Mike Daisey Audience Protest, Walkout and Attack

[marlowemechanism]

mr. daisy just needs a super soaker

[djsoundwav]

Gotta say, I'm sure this was a dose of humility to Mike. I think people have a right to protest.

If they were "deceived" into thinking they got into something they didn't expect, then I commend them walking out. If you don't like something, then LEAVE! That's what everyone says right? So they did. I applaud them for that. They just left. I don't see the problem.

Water guy, well a bit mellow-dramatic, but still, Mikes content was filth.

[sirnippip]

um... forgot the part where they dumped

water over his material.... and why would a

christian high school groupe be there anyway...

[ChristianTarsney]

@djsoundwav How is that a "but still"?? "Sure, it's bad to destroy other people's stuff, but still, it was stuff that I don't like, so hey...". If that's the standard, then I'm pretty sure it gives people much more license, for instance, to destroy someone's Bible or Koran. The monologue may have been "filth," but at least it doesn't condone genocide.

[atsjer]

I know Mike from High School, and I have to say that the supposed "protest" hurt me to watch. I am also a Christian and while I don't use "salty" language myself, I most certainly would not do what that group did to Mike, and the guy who poured the water well, he showed his righteousness right there. Here's a hint, do your homework BEFORE taking any High School group to see ANY theater, and don't get mad at the performers you don't.

[JeremyMilne]

Wow, i think this this show more about Christians than this Mike Daisey

[hachibeach151]

I rest my case, kid.

hb151

[hachibeach151]

Serves you right. A question: are you really 23 years old? Your recent post like you're not even half that age. Maybe less.

hb151 "Hmmm...and I still won the argument. Always room for improvement, though."

[manhattanrep]

This is wonderful. I am the artistic director of a NYC based theatre company, and this is what live theatre is all about.

Awesome. Thanks for posting it. Love it. And MIke Daisey is a pro and a gentleman - God Bless him.

Yes, it is everyone's right to stay or leave, but to dump water on the Mike's material makes one wonder what people will do to prove that they are right about silly things.

Again AWESOME. Much thanks.

[hachibeach151]

I betcha that if karma comes to bite, that chaperone's gonna die of pneumonia. Maybe not now, but later on in life.

hb151. "Next time, Mike Daisey...bring a Death Note with you, just in case. And tell Light Yagami I send my regards."

[katar13]

How would he die for something like that? Oh, and karma doesn't exist.

[hachibeach151]

Everything happens for a reason, katar. If he dies after dousing someone like this a while back, serves him right. As for the second comment, that's like saying what goes around DOESN'T come around...

hb151 "...unbeliever."

[katar13]

Well, I declare that if Mike Daisey dies for using profanity, it serves him right....

[hachibeach151]

And if you get your comments thumbed down, it serves you right for losing this argument with me.

hb151 "Give up already, asshole."

[julsand2001]

This guy is filthy and disgusting. Is this really considered entertainment??? I can't watch the whole thing, it's extremely offensive. Garbage in, garbage out.

[katar13]

Truth

[dustychalkmud]

While I think it was wrong to pour water over his notes, the Christians have the right and the freedom to walk out of something that they find offensive. Calling them pussies is as infantile was pouring the water on the paper.

[katar13]

It wasn't a christian group...

[jozzmer]

jesus chrsit, fucking christians. what a bunch of pussies

[hypatience]

news flash--it was real. I was there.

[lowimpakt]

what a stupid 'protest'

[trsrl]

(I ran out of space in the last post, I suppose that's a hint)

What good is your message if you package it in a way that alienates your audience?  I obviously don't condone that destructive parent, but his act is kin to the hate I'm seeing slung about by the Christian haters on this thread.

[cryan71]

Should we cover up Michaelangelo's David just cause some people don't like looking at it's penis? No-- it's not the responsibility of the performer to change his art for the audience d'jour. Moreover, their frikking high school kids -- they have heard worse, seen worse and are probably downloading porn as we speak.

[hypatience]

Defending someone's freedom of speech is not being a "Christian Hater."

[trsrl]

I know I should probably duck and cover after asserting this, but I don't think it was appropriate for Daisey to include the sex with Paris Hilton gag that night. This isn't just an issue of salty language - he's sitting there gesticulating obscenely while he's narrating sex with Paris Hilton. It seems to me that a good performer can adapt his message to suit the audience, especially in a one-man show where you are working from your own notes.

