So does Obama have anything to fear from uttering the unluckiest word in what may be the unluckiest theater in American history? Theater-goers can relax: Many stage afficianados believe that the prohibition only applies to performers or theater hands, and non-actors have nothing to worry about.

Jesus, even the retarded article points out how retarded this is.

The comments below the article go Simple Jack style full retard. It's impressive.

Still, it's funny to see how much this is ingrained to some folks. I remember watching Laurence Fishburne doing an interview on Charlie Rose a few years ago, and he substituted "Scottish play" for Macbeth every single time.

It's Not News...

/there's really nothing else to say

Icky-icky-icky-p'thang-zoooop-boing!?

/Peng?
//Noooo-wong?

Ah, the Scottish play... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukqzcC_jf_0

Obama utters "forbidden word." SPOILER ALERT: It wasn't "Ni" BONG

Eddy Gurge: Ah, the Scottish play... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukqzcC_jf_0

came for a blackadder reference and was not disappointed!

What? "Is"?

Say what?

At least it wasn't "Good Luck".

i thought it was going to be "nationalization". i didn't realize it would be something retarded.

OlafTheBent: Obama utters "forbidden word." SPOILER ALERT: It wasn't "Ni" BONG

*snort*

What a bunch of Drama Queens...

I had a theatre friend that loved walking around before a show, telling everyone, "Hey, good luck out there, MacBeth!"

Yes, the majority of theatre idiots had a conniption whenever he did that.

Do people actually believe this shiat? Superstition itself is silly. POLITICAL SUPERSTITION... doubly so.

Why did no one ever tell me how delicious the CNN comments were?? These people make TF seem like the Algonquin Round Table.

Give me a break! President Obama is a child of the most high, the True, one and only Living God! If uttering the word "MacBeth" is his only worry. He has no WORRIES at all!

I have finally figured this guy (obama) out...

He is completely INSANE!


BO SUCKS POINT BLANK PERIOD!!!!!!

what_now: BO SUCKS POINT BLANK PERIOD!!!!!!

wow, not only does he suck, but he doesn't even do it from a distance. he does it point blank.

FIRE?

what_now: BO SUCKS POINT BLANK PERIOD!!!!!!

Bo knows sucking?

what_now: Why did no one ever tell me how delicious the CNN comments were?? These people make TF seem like the Algonquin Round Table.

Give me a break! President Obama is a child of the most high, the True, one and only Living God! If uttering the word "MacBeth" is his only worry. He has no WORRIES at all!

I have finally figured this guy (obama) out...

He is completely INSANE!


BO SUCKS POINT BLANK PERIOD!!!!!!

Why is Bo sucking periods? I think that's rather gross.

Shostie:

Why is Bo sucking periods? I think that's rather gross.

Never earned your red wings?

So, other than the MacBeth thingie, how was the visit to the theatre, Mrs. Lincoln?

what_now: Shostie:

Why is Bo sucking periods? I think that's rather gross.

Never earned your red wings?

Obviously not...

veedeevadeevoodee: Obama utters "forbidden word."

You post facepalm pictures now at this, but when the seal is broken and the world is overrun by demonic orcs, you'll wish he didn't say it.

what_now: Shostie:

Why is Bo sucking periods? I think that's rather gross.

Never earned your red wings?

So "nickle" is the new "N" word?

Did someone demand a shrubbery of him?

I_C_Weener: So, other than the MacBeth thingie, how was the visit to the theatre, Mrs. Lincoln?

Too soon.

FlashHarry: Eddy Gurge: Ah, the Scottish play... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukqzcC_jf_0

came for a blackadder reference and was not disappointed!


Indeed, if it wasn't for that episoded I would have never known that theater weirds freak out over saying the name of the play associated with Scotland.

I got my theatre degree years ago, and worked at theatres both onstage and behind the scenes for the better part of a decade before opting for a slightly more secure, sedentary lifestyle. And if there's one thing that was both universal AND justified, it was the fear of even REFERENCING "The Scottish Play" in ANY context whatsoever while within the walls of the theatre. Even during rehearsals. Because the three times I ever saw it happen turned out to be the three worst nights I ever worked in the business.

The first time, this fresh-out-of-school actress was in the dressing room before a performance trying to use hand-soap to scrub a small surface stain out of a piece of her costume. Not thinking, she busted out with "out, out damned spot." The whole room, which was full of veterans, went completely ape$#!+. True to form, later on that night, a lamp in one of the fresnels exploded in a shower of sparks during the big emotional climax of the show, and the whole instrument crashed to the stage immediately afterward. Stopped the whole show cold.

