Have you ever been picked from the audience?

Saturday me and hillbilly king went to this thing called Cheval Theatre. It’s horses from around the world doing tricks in a circus like setting.
Thanks to the 98 degree heat, the smell of horse poo, and the toddler behind me, I had a splitting headache.
THEN… the spotlight hit me! And there was a clown comming my way. :eek:
Thank goodness his gaze went a little past me and landed on hillbilly king. With the combined effort of the clown pulling and me pushing, he reluctantly followed the clown into the ring where he was made to prance around like a horse and stuff. :smiley:

Once, at Jim Rose’s Circus Sideshow. Jim Rose heckles his audience, and he had been targeting me all evening, probably because my hair (orange against a blue dress) made me easy to pick out. I got to stand on his back while he lay down on broken glass. “Don’t bounce,” he warned. Mr. Rilch has photos.

At a Ren festival couple years back I was picked to help out with a fire-eating act. I was so drunk from drinking mead I nearly lit the woman’s hair on fire!

Not since the 6th grade at the Museum of Science in Boston. They were doing a demonstration on perspective and optical illusions when the speaker said “we need somebody tall.” As I was the only 6-foot 12-year-old in my class, everyone pointed at me.

Since then, I’ve made sure to be the guy on stage doing the picking.

Forgive me for telling this tired old story again, but it’s one of those crushingly painful memories I push so deep into my psyche that when it is disturbed, I must allow it to gush forth.

It was one of those mass-hypnosis shows, my freshman year of college. The “hypnotist” stood this bedazzled girl in front of the packed audience and convinced her that everyone in the room was naked. He asked, “would you like anyone to stand up?”

She pointed straight at me. “That guy,” she said.

So, I proudly stood up, on my chair, even, so she (and all the other women in the audience) could get a good long look.

“No, not that guy,” said the girl.

Mine is also a RenFaire experience.

For my birthday this past March, Strainger, a couple friends of mine from L.A., and I went to the AZ Ren Faire. My friend and I were in costume.

Strainger wanted to see the Ded Bob show so we went & saw the Ded Bob show. I must have been wearing my “embarass the fuck out of me” sign because I was “selected” to be part of the show. I kid, as evidenced by the pictures, I found it hysterical and I actually enjoyed myself (though I did make a complete fool out of myself).

When I was about seven, I got picked out of the audience at a aquarium in Islamorada, Florida, to ride in a boat pulled by dolphins. My mom said she almost had a nervous breakdown for the 10 minutes I was in the middle of the aquarium pool, without a lifejacket, being pulled by some lethargic dolphins, in a flimsy wooden boat. I liked it, though.

At a David Copperfield magic show when he throws frisbees out in the audience to choose participants. I wasn’t paying attention to what was going on and the thing kinda hit me in the head. Not wanting to go on stage I passed the thing to my mom.

Then another time at Sea World when I was little there was a show with seals. I somehow got picked to try to throw an empty suitcase across the aquarium. I also got to shake the big seal’s flipper.

When I was about 22 I went to the Tonight Show with Jay Leno and before the show began he came out to say Hello to the audience. I had been there once before and had seen a guy ask Jay to call his girlfriend on the phone. So I, being brave and all, raised my hand and asked him to call my bf at work. I knew Jay is into cars so I told him my bf worked for a Mercedes Benz dealership and he said he would call. I got to sit in “the chair” next to his desk in front of the whole audience while he called. He was put on hold for about 5 minutes and during that time he asked me questions about my job and my life and a few other things. There were a few laughs from the audience and I saw myself on the TV screen which was kinda wierd. Then finally my bf got on the phone and he was on the studio speakers so all could hear. Jay disguised his voice and they talked for a minute or two until he finally told him who he was. It was my “5 minutes of Fame” and I had a blast!!