[SoCalVet5]

Mike Daisey's performance content was no different than what is found in many 'R" rated movies.

Clearly these inept chaperones know they have a different concept of "appropriate" or "suitable" material than society in general.

Instead of making a detailed inquiry of show content, these dumb chaperones (even without the water works) chose to disrupt the regular scheduled show for 213 other paying happy theatre patrons, some of whom were students with competent chaperones.

[hypatience]

The American Repertory Theater is an internationally- known theater. The word is "theater"--that's not the place you go to in a mall and watch movies that depict, as realistically as they can, rape, violence, obscene language, as different from the tv news which shows tapes of horrible violence that is as obscene as any word. So do you throw water at the screen of your tv or the movie theater?

[cryan71]

If you would have actually watched the video you can here one of the adults identify themselves as a Christian group.

[cryan71]

Fuck off.  He didn't need the publicity.

[jayjayjay]

If everyone had Bill Cosby's sense of humor, Bill Cosby wouldn't be famous. Bill Cosby's famous because he's unique. You simply don't like this sense of uniqueness.

[jayjayjay]

That's what Jesus would do!

[blampow]

Way to go! That'll lessen Mike Daisey's name recognition and help the reputation of christians!

[SoCalVet5]

Other than their chaperones cheating them out of Mr. Daisey's show (or another show those inept adults could accept), I don't think anyone has punished the students. Mike Daisey has not punished them.

But those kids have CERTAINLY learned a lot of valuable lessons from this that incompetent teachers and adults currently directing their lives are apparently incapable of delivering.

[SoCalVet5]

Mike Daisey is a public person. There are direct quotes from him.

Nicholas Peterson,the ART marketing associate who dealt with the sale came forward. There are direct quotes from him.

Mike Walczak is a Brooks School teacher. He's quoted in the paper.

Why has no one stood up publicly who were involved in the ticket purchase, the seating of students, or the ordering of their exit? Why no newspaper quotes from them?

[buddynusa]

Mr.Vet . the other school was a private school musch different law to abid by .and the 22 kids had been doing a study. i think paper said 5th show they had been to in a shot time.

[SoCalVet5]

The school's chaperones didn't seem concerned enough about this "law" to make adequate inquiry and discussion about this "law" before seating the student down with discounted tickets. Better yet, the one chaperone (in hiding) decided to ignore this "law" when warned of strong language and adult situations by Nicolas Peterson. What "law" was David following? One handed down to him from God?

[SoCalVet5]

WE now know that the Norco chaperones have a very strict definition of "suitability" that clearly is not universal among the general public. But I believe the chaperones ALREADY KNEW they had different tastes and perceptions than the general public, so were disingenuous in going forward with the purchase without making more specific inquiries.

[SoCalVet5]

So what is the position from Norco High School about the box office point of sale? They site a woman whom they they refuse to identify, so we only have third-hand accounts, of supposedly being told that she was assured the show was appropriate for high school aged individuals.

[SoCalVet5]

Mike Walczak was the Brooks School teacher who brought his class to the ART the very same night. Walczak said he wasn't comfortable judging whether the Norco group was right, or wrong, for leaving. But of the adults who bought tickets to the ART...

"I would never take a group of kids to something I didn't know about, only because I'm a firm believer that, at this level, if you're teaching theater or drama you need a context to pin it into."

[SoCalVet5]

These people, that Mike Daisey refers to, have names and confirm Mike Daisey's assertions: Nicholas Peterson , the marketing associate who dealt with the sale, described the exchange in a statement released yesterday. He says he told the Norco representative that Daisey's show contained "strong language, adult situations, powerful and emotional imagery, and also that The New York Times has referred to Mike Daisey as a 'master storyteller.' "

[SoCalVet5]

Mike Daisey further said "It bears noting that in fact, there were two high schools there that night--and the other high school STAYED, enjoyed the show, and I had a very good talk with them after the show discussing the work. That high school confirms that they were informed about the language and content of the show when they asked--the box office informs anyone who asks what the show contains."

[buddynusa]

Mr Vet is thank you your only one that seems to want to hear both sides of this ,and you have been very respect full.,but read back . i said i have known him 9 years .our kids have gone to the same PUBLIC schools together sences the 2nd grade .Guess Dave must not be that scared of the world. as Mike says after their phone call

[buddynusa]

I did not Say fault Is Mike,s i think the box office .the same,the same one that will not clear this christian group stuff up with youtube boston globe, NY times and the ART also when they would not hold show for the miintue so they could leave before Mike came out .

