There are Do’s and Don’ts of audience membership.
This’d be a “don’t.”
Last weekend, SketchFest co-founder and acclaimed monologist Mike Daisey was performing his lastest one-man show Invincible Summer at The American Repertory Theatre at Harvard University when eighty-seven members of a high school “Christian group” attending the show walked out en masse – one of whom dumped water on Mike’s signature notebook-paper show outline.
Mike, as usual, conducted himself accordingly in a well thought out and engaging manner. Well done, Mr. Daisey.
But to anyone who might react like this audience – it is well within your rights to be offended and walk out of any performance, but to commit an even worse offense in return is neither appropriate nor Chrisitian. And, as Mike said, “In the future, find out what you’re going to see before you see it.”
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Back Stage Magazine is reporting that the group that walked out on Mike Daisey’s performance of Invincible Summer was a choir group from Norco High School in Norco, California – a public school (not a “Christian group”, as previously reported).
Read the full story here.
Though Back Stage states the identity of the water-pouring man is still unknown, unverified comments on the video’s youTube page claiming to be from Norco students present at the show say that the assailent was one of their chaperones, who:
“… later called and appologized to mike for what he had done. He told us that what he did was unacceptable and that he in no way tries to justify his actions.”
[youTube member NickPuentes]
We’ve tried to contact Mike and his wife/director Jean-Michelle for comment, but have yet to verify if the apology ever happened.
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We here at the SketchFest Seattle Blog are used to bringing you the latest news about sketch comedy, even goofy internet jokes, but a full fledged story-story? Who’d a thunk?
So pardon us while we momentarily put on our cub-reporter hats and yet again follow up on the developing story of the walk-out and attack at Mike Daisey‘s performance of Invincible Summer in Cambridge, MA on Thursday, April 19th. (We’ll get back to dick jokes soon, we swear.)
As we updated last night, despite early reports that the more than eighty people who walked out on Mike’s show and poured water on the show’s original outline were members of a “Christian group,” they were, in fact, a choir group from the southern Californian Norco High School.
Today, however, Mr. Daisey posted a follow-up insisting that the school group identified themselves as a Christian group, not only when asking about the show over the phone and while making reservations, but as they were leaving in protest and while calling the box office asking for their money back as well (one such instance is said to be vaguely audible on the video).
After perusing the High School’s web site, we found that the school does have an extra-curricular bible study group, the Alpha Omega Club, though there’s no indication of any formal connection to it and the school’s choir.
We also reported yesterday that posts on youTube were making unconfirmed claims that the water-pouring audience member had contacted Daisey and had apologized, saying “that what he did was unacceptable and that he in no way tries to justify his actions.” Daisey confirms that the call occurred, but states that he was to one to initially contact the school. He goes into detail of his conversation with the vandal, “David,” whom he said peppered the conversation with scripture, derisive language and even a racial epithet.
Meanwhile, Playbill.com has posted a story containing an email they said they received from one of the Norco students present at the walk out, which read:
“I was a student that walked out. I did it because I had to. We aren’t a religious group. We are a high school choir. We called several times and asked about the content [of the show] and whether or not it contained profanity. They lied and said no and that it was no worse than what you hear on TV.”
Speaking to Playbill.com, Daisey was quick to point out that there was a second high school group there that had stayed, that this second group said that they had been adequately informed of the show’s content, and that Daisey is careful to inform all who ask of the kind of material the show contains.