The second time, this stagehand handed a notorious over-the-top ham actor a cup of tea between the matinée and evening show with a quick "bubble, bubble toil and trouble." The actor about tore his head off for it. Stagehand waved him off with an "I can't believe you actually place any stock in that crap." By the end of the night, EVERYONE did. Because during the second act, one of the other actors tripped on an area rug and put his hand though a window in the set, nearly slicing one of his fingers off. The show had to be stopped, because the script hadn't called for "uncontrollable bleeding."

The third time was the worse. The director actually said the name of the show itself during setup in an ill-advised show of faux bravado. That night, we were barely 15 minutes in when he entire central section of the set fell over to reveal stagehands, tables full of props, the back wall of the theatre, and an actress doing a quick change.

I am an absurdly logical person most of the time, and I full well know superstitions are ridiculous. But that's one I believe in to my bones. If I ever make a return to theatre in any capacity, anyone who mentions THAT, even in passing, will be swiftly and messily killed more or less immediately.

PoopStain: /didn't type the actual "N" word.

In-lining a picture with a filtered word can get your post smited.

/learned this the hard way myself
//guess I didn't get the banhammer since I'm normally such a nice boy =P

Wouldn't the closest Shakespearian word to "Ni-" be "Othello?"

Top 10 things you should never say in a theater:
10. MacBeth
09. Good Luck
08. Nice nose job
07. Oh... that's not a wig?
06. I'm banging the director's S.O.
05. There's a large pteradon licking my foot, would you please bring me another croissant?
04. Can I get a balcony seat across from the President, and will there be room for my "Violin" case?
03. And the Tony Award for Best Actor goes to: William Shatner!
02. Duct tape? What the hell is duct tape?
01. Due to illness, tonight, the part of Tevia will be played by David Letterman.

Axiomatic: Do people actually believe this shiat? Superstition itself is silly. POLITICAL SUPERSTITION... doubly so.

Nah, I don't know any theatre folk who take the MacBeth thing seriously. It's treated more like an inside joke than anything else. A friend was involved in a MacBeth production in Red Bank last year that Teller (of Penn & Teller) produced. She said that Teller would mock-threaten anyone with a prop sword if they uttered the title, but again, it was all in good fun.

Boritom: 05. There's a large pteradon licking my foot, would you please bring me another croissant?
04. Can I get a balcony seat across from the President, and will there be room for my "Violin" case?

Awesome. Totally awesome to the max.

Well at least he didn't utter "He who must not be named's" name.

In a related story, Congressional Republicans are demanding that Obama find the mightiest tree in the forest, and chop it down with a herring.

wil: In a related story, Congressional Republicans are demanding that Obama find the mightiest tree in the forest, and chop it down with a herring.

WIN!

Dammit.

I long for the good old days when our leaders were scared little biatches about everything with no basis in fact.

Good times.

A few years back, I worked with a director whose dog was named Macbeth. He brought it to rehearsals with him so often that the dog was convinced its name was 'The Scottish Dog' and wouldn't answer to Macbeth at all. This, apparently, was the source of some embarrassment for the director when he took the dog to the vet/etc.

He named the next one Spot. Still plenty of Macbeth jokes, but less confusion at the vet. ;)

MaxxLarge: I am an absurdly logical person most of the time, and I full well know superstitions are ridiculous. But that's one I believe in to my bones. If I ever make a return to theatre in any capacity, anyone who mentions THAT, even in passing, will be swiftly and messily killed more or less immediately.

How does it feel to be a mong? Does the whole "swollen tongue" thing make it hard to project your voice while on stage?

MaxxLarge: I got my theatre degree years ago, and worked at theatres both onstage and behind the scenes for the better part of a decade ...

If I ever make a return to theatre in any capacity, anyone who mentions THAT, even in passing, will be swiftly and messily killed more or less immediately.

Pretty much THIS. Intellectually, it's not difficult to understand why so much stuff goes wrong in MacBeth (enough so that it's gotten the reputation as a cursed show). It's a technically demanding show, with large chunks of it in the dark, and a huge, strenuous fight scene at the end (the fifth act, when done properly, is almost entirely a single fight scene that bleeds from scene to scene with no break). These conditions are prime for people getting hurt.

