I’ve been to several showings of RHPS, but I’ve never encountered a standard, three question format test, but a friend of mine insists that there is one at almost all shows.
He believes that 2 of the 3 questions are:
What color is Rocky’s underwear? (Gold) and
Where do you get your drugs? (Columbia)
Anyone heard of this? If so, what’s the third question?
This should probably be in Cafe Society.
I’ve been to shows in Boston and have never seen a 3 question test. As far as I can tell, there’s nothing standard about floor shows.
Yeah, I realized that a bit after posting it. I sent off an e-mail and hopefully the thread will be whisked away shortly.
Never heard of it, and I played along back in the early 80’s. Google doesn’t have anything about on the first few pages. Way back when, someone would just ask who hasn’t seen the movie before and get a show of hands, and everyone would yell ‘virgin’ at the newbies. I think regional variations have sprung up everywhere the movie is shown (hence the tuna sandwich that hit me at a viewing in NC).
I’ve seen the show in five states at seven theatres and none of them had a standard virgin test. Virgin rituals varied from simply calling them up to the front and yelling “Virgin!” at them to an eleborate ritual which I loathed with a passion because it wasn’t funny and was a giant waste of time.
In Hollywood in the early 80’s we would just yell at the newbs while we were still in line. I haven’t seen the movie in over 20 years so I probably couldn’t pass that test today.
Haj
Off to Cafe Society.
DrMatrix - GQ Moderator
Thanks, DrMatrix.
Otto, I’ve been to several of the Madison shows (starting about 5 years ago), though I haven’t been to one recently. That’s why I was suspicious of this tradition - I’d never heard of it! (I’d also been to one or two of the Halloween shows here in Ames that they’ve had at the Varsity Theatre).
Mind me asking where and what the ‘elaborate ritual’ was?
I went to the Harvard Square showings many times in my yute, and for each show the cast members would bring a virgin or two up to the front and make them hold a red balloon between their legs, which they (the cast members) would then pop. All done in under a minute, no questions.
It was at the Madison show. I don’t remember the details because I freakin’ loathe the Madison cast, so it’s been years since I’ve seen it.
I spent a summer going to RHPS every weekend in my Senior year of high school. I was such a geek.
The Houston crew would line up all the virgins and put a running vaccum cleaner on their bottoms. Lame? Yup.
At the place I saw it the “virgin test” happened while the movie was playing. There was some part with lighters and the people who’d seen it knew when to yank their lighters away and those left still holding their lighters up were exposed. Everyone just shrieked “virgins!” at them and there was no ritual.
This was maybe 10 years ago so I might be mis-remembering.
I’m sorry for not contributing to the answer, here, but the whole idea that a “virgin test” is even a good idea is the main reason why I’ll never see this movie.
When I was the MC for RHPS we had the virgins come down front. I’d ask them some embarrassing questions. If they were older I had them fake an orgasm.
Then a single virgin was chosen and he or she was simply taken back to thier seat.
Oh I had them lean backwards over the front and the crowd paseed them bodily back over their heads.
We did have a semi-regular virgin that we sometimes did stuff with. All the regulars new she was a plant but the virgins in the crowd were really suprised to se her pull her panties off from under her skirt and hand them to me.
“Virgin” in RHPS parlance just means someone who hasn’t seen the film before. There is no sexual connotation. If that’s truly the only reason you wouldn’t see the film in a theatre, then if I may humbly suggest, get over it. It’s generally speaking tremendous fun seeing the film in a theatre with a live audience, especially if there’s a core group or cast in attendance (except of course in Madison, whose cast sucks).
I’ve seen the live cast version of RHPS twice, once in San Diego and once in Santa Cruz. In neither case was there was a “test” to spot the virgins–they were expected to declare themselves. Once declared, they were herded up on stage for the “preshow,” in which they had whipped cream and a cherry placed in their mouths (the cherry to be extracted orally by a cast member). The San Diego show also had a variation of the above involving bananas.
