What Your People Call Monkey Butt, My People Call Gig Butt.

I was on the bus last night, most of the way asleep in front of my video game, listening to a conversation between a couple of the other roadies.

"Pulling the snake back to video village at load out seems like a good idea, but it always seems to kluge us."

"Well, we just have to convince Sean to stop being a gig hero and get him some hands to pull it back proper."

Video village? Kluge? Gig hero? We have a whole little land of terminology out here on the road. A blend of theater terms, film and television, and stuff that just sort of sticks over the years. Before my buddy Phil passed away (he had cancer), he was working for Walt Disney Imagineering and would tell me about how people would basically fight to have the right to come up with an name and cool acronym for a new thing. He used to regale me with a story of two lighting designers practically coming to blows to name a spotlight for the new submarine ride at Tokyo Disney Seas. I believe GAS (Guest Activated Spotlight) was the loser. I don't remember the winner.

So with that, I thought I'd give you folks some of the more interesting and colourful terms we use out on the road. In no particular order, just as they come to mind...

Gig - Very common term, can mean almost anything on the road. For the most part, it means job. "I got a gig as the LD for Blue Man Group," or "I'm not pushing that case, it's not my gig."

Gig Hero - Someone who goes above and beyond the call, often to their own detriment. Often used in a derogatory way. "If he stopped being the gig hero and getting some help, he wouldn't have a bad back," or "If you see the set cart tipping over, don't be a gig hero and try to stop it, get out of the way!"

Kluge (pronounced "klooj") - To tie up in terms of movement. "I couldn't get to the room because somebody kluged the entrance with a pile of cable," or "You'll kluge the load out if you put that case on the truck first."

20 (pronounced, "twenty") - Term borrowed from old CB radios, used to question location. Fred -"Hey Hank, what's your 20?" Hank -"I'm in catering."

Texas Road Case - Cardboard box.

English Velcro - Electrical tape. Often used to band together rolls of cable, where velcro would be more economical.


Brick or Leash - your walkie talkie. "I left my brick on the bus," or "I'm going off campus, I've got my leash if you need me."

Deck - Refers to the stage. "The deck will be at 6 feet from the floor."

Floor - The actual floor of the building. "The stage is 6 feet from the floor."

Rig - 1. The stuff in the air for holding the lighting fixtures. This includes all the truss, pipe and all the lights themselves. 2. The act of hanging the motors used to hang the equipment in the air. "The rigger will rig in the morning so we can hang the rig at lunch."

Front of House or FOH (Pronounced Ef-Oh-A-ch) - Where I sit. The position usually in the middle of the audience where sound and lighting are controlled from.

Video Village - Position off stage, sometimes in a separate room, where all video control and signal feeds too and from.

Dimmer Beach - Position off stage, usually upstage right on the floor, where all electricity and control signal for the lighting rig feeds to and from.

Monitor World - Position off stage, usually downstage left on the floor or a wing of the deck, where all the sound control for the stage and performers feeds too and from.

The Pit - Area at the front edge of the stage in the audience. Often isn't seated, so the crowd stands.

Squint - Lighting crew member.

Noise boys or hum heads - Sound crew member.

Vidiot - Video crew member.

Backline - refers to the person and equipment used on stage by the musicians themselves. This includes the musical instruments, amplifiers, cable, computers, anything that helps the band make noise.

Sparky - The electrician for the venue who hooks up all power, including shore power for the buses and washer and dryers. "Can someone send the sparky to the dock to hook up the dryer?"

Tripe - Banding of a number of cables together that all run to the same place. Helps with load in and load out, only having to run one fat cable instead of 3 small ones. "The tripe for the blue truss has both power and data."

Snake - the tripe of cable that goes out to the FOH position from the stage. Contains power and control cables. Each department has it's own snake.

Snake hole - Worst invention ever. A hole that runs from the stage to FOH that you have to pull the snake through. At the end of the night, this hole is often full of beer, soda and nacho cheese. Not fun.

Noodling - When the musicians come on stage and just start playing nothing in particular, and then start twisting knobs on the effects boxes, or tuning their instrument. Basically useless busy work by musicians or anyone general. "He can't stop noodling on the guitar," or "The designer keeps noodling with the lighting rig."

Echo chamber - Bathroom. Called that because when you are talking on your leash, you echo. "I'm going to the echo chamber to release the kracken."

Mel - How does one define Mel? One cannot. Mel is Mel, and don't you forget it.

And Finally...

Gig Butt - As defined by the Urban Dictionary (I'm cutting and pasting a definition) - A painful rash that occurs around your buttocks when working/walking in a hot climate for extended periods of time. Diagnosis can be determined by evaluating symptoms such as redness, swelling and itchiness.


I'm sure there's a ton more, but this is a good start. So if you find yourself out on the road touring, you'll know what the squints, noise boys and vidiots are talking about.