That said, I ain't taking chances. I've acted in the show twice, and choreographed the fights for it on four occasions...and in EVERY SINGLE PRODUCTION, something major has gone wrong. I've never had an actor hurt on any show I've ever choreographed but this one, and it's always the douche who goes out of his way to "not believe in the curse". My favorite was at the top of the MacBeth/MacDuff fight, when MacBeth takes a blow to his sword about three moves into the fight...and the sword breaks. The blade spins back and embeds itself in the proscenium arch, the quillons rocket off and hit the cyc, and the pommel drops off onto his foot (breaking the actor's toe), leaving the poor bastard to stand there with a 3 minute fight to perform - to music - and with just the sword's grip in his hand.

In other events, we've had Lady MacBeth get electrocuted stepping on a stripped cable, a concussion from a broken and flying quarterstaff chunk to the head, Lady MacDuff's costume catch on fire, the actor playing Ross falling through the floor of a 2-level set, and MacBeth stab himself in the eye with the "Floating Dagger" suspended from a cable.

Don't believe in "the curse" all you want. You people don't have to deal with it, except as audience members.

MaxxLarge: I got my theatre degree years ago, and worked at theatres both onstage and behind the scenes for the better part of a decade before opting for a slightly more secure, sedentary lifestyle. And if there's one thing that was both universal AND justified, it was the fear of even REFERENCING "The Scottish Play" in ANY context whatsoever while within the walls of the theatre. Even during rehearsals. Because the three times I ever saw it happen turned out to be the three worst nights I ever worked in the business.

The first time, this fresh-out-of-school actress was in the dressing room before a performance trying to use hand-soap to scrub a small surface stain out of a piece of her costume. Not thinking, she busted out with "out, out damned spot." The whole room, which was full of veterans, went completely ape$#!+. True to form, later on that night, a lamp in one of the fresnels exploded in a shower of sparks during the big emotional climax of the show, and the whole instrument crashed to the stage immediately afterward. Stopped the whole show cold.

The light exploded then fell to the stage? What does one have to do with the other? And aren't those things always chained or cabled to the grid in case a clamp fails?

The second time, this stagehand handed a notorious over-the-top ham actor a cup of tea between the matinée and evening show with a quick "bubble, bubble toil and trouble." The actor about tore his head off for it. Stagehand waved him off with an "I can't believe you actually place any stock in that crap." By the end of the night, EVERYONE did. Because during the second act, one of the other actors tripped on an area rug and put his hand though a window in the set, nearly slicing one of his fingers off. The show had to be stopped, because the script hadn't called for "uncontrollable bleeding."

Who put real glass onstage and why?

The third time was the worse. The director actually said the name of the show itself during setup in an ill-advised show of faux bravado. That night, we were barely 15 minutes in when he entire central section of the set fell over to reveal stagehands, tables full of props, the back wall of the theatre, and an actress doing a quick change.

Uh huh. It sounds like you had a prankster and/or bad crew management.

I am an absurdly logical person most of the time, and I full well know superstitions are ridiculous. But that's one I believe in to my bones. If I ever make a return to theatre in any capacity, anyone who mentions THAT, even in passing, will be swiftly and messily killed more or less immediately.

Good luck, but it makes me glad I switched to film.

I've worked in a theatre and sure it's nifty but I don't believe in any of it being a logical person taking a science degree.

However I consider it more a tradition than anything else since most people I talked to believe it to be bs but simply tradition.

FightDirector: My favorite was at the top of the MacBeth/MacDuff fight, when MacBeth takes a blow to his sword about three moves into the fight...and the sword breaks. The blade spins back and embeds itself in the proscenium arch, the quillons rocket off and hit the cyc, and the pommel drops off onto his foot (breaking the actor's toe), leaving the poor bastard to stand there with a 3 minute fight to perform - to music - and with just the sword's grip in his hand.

Maybe you shouldn't order your stage equipment from the Acme Corporation.

"And then an actor tripped walking off the stage, and triggered the loaded catapult full of dynamite that we store for our July 4th outdoor show. Stupid MacBeth curse."

Obama? Forbidden words?

I assume that this has been posted already? (new window / NSFW language)

Damn filter. Linky: http://www.aprilwinchell.com/wp-content/cache/supercache/www.aprilwinchell.com/2 009/02/05/barack-obama-is-tired-of-your-motherfarking-shiat/index.html

MaxxLarge: That night, we were barely 15 minutes in when he entire central section of the set fell over to reveal stagehands, tables full of props, the back wall of the theatre, and an actress doing a quick change.

And the aforementioned dynamite catapult, of course.