My friend and I didn’t feel like admitting we were Rocky Horror Virgins so we pretended we’d seen the show before.
(blasphemy!)
Anyway, I imagine preshow traditions vary by location. The responses (during the movie itself) seemed pretty standard, though. I spotted a few differences in the second show I went to but I think most of the responses were the same.
“You see, Eddie is…”
(“My sex life!”)
“…my nephew.”
(“Same thing!”)
Yes, Otto, I know what it means in the context of RHPS—but to humiliate people simply because they haven’t yet attended? That does not sound like an inclusive crowd to me, it sounds insular. It’s not my only reason not to go: in particular, men in fishnet stockings and high camp in a bad movie doesn’t, on its own, sound like an entertaining motion picture experience for me, coupled with seeing the movie in a crowd out to embarass me, and not knowing a damned thing about what “audience participation” I’m supposed to participate in—no thanks, that’s three strikes. I’ve nothing against anyone who likes the film or the experience, but the more I hear about taunting the new fish, the more resistant I become to trying it.
But never mind my hijack, back to the thread.
Humiliate? Sounds like they’re just having fun to me. I would even bet that some veterans claim to be virgins for the fun of it. And it’s not like you have to admit to being a “Virgin.” People in this thread have already stated that they didn’t want to participate in the virgin ceremonies so they pretended they were veterans.
But then again, you sound like the type that absolutely loathes having fun, so maybe it is better that you don’t go.
I personally haven’t seen it live just because I’ve never been aware of a showing in my area, but I love the movie on tv.
We always said (plot point spoiler ahead) “my dinner.” A lot of the regional casts picked up the bulk of their lines from the RHPS Audience Par-Ti-Ci- (say it!) Pation album that had the NYC cast (were they at the Waverly at the time or 8th Street?) lines circa 1983, with personalized lines by cast thrown in. Actually that’s the gripe I have with the Madison cast, that they are rather slavishly devoted to a particular set of responses and aren’t interested in considering any updates or alterations. Now I’ll admit that I’m fairly wedded to the lines I picked up from the first theatre where I saw the movie regularly (shout out to the late, lamented BIJOU in Kalamazoo MI) but I also recognize that a liturgy that doesn’t adapt over time is going to become increasingly irrelevant. The Madison cast resists even temporary topical changes like naming a recently-dead celebrity when the coffin is brought in during “Dammit Janet” or naming a current politician for Frank to call “a weakling” at the start of “I Can Make You a Man.”
Fish, you’re certainly welcome to your opinion, however my feeling is that it’s rather woefully uninformed. As has been noted, the “virgin test” is not about humiliating or embarrassing people, it’s an attempt to include people who are unfamiliar with the rituals. If a virgin doesn’t want to participate than all s/he has to do is not say s/he’s a virgin. As far as audience participation goes, no one’s expected to go all out on it their first time and there are plenty of online guides one may review before going (or one might consult one’s local library to see if they have a copy of the aforementioned audience participation album).
As for objecting to the movie as camp, well, if you don’t like camp then there probably isn’t that much point in going. I’d suggest you might want to rent the DVD and take a look at it in the privacy of your own home. The 25th anniversary DVD includes audience participation information icluding cues for when some of the classic props are used. If it appeals to you then go see it in a theatre if you feel more comfortable at that point; otherwise, don’t see it. We’ll love you either way, although we’ll probably love you more if you refrain from taking dumps on RHPS threads from what, you must admit, is a position of near-total ignorance.
But hey, if you’re ever in Madison on a Saturday night, drop me an email and I’ll be happy to pop your cherry.
It’s interesting to hear you talk about the Madison crew, Otto, since they are my primary experience with a real RHPS crew. (I guess I just have fuzzy nostalgic memories of being forced to go by my friends and having a good time, and my roommate being flashed by the guy playing Dr. Frankenfurter…)
Is there somewhere in the Midwest that you’ve seen a better show that you could recommend?