A few days ago we went to see my secret favorite Christmas movie, which is Love Actually. This was at the Oregon Symphony and they played the music to the movie. This is a popular trend with movies like Harry Potter or Jurassic Park and it brings a lot of people out to see the symphony who might not normally go.
The problem is that there’s a lot of uneducated people about the etiquette for live shows. The big one for this was at the end of the movie. The movie ended and the symphony plays through the end of the credits. However once the credits started, about 1/3 of the audience got up and left while the symphony was still paying.
This was super disrespectful as the performance was still happening. I understand that there’s a certain muscle memory that you leave when the credits start if you’re at a movie theater. However the symphony was still actively playing.
It’s like someone leaving your magic show halfway through your closer to beat traffic. Honestly I felt really bad for the symphony. When the credits finished they remaining audience applauded them.
How does this relate to a magic show? Well, a lot of people have never been to a live show and don’t know the etiquette. You need to teach them. This can be done in several ways, with preshow announcements, during your show or whatever.
You need to let them know your expectations. You can’t expect people to not record your show if you don’t tell them not to.
-Louie