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Thursday, September 14, 2017
Theatre Tech Essentials
Everyday Carry: Working in theatrical design and construction, I need to be able to flow back and forth between work in the wood shop and meetings with producers.
This is an interesting thing to think about as I have never really considered myself someone who has and every day carry or EDC if you will but upon further reflection it makes sense as I seem to have a lot of similar things with me for the very same reasons expressed in this blog post. It's interesting to see how everyone has their own habits and choice of tools for how they work best everyday and what we find we need to keep closest to us.
I was really excited about this article when I first clicked on it, and I’m still somewhat interested, but come on. “Theatre tech essentials” include a damn beard comb? Sorry, I wasn’t aware that you couldn’t work in technical theatre unless you had a beard. How stupid. And also, seriously? Why are you carrying around a beard comb with you everywhere you go, including to a work call? Who do you think cares about how your beard looks when you’re tearing down a Broadway roadshow? Anyway, rant over for now. What I did like about this little kit are the tools included. I looked up both the Swiss+Tech tool as well as the Loyal Stricklin brass hook. The Swiss+Tech compact key tool didn’t look all that interesting. It’s a tiny key tool that doesn’t seem like it does that much. The Loyal Stricklin hook is really just that. It’s a $36 hook with a scrap of leather with it. You should buy a $.50 carabiner instead.
It’s cool that this website took the time to publish an article about helpful things to carry with you while working in Theatre. I’m sort of confused by the general terminology of a “theatre tech”, especially since the items mentioned seem specifically geared toward a carpenter or TD (rather than say, someone working in a costume shop). I would argue that a lot of these items are redundant (ie, who needs two pocket knives and two multi-tools). But I think for me, the biggest thing that came to mind after reading this article is this: Women’s clothing can’t fit this much stuff. Like at all. And sure, women could wear men’s clothing, or carry a bag, but that’s sort of not the point. I think it would be really cool to have an article about tech theatre essentials, where the limit is that everything has to fit into the pockets of women’s pants.
This seems like more of an ad for men's lightly tech related gear. Why is this man punching costume leather, stripping cables for lighting, and using shims on stage? What all does he do? Yes it seems mostly carpentry geared but its also a really wide range of areas. Its like they put all the jobs in one fake person. Yes its aimed at men. That unfortunate but something that happens a lot so I won't dwell on it here. What was more annoying is all these products are expensive and seem like pointless gadgets. Who needs a random hook? Or another watch? Or a comb to carry around, for whatever its use? Its a sales pitch. Buy this stuff. Look how cool my job is and all the stuff you need to be me. Unnecessary to say the least. I was super excited that our profession finally had an article that lists the important items to have. But this: this is not that article. I will keep searching for that one.
I really like this list of small gear that every theater technician should have. Mostly because I love getting new things to help assist me in trying to preform at my best especially when I am in the shop or in the theater itself. The one item on the list that very much interested me is the space pen, I generally lean a little more towards using pencils especially in the shop mostly because in my experience pen just generally aren't up for the day to day grind and will end up breaking add to this notion that they are more expensive it generally makes me hesitant to use a pen in the shop. However love the call out of the notebook for doing quick sketches and the microfiber cloth. And to me one of the simplest overlooked tools is a watch yes phone have the time but they end up being a real annoyance when you have to keep pulling them out. All in all cool list and I'm bookmarking it.
Hmm, I think this article is really interesting to read from an outsiders perspective. In the explanation of the items, it all seemed to makes sense, but does someone really carry around that many pens simply because they have a different use for each one. I guess I am not one to talk being a manager who uses every color of highlighter and stick note. It is interesting to hear what the author feels is important to carry on them at all times. Before reading this article, I had never thought of the fact that a TD must quickly be able to go from admin meeting to the shop and back. There are some items in this list that I weren't sure of their purpose just because I had never herd of them before. When the article went to explain what they were used for, I had never herd of the task. I think this list can be really fun for someone who can relate.
It is really cool to see what an experienced technician considers essentials to everyday life. Though he has very specific items made of leather or for his glasses, I can understand the basic idea is have anything and everything that can prepare you for any moment that you will need to fix something, cut something, open something, or write down notes. What is interesting is the fact that these items can changed based on what your role is in as a technician. I know for costuming it is always good to keep safety pins, a small sewing kit, and some form of light and a notebook with you at all times in case there is ever a costume malfunction. The same goes for a stage manager but with more things. When I stagemanaged a few shows I always made sure I had a pen and notebook, highlighters, gaffe tape, mic tape, band aids, safety pins, a flash light, bobby pins, and a few other things on me at all times.