[SoCalVet5]

Let's look at that box office point of sale:

Mike Daisey says in his blog that "I have now spoken with the box office staff person who spoke with a representative from the school--when asked if the show had appropriate content for high school students, they were told it had strong language and adult situations. There are multiple corroborating witnesses to this phone conversation."

[SoCalVet5]

buddynusa wrote to me that the chaperones had no computer with them in Massachusetts and that "the only preview they saw was outside it said New york language.. not sure what that is ?"

buddynusa and I disagree.

buddynusa believes that the problems lie in misrepresentations made by Mike Daisey.

I believe that the problems were caused by numerous bad decisions made by the chaperones.

[SoCalVet5]

This "buddynusa" poster sent me a (private) General Message on this site because I posted yesterday in the comments section (the posting that has been viewed over 117K times and generated over 650 comments). We have sent back and forth over a dozen of these private messages.

buddynusa claims to be a long-time friend of David (the water vandal) with both having same-age children.

I asked buddynusa why didn't the chaperones watch the scenes of the show that were posted on YouTube back on 4/12?

[buddynusa]

During the 4-19-07 performance of INVINCIBLE SUMMER featuring Mike Daisey at the American .ummmm boston globe says they talk with the school ,Mike says he talk to Cindy L. the following day the 20th. and the water man .all on this on the 4-20-07 but you post on youtube During the 4-19-07 performance over 80 Christian high school why when you knew who it on the 19th and for sure on 4-21-07 something is not adding up

[cryan71]

And if you look at the Pentagon post 9/11 you'll see hole. Any other conspiracy theories you want to spout?

[mdaisey]

The video was posted at the same time as my blog entry, on the 20th--you can check Google's caches to confirm that.

[buddynusa]

mike is fake he knew the kids were age 14 to 17 . before he post this video . he jnew they were from norco high school also , but his hates christain so much he calls them a christain group. he knew it was not .hope to see you on HBO just dont think i will

[cryan71]

Drink the kool-aid. Drink it. What a mindless robot. Listen to the video dipship-- there's someone saying they are a christian group. Nice try on bearing false witness, but we are all calling you idiots on it.

[elvisatemydonuts]

Mike Daisey is a fat, dickless whining little girl. So totally pathetic. What a little bitch.

[msiman]

An artist does NOT need to temper his material because there are teenagers in the audience (who undoubtedly see and hear much worse on radio, tv, and the internet). If the chaperone wanted to show his disgust over vularity, he should have headed over to the MTV studios and started there. He could find all the mindless, insipid, vuglar, base crap he imagine to destroy there.

[Tweaver500]

oh yes, I often hear about F----ing Perris Hilton on t.v. and radio. Get real the guy likes to cuss, I'm a trucker, I like to cuss; but if the majority of my audiance is teens, I wou ld tone my "art" down. Since when did the F---ing F--K word become F---ing art?????

[cryan71]

BS - if you don't want your kids to see a play that has cussing, don't take them. It's not the performers duty to change the play for some in the audience.

[Tweaver500]

My nephew was there! Mike, your show is weird, but ok for an adult audience. Mike knew their were 15-17 year old kids there that night, but did not tone down his "art" for the occasion. They were from out of town, and really didn't have a way of "checking out the show " before hand. Grow up mike! Bythe way, last time I checked, "Fucking Parris Hilton" has nothing to do with art.

[apauled]

Note that it wasn't a christian group, but a group of 15-17 y/o kids, with chaperones. I think the 'Christian' part of it is because a large part of the group is Christian, obviously this lead to the generalisation that it was a christian group.

[elvisatemydonuts]

Mike Daisey is a fat, dickless whining little girl. So totally pathetic. What a little bitch.

[cryan71]

Ah, I get it-- is this the talking points you were handed? Is Norco a community of Robots?

[cryan71]

The only people that were cheated and deceived were the other audience members who were deprived of a night at the theater. Asking Mike to change content based upon who was in the audience is beyond silly. It's like going to Avenue Q and informing the box office that you are offended by masterbation jokes, so please cut a few numbers from the show. The person who sold them the tickets said they were warned and they were warned twice.

[liquidair5]

way to make an ass of yourself Norco High

[moeshadafisha]

Have any of you read what he posted on his website? He makes himself the poor blameless victim of an act of violence. All this guy wants is attention, and you're all giving it to him.He's gonna milk this thing as long as he can, and he wasn't even that funny.