I was at a dinner theatre and they wanted me to just do a small part.
Basically they were spoofing on star trek and needed someone to be the red shirted member of the away mission (thus the one who gets killed)
So I sat there and waited, an actor ran out to me and asked if I had a uniform. I said no, so he took off his and gave it too me :eek: . I just stared at it for a minute and then followed him backstage. (The spotlight was on us the whole time)
They told me all I had to do was say “Yes” when the people on stage asked me a question and then get killed. Simple enough. So I go behind the “viewscreen” and do my one line. Then I get strangled.
Good fun
:stuck_out_tongue:

When I was a wee youngin’ a day camp took a trip to Universal Studios, and I was selected to be on a bike with ET in front of a blue screen as part of a “how the movies work” show. I remember I kept looking back at the bluescreen instead of at the monitor with the picture on it. That, and the bike’s pedals only turned about halfway since the bar holding up the bike was blocking them.

During the intro, I was up in front of the audience with the hostess, who asked: “What’s your favorite movie?”
Me: “Tom and Jerry!”
Hostess: (whispering) “Say ‘ET.’”
Me: “I don’t like ET!”

I was picked from the audience of an Art Linkletter show, back in 1954. Well, actually, my mom was picked, but she was several months pregnant with me. She would win a washing machine if she spelled hoity-toity correctly. She missed the hyphen.

What I wouldn’t give for a tape of the show. Does anyone know what they did with old Art Linkletter shows?

We went to the Sweet Fanny Adams Theater in Gatlinburg, TN. I was pulled from the audience, literally, and taken to the stage by one of the lead performers. They sat me on a chair at center stage, and one of the other players did an over-the-top bit, putting a garter on my leg. I also got to dance with the man who picked me from the audience. It was a lot of fun - thankfully it happened years after I got over being shy.

When we were leaving, the whole cast was at the entrance saying goodbye - and the guy who’d picked me addressed me by name and thanked me for playing along. I was impressed. And even if you don’t get to go on stage, it’s a fun show to see if you’re ever in Gatlinburg.

While living in Orlando, I was the master at getting picked for any show that involved audience participation at Disneyworld. Any show, any park, I have been up there doing something.

I got to overact my death at Indiana Jones, pretend to be a cop on Golden Girls at the old Superstar Theater, make noises at the Monster Sound Show, be on a torpedoed boat, etc.

Just on Saturday we went to NY Ren Faire and I was chosen to participate with one of the belly dancers. Certainly better than participating in the turtle race.

During a mass hypnotist deal at college, (Late 80’s) I was chosen to sing Bon Jovi’s “You give love a bad name” song, at first I refused, but the hypnotist did something and then I performed.

He claimed I was the best Bon Jovi that he had (though I had a mohawk at that time)

Fricking Blue Man Group:Tubes. Never again.

I recently saw the show for a second time. Did they pick you to be taken backstage, put in a jumpsuit, covered in blue paint and slammed against a canvas?

[slight hijack]
Since seeing the abovementioned show, I began to wonder how the stage crew makes sure that the person they pick doesn’t panic when they’re part of the show. Do they only choose repeat attenders? Do they explain and give the person a chance to back out before they’re in the spotlight? Anyone know? [/slight hijack]

Christine Lavin called me up on stage to sing back-up on “Sensitive New Age Guys”. There were six guys she called from the audience, and she singled me out. “I want Mr. MIT”

A few years later I did it again, but that time she called about forty guys on stage, and I wasn’t singled out.

I walked up to a guy at Disneyworld’s Magic Kingdom and asked him for a map, as I had forgotten to grab one at the gate. He looked me and my family up and down “Would you like to do something really fun?”.

I was a little suspicious, as the place is crawling with Disney folks trying to get you to buy a picture or timeshare. “Depends on what it is.”

He laughed, and then explained…He wanted us to be that day’s Honorary Grand Marshalls for the afternoon parade! Woo hoo! We met him behind “City Hall” at 2:00. They had customized Mouseketeer hats for each of us, and they put us in a little old fashioned open-carriage car accompanied by another car carrying a Dixieland band. We got to ride in the front of the parade, having our name announced and smiling and waving through the whole park. When it was over they gave us an “official” certificate. And they laughed at ME because they said it was obvious that I was enjoying myself tremendously. 'Twas great fun.