplinary action, or I would avoid coming to your theatre again.  |  IP: Logged Aaron Garman Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1470 From: Toledo, OH USA Registered: Mar 2003 posted 02-28-2005 07:06 PM                     Sure, it's a risky joke but if you're just doing it with teenagers that tend to just loiter around and harass us anyhow, I don't think it's going to affect anything. Now if it was someone like you John or just your average adult patron, I'd say refrain from that kind of joke. Some people are easy going, but others may go off. Not saying anyone here would go off, but some folks (especially drunk customers ) can be volatile! Oh by the way, welcome Kyle...do I know you? AJG  |  IP: Logged Kyle Murphy Film Handler Posts: 3 From: South Bend, IN, USA Registered: Feb 2005 posted 02-28-2005 07:09 PM                     Hey Aaron, you look familiar, maybe I've bumped into you at work or something. I like your view on things though. Good man.  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 02-28-2005 10:25 PM                     I'd have to say that, overall, I don't joke around with people very much unless I like them. If I'm joking with somebody they meet my minimum requirements for socialization. Many times, the more I joke with you the more I like you. In many cases, the opposite is true. If I DON'T like you I WON'T joke around with you. I hypothesize that, for most people, the same holds true except when practical joking is used as a method of bullying. That, I DO NOT condone. I have certain criteria for what makes a good joke: 1) MOST IMPORTANT! NO HARM DONE! 2) Creativity is key. 3) It's got to be the kind of joke that somebody might say, "Oh! That was terrible!... Let's go do it to somebody ELSE! " When we used to screen prints late at night, it was sometimes funny to turn the sound WAAAaay down on somebody sitting in the theater by themself. That would force them to come up to the booth to fix it. When they got there, a "booby trap" might be waiting for them. If it was a scarry movie they were screening, it might be funny to try to scare them. Those cardboard standees strategically placed in a dark hallway would be an EXCELLENT joke. Now, here's criteria #4: 4) When you get a trick played on YOU, being a good sport is a REQUIREMENT! After the shock of being scared out of your skivvies wears off, you should be able to laugh it off and say, "Good one!" I use the test of, "Would it be funny if I saw it happen to somebody else?" If it meets all four of those requirements, practical joking can be a good way to promote esprit de corps among the group, provided it's kept within limits.  |  IP: Logged Brandon Willis Expert Film Handler Posts: 216 From: Richmond, VA, USA Registered: Apr 2004 posted 03-03-2005 03:26 PM                     We have practical jokes from time to time at my theatre, but we usually only do them to other managers, the security officers, or the janitorial staff. Very rarely will I play a joke on a member of floor staff. Most of them are teenagers and, quite frankly, don't know where to draw the line. They will do it to other people and it gets out of hand. I prefer to only do these things to other managers, who tend to be more mature about it. Plus, another manager has a better chance of getting back at me, which keeps things interesting during the slower times when pranks start popping up.  |  IP: Logged Will Kutler Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1506 From: Tucson, AZ, USA Registered: Feb 2001 posted 03-04-2005 01:14 AM                     I LOVE political satire, and one of my FAVORITE groups is of course, The Capitol Steps! So, I had a supervisor once who was a die-hard Dallas Cowboys fan. An it was this supervisor who loved trying to harrass me on occasion. But I got him back good on one occasion....by blasting The Capitol Steps version of "Mommas, Don't Let Your Babbies Grow Up To Be Cowboys" during an employee party! Everyone busted up with laughter, and that supervisor backed off of me for a while. As the ole addage goes...."What goes around comes around!" I think I posted the lyrics to this song a long time ago in the MAAR-A-THON, but some lines are: Mommas, don't let your babbies grow up to be COWBOYS, 'cause out on the field they may play pretty well, but its hard to throw touchdowns while locked in a cell!. The Dallas formation is breaking probation and O.J.'s the first one they'll sign, but why's the crowd roarin? Could Dallas be scorin'?....or SNORTIN' THE 50 YARD LINE!"  |  IP: Logged Jarred Olsen Film Handler Posts: 19 From: Hanford, CA, USA Registered: Aug 2003 posted 06-30-2005 07:05 AM                     Sometimes when there's a new concessionist working, who doesn't know all the employees' faces yet, I like to come in and order something not on the menu. Be sure to point at the non-existant candy, reassuring the new employee that it indeed exists. This is great. They start looking at the screen for the button for the candy, and once they can't find it, they search underneath for the candy, then the candy cabinet. After the search is done, I have them come out of the concession to show them exactly what it looks like. In that case, I laugh at them, or if they decide to trust me and call the manager for another case from the stockroom, the manager knows what's up and gets a kick out of it.  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 07-01-2005 09:16 AM                     This isn't exactly a theater prank but it's funny, none the less. Get a long piece of 2 X 4 (Lumber) that's too long to fit into your friend's (victim?) car. Saw it in half. Reassemble it INSIDE said car so that it's impossible to remove. Apply a generous coating of Gorilla Glue then join the boards with a few drywall screws for good luck. Wrap the glue joint with rags or plastic to keep the glue from dripping inside the car. (It is IMPOSSIBLE to remove once dry. It will ruin the interior!) When your friend (soon to be ex-friend) comes back to the car he will find a piece of lumber stuck inside the car, preventing him from driving until he gets it out. Of course, he will try to manuver the board around to get it out but will be unsuccessful. Then, he will find the drywall screws and try to take them out. That won't work because Gorilla Glue is stronger than the wood itself! The ONLY way to get the board out is to saw it in half! (Lots of cussing and swearing to be heard, for sure!) Your new enemy will be forced to try to drive around with a huge 2 X 4 extending through the passenger compartment of his car until he can get a saw to cut the wood in half. Bonus points awarded if the wood can be placed inside the car so that it is wedged inside the steering wheel or against the gearshift, thus completely immobilizing the car until the wood is removed!  |  IP: Logged Charles Phillips Film Handler Posts: 39 From: St. Charles, IL Registered: Jul 2004 posted 07-03-2005 05:02 AM                     At the first theater I worked at they would ask the newbie clean the non-existent outside bathroom, and see how long it would take them to realize they were being pranked. I believe the longest time taken was two hours.  |  IP: Logged Robert Burtcher Expert Film Handler Posts: 194 From: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Registered: Jun 2005 posted 07-04-2005 02:42 AM                     I've been working for Dickinson for about 6 weeks now, and we just had a new hire start last Friday. Both of us got our initiation tonight. Our theatre is built into the second floor of a popular shopping mall, so the emergency exits have quite a few flights of stairs, usually in a spiraling quare pattern. In one emergency exit corridor, the stairs go from the ground level, up to the emergency exit for Theatre 2, then up to the rear hallway, and then up to the projection booth. There's a clear space in the center of this stairwell from the ground level all the way up. Only the booth door locks, and although there are no handles to open the doors to the hallway or theatre 2 from inside the corridor, people will still occasionally make their way inside this stairway in an attempt to sneak around. Anyway, I was told that there were some kids hanging out at the bottom of the stairwell, being sneaky, and I needed to take care of them. So, I get into the stairwell, and listen for a moment, but I don't hear anything, so I go down the stairs to see if the kids are still there. I get to the bottom of the stairwell, see something orange fly by out of the corner of my eye, and then I get hit with two splashes of water from these huge water balloons. Startled the hell out of me. =D Went back upstairs and told the newbie that I couldn't see anything down there, so I wanted him to check for me, and I'd stay upstairs in case they hid somewhere and they were trying to sneak back in the door. He made the mistake of looking over the railing and got smacked in the neck with a water balloon. But he laughed it off, he thought it was awesome and couldn't wait to prank the next new hire, lol  |  IP: Logged Chris Mosel Film Handler Posts: 74 From: New Braunfels, TX, USA Registered: Sep 2002 posted 04-23-2006 11:13 PM                     Two assistants covered the G.M.'s office in tin foil. It was such an awesome job there was no real anger at the prank. Ceiling, Walls, Furniture, and office equipment was covered. Everythin but the floor (ran out of time.) It is amazing what $30.00 in foil can cover.  |  IP: Logged Robert Burtcher Expert Film Handler Posts: 194 From: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Registered: Jun 2005 posted 04-24-2006 05:42 AM                     That's one of the coolest things I've ever seen.  |  IP: Logged

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