Sunday
So last Sunday I was downtown, meeting my friend Laurie. We were going on one of those Ghost Tours of the Village. I was walking down 14th (?) Street around 2nd Ave. and I pass by a salon. Guess who I saw in the window?
The tour was not very good, BTW. The guy who did it called himself "Dr. Phil"--he was this doughy guy who dressed and looked like the Penquin, with a top hat and tails, and he walked extremely slowly between the various locations which caused *me* to be very cold. In that kind of weather, I need to move. He had this terrible, nasal, rote delivery, which is the absolute kiss of DEATH (so to speak) for any kind of historical tour--especially a ghost tour. You have to love what you're talking about, and communicate that to your audience. And in Washington Square Park, there are HUNDREDS of bodies buried beneath...it used to be a potter's field during one of the yellow fever pitbreaks. Just IMAGINE visiting here late at night..and thinking of who could be buried beneath your feet! They need actors who love history for these tours, not bland academicians. (I say this with a grain of salt, as he was pretty skimpy with the facts. He mentioned the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, and I had to fill Laurie in on that event, since he didn't seem to know much.) And he kept pimping for tips--annoying.
Afterward Laurie and I went to McSorley's, one of the locations we visited. We wanted to have a beer and sat down--immediately this guy who worked there, an older Irish guy, sat down at our table and took over the conversation. I'm not kidding. He sat down and just started talking to us and from time to time he would get up to do something for the bar, and then come back. He was nice enough (and he did buy us several rounds) but I didn't really realize until after I'd left how annoyed I was. Laurie and I never really got a chance to talk bcause every time he sat down, he would take over the conversation.
The tour was not very good, BTW. The guy who did it called himself "Dr. Phil"--he was this doughy guy who dressed and looked like the Penquin, with a top hat and tails, and he walked extremely slowly between the various locations which caused *me* to be very cold. In that kind of weather, I need to move. He had this terrible, nasal, rote delivery, which is the absolute kiss of DEATH (so to speak) for any kind of historical tour--especially a ghost tour. You have to love what you're talking about, and communicate that to your audience. And in Washington Square Park, there are HUNDREDS of bodies buried beneath...it used to be a potter's field during one of the yellow fever pitbreaks. Just IMAGINE visiting here late at night..and thinking of who could be buried beneath your feet! They need actors who love history for these tours, not bland academicians. (I say this with a grain of salt, as he was pretty skimpy with the facts. He mentioned the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, and I had to fill Laurie in on that event, since he didn't seem to know much.) And he kept pimping for tips--annoying.
Afterward Laurie and I went to McSorley's, one of the locations we visited. We wanted to have a beer and sat down--immediately this guy who worked there, an older Irish guy, sat down at our table and took over the conversation. I'm not kidding. He sat down and just started talking to us and from time to time he would get up to do something for the bar, and then come back. He was nice enough (and he did buy us several rounds) but I didn't really realize until after I'd left how annoyed I was. Laurie and I never really got a chance to talk bcause every time he sat down, he would take over the conversation.