7 comments:
This is an interesting thing to think about as I have never really considered myself someone who has and every day carry or EDC if you will but upon further reflection it makes sense as I seem to have a lot of similar things with me for the very same reasons expressed in this blog post. It's interesting to see how everyone has their own habits and choice of tools for how they work best everyday and what we find we need to keep closest to us.
I was really excited about this article when I first clicked on it, and I’m still somewhat interested, but come on. “Theatre tech essentials” include a damn beard comb? Sorry, I wasn’t aware that you couldn’t work in technical theatre unless you had a beard. How stupid. And also, seriously? Why are you carrying around a beard comb with you everywhere you go, including to a work call? Who do you think cares about how your beard looks when you’re tearing down a Broadway roadshow? Anyway, rant over for now. What I did like about this little kit are the tools included. I looked up both the Swiss+Tech tool as well as the Loyal Stricklin brass hook. The Swiss+Tech compact key tool didn’t look all that interesting. It’s a tiny key tool that doesn’t seem like it does that much. The Loyal Stricklin hook is really just that. It’s a $36 hook with a scrap of leather with it. You should buy a $.50 carabiner instead.
It’s cool that this website took the time to publish an article about helpful things to carry with you while working in Theatre. I’m sort of confused by the general terminology of a “theatre tech”, especially since the items mentioned seem specifically geared toward a carpenter or TD (rather than say, someone working in a costume shop). I would argue that a lot of these items are redundant (ie, who needs two pocket knives and two multi-tools). But I think for me, the biggest thing that came to mind after reading this article is this: Women’s clothing can’t fit this much stuff. Like at all. And sure, women could wear men’s clothing, or carry a bag, but that’s sort of not the point. I think it would be really cool to have an article about tech theatre essentials, where the limit is that everything has to fit into the pockets of women’s pants.
This seems like more of an ad for men's lightly tech related gear. Why is this man punching costume leather, stripping cables for lighting, and using shims on stage? What all does he do? Yes it seems mostly carpentry geared but its also a really wide range of areas. Its like they put all the jobs in one fake person. Yes its aimed at men. That unfortunate but something that happens a lot so I won't dwell on it here. What was more annoying is all these products are expensive and seem like pointless gadgets. Who needs a random hook? Or another watch? Or a comb to carry around, for whatever its use? Its a sales pitch. Buy this stuff. Look how cool my job is and all the stuff you need to be me. Unnecessary to say the least. I was super excited that our profession finally had an article that lists the important items to have. But this: this is not that article. I will keep searching for that one.
I really like this list of small gear that every theater technician should have. Mostly because I love getting new things to help assist me in trying to preform at my best especially when I am in the shop or in the theater itself. The one item on the list that very much interested me is the space pen, I generally lean a little more towards using pencils especially in the shop mostly because in my experience pen just generally aren't up for the day to day grind and will end up breaking add to this notion that they are more expensive it generally makes me hesitant to use a pen in the shop. However love the call out of the notebook for doing quick sketches and the microfiber cloth. And to me one of the simplest overlooked tools is a watch yes phone have the time but they end up being a real annoyance when you have to keep pulling them out. All in all cool list and I'm bookmarking it.
Hmm, I think this article is really interesting to read from an outsiders perspective. In the explanation of the items, it all seemed to makes sense, but does someone really carry around that many pens simply because they have a different use for each one. I guess I am not one to talk being a manager who uses every color of highlighter and stick note. It is interesting to hear what the author feels is important to carry on them at all times. Before reading this article, I had never thought of the fact that a TD must quickly be able to go from admin meeting to the shop and back. There are some items in this list that I weren't sure of their purpose just because I had never herd of them before. When the article went to explain what they were used for, I had never herd of the task. I think this list can be really fun for someone who can relate.
It is really cool to see what an experienced technician considers essentials to everyday life. Though he has very specific items made of leather or for his glasses, I can understand the basic idea is have anything and everything that can prepare you for any moment that you will need to fix something, cut something, open something, or write down notes. What is interesting is the fact that these items can changed based on what your role is in as a technician. I know for costuming it is always good to keep safety pins, a small sewing kit, and some form of light and a notebook with you at all times in case there is ever a costume malfunction. The same goes for a stage manager but with more things. When I stagemanaged a few shows I always made sure I had a pen and notebook, highlighters, gaffe tape, mic tape, band aids, safety pins, a flash light, bobby pins, and a few other things on me at all times.
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