[cryan71]

I guess you would say the same thing about assault victims -- all they want is attention.

[apauled]

Assault victims endure much greater violence then he did.

[apauled]

@cryan Just realised what you ment. At first I couldn't understand how he was "assaulted", but then realised that his work was a close part of him. If you understand art you'd know what i'm talking about :-D

[Evecaura]

I didn't read all the comments, so I am sorry if this has already been said. The school in question is NOT a Christian school. In fact, it's a public school from Southern California, not Northern. I graduated from there a few years ago and read about this incident in the local paper. Yes, the teacher is Christian and that has always been well known. However, the Choir is NOT a Christian group and has had many different religions in it.

[haptotrope]

Mike Daisy is my new hero. Seriously.

[cryan71]

Even bigger bs. You can hear on the video someone telling Mike in background that its because they are Christians. The person in the box office with multiple witness verified that Norco was warned -- in fact if you read any advertisement or review you would have known it wasn't going to be the Lion King.

[Danthebutcherman666]

lol! what a bunch of self-rightous bigots. Mike Daisey is a funny guy. I thought he handled the situation maturely.

[scripley]

Don't feel too sorry for this theatre, or this performer: I guarantee you that ART and Mike Daisey are thrilled about this. Daisey is thinking, "This is the best thing that has ever happened to my career," and ART is thinking, "Free publicity! New subcribers!" By the way, it's illegal to video live performances at professional theatres (as designated by Actors' Equity Association), which probably means that someone at ART knew this was coming and taped it for this very (publicity) reason.

[mdaisey]

I record all of my shows, as they change from performance to performance--I don't need AEA to do that, as it is my own work, and there is a broad waiver for those performing their own work.

And I would much prefer this hadn't happened, and I had my original notes back, and my weekend back, and not have to remember the man who did it, and simply be doing my job. My career was doing very well before this, and I doubt it'll have anywhere near the effect people seem to ascribe to it.

[com501]

Mike, we applaud you on remaining very cool during what was probably a confusing turned scary thing for a few minutes. You certainly looked nonplussed! If it had been me, the water boy probably would have pulled back a stump. Good job! I telephone the district and voiced my concerns about their choices for chaperones.

[cryan71]

Warned people twice during a performance? Ever heard of an intermission? The teacher could have told the kids to leave quietly. Did the teacher instruct the one kid to dump water on the performers outline affectively stopping the show? The teacher should be fired for not researching the show beforehand. Lots of You need to stick to Annie (though that might be a little too adult for your innocent kids ears).

[apauled]

I don't think the person that dumped the water on the outline was one of the kids, he was one of the chaperones. So I don't think the teacher instructed anyone to dump the water, the guy that did it (disrespectively) chose to himself.

[cryan71]

I call bullshit. You are just trying to cover for what was obviously your mistake. Why don't you just be honest and admit you made a mistake? Lying, or bearing false witness, isn't Christian, Jewish or Muslim.

[dmanley22]

I couldn't tell...were the protesters wearing funny hats and buckles on their shoes? Fucking puritans.

[cryan71]

The person who bought the tickets was explicitly warned that there was adult language. They chose to ignore that warning. Should Broadway Show casts look at the audience first and change the content of a show because there might be some kids in the audience? What this Christian High School proved is that they are no Christians and that proper behavior in a theater has never been taught. True comedy? Like you have a right to judge that.

[nolanryan999]

That's F-in crazy.

[babsdude]

Amazing ... Did they not read a review? Did they not know what they were seeing? Did they just find out that some of the rest of the world (outside of their church doors) uses the "F" word? The chaperones were obviously given the opportunity by the amazingly in-the-moment Mike Daisey to discuss what was happening.

[Tweaver500]

Check your facts before you type. No church group here. Norco High School Chorus.

[Tweaver500]

My nephew was there, they WERE NOT WARNED that his "perfomance was so blue!" They were lead to believe that while it had some racy content, it wasn't any worse than what you would see on Comedy central etc. Obviously they were misslead. I think they propely exorsized THEIR freedom of expression by leaving. And it was obviously childish and wrong of the adult to poure water on mikes papers. But come on, can't anybody speak 2 words in public anymore that are not obsene?

[jayjayjay]

I just watched South Park where Cartman tried to have Butters give him a blowjob. They must only watch Comedy Central on Saturdays.