Queueing theory
MrM and I went to a comedy gig at 303 in Northcote last night, which was an interesting experience. The gig itself was excellent, and went for a lot longer than I expected: we didn't get out of there until just before midnight. There weren't enough seats, so MrM stood for the whole time. Being 8 months pregnant, there was no way I was going to be able to do that, but there were two short breaks between sets, during which I went and sat in the front bar. I felt guilty about playing the "pregnancy card" at a gig where I'm there by choice and everyone has paid for tickets - unlike on public transport, where I have no compunction about it - but the couple on the end of the back row were kind enough to let me sit down for some of the time, which I really appreciated. Ross Noble was the MC, and spent a lot of time onstage himself - at least an hour all up, and probably close to 90 minutes. And that suited me just fine, since I found him the funniest of the lot. Adam Hills was the final heaadline act, and his set went for an hour; the other three comedians (Mickey D, Lehmo, and Harley Breen) had much shorter sets - probably 15 -20 minutes each.
MrM heard about the gig from whyami on Friday, who said tickets were available on the door only and that people were meeting there about 7pm. We got there about 6.50 and the queue was already out the door of 303 and most of the way to the corner, so I jumped in line while MrM parked the car. why_am_i , therathasspoken and some other choristers (whose lj names I don't know) turned up at intervals over the next 45 minutes or so, and came and said hello, then added themselves to the end of the line.
I haven't been to a comedy show in a long time, much less one that requires queueing, and I'm not really sure of the ettiquette - to what extent is it appropriate to "hold places" for friends? MrM and I were talking about it on the way home in the car, and our feeling is that a less than 100% increase in group size is probably okay, but more than that is not fair on the others already waiting. I'd be interested to hear what others think... As it happened, the two ladies behind us in line had a third friend who joined them about 7.30, by which time the queue had extended around the corner. The newcomer joined her friends to make a trio, at which point the lady behind them said that she had the right to go in front of the three of them, and tried in fact to bring the two guys behind her in front as well - she seemed to think this was a normal arrangement when latecomers joined an existing queue. The trio didn't agree, and there was a bit of an argument, and the two guys ended up staying behind while the single lady went in front (directly behind us).
As it turned out, the single lady had reason to be concerned; MrM and I were the last people to be let in before they called full house, so neither she nor the trio got tickets. We felt bad that we were the only ones of our group to get in, especially since we'd decided to go pretty much on the spur of the moment rather than planning for and looking forward to the gig, but there was no way we could have got anyone else in - at least 100 people were turned away, and the lady on the door was being approached by stragglers with variations on "just one more" and "my friends are inside" for the 15 minutes from when we got in until the gig actually started.
MrM heard about the gig from whyami on Friday, who said tickets were available on the door only and that people were meeting there about 7pm. We got there about 6.50 and the queue was already out the door of 303 and most of the way to the corner, so I jumped in line while MrM parked the car. why_am_i , therathasspoken and some other choristers (whose lj names I don't know) turned up at intervals over the next 45 minutes or so, and came and said hello, then added themselves to the end of the line.
I haven't been to a comedy show in a long time, much less one that requires queueing, and I'm not really sure of the ettiquette - to what extent is it appropriate to "hold places" for friends? MrM and I were talking about it on the way home in the car, and our feeling is that a less than 100% increase in group size is probably okay, but more than that is not fair on the others already waiting. I'd be interested to hear what others think... As it happened, the two ladies behind us in line had a third friend who joined them about 7.30, by which time the queue had extended around the corner. The newcomer joined her friends to make a trio, at which point the lady behind them said that she had the right to go in front of the three of them, and tried in fact to bring the two guys behind her in front as well - she seemed to think this was a normal arrangement when latecomers joined an existing queue. The trio didn't agree, and there was a bit of an argument, and the two guys ended up staying behind while the single lady went in front (directly behind us).
As it turned out, the single lady had reason to be concerned; MrM and I were the last people to be let in before they called full house, so neither she nor the trio got tickets. We felt bad that we were the only ones of our group to get in, especially since we'd decided to go pretty much on the spur of the moment rather than planning for and looking forward to the gig, but there was no way we could have got anyone else in - at least 100 people were turned away, and the lady on the door was being approached by stragglers with variations on "just one more" and "my friends are inside" for the 15 minutes from when we got in until the gig actually started.