Midnight Showing
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Midnight Showing
I’m not a fan of the midnight showing. It’s not so much that no one ever wants to work it so I’m the only member of staff. Selling tickets, selling snacks, then I’ve got to go up to the projection room. All digital so I can just hit the go button and let it run now.
One reason why they don’t hire more staff, just enough so it will work if nothing goes wrong.
There’s two, maybe three sorts of client for the midnight showing and they don’t get on. One sort is the enthusiasts, the ones who want to see what we’re showing. They probably have a copy already – could watch it in high definition at home, with their surround sound, able to pause, rewind, in their own comfortable chair. Bless them for coming out and keeping these revivals going.
The second sort is the kids, out for a laugh. Newly allowed out for midnight. Kids I say, they’re eighteen at least. Even if the film isn’t we check for the midnight showings.
I’m the one who checks ages for the midnight showings, no one else ever wants to work them.
The kids are there for a laugh, to be with their friends, the novelty. Where the enthusiasts are the same ones coming, month after month, year after year, the kids are always changing, one class following another, but just the same, laughing, cheering, screaming, sometimes getting rowdy. Sometimes I have to go all old-fashioned and use the flashlight to get them back in their seats.
The third type, you’d expect them at Halloween, but not usually. Too many kids in costumes maybe, or enthusiasts having fun for once. It’s the quiet months they come out, January, February, and sometimes the height of summer. You can’t predict in advance.
Hey, they buy tickets, they show ID. I’m not saying that ghosts come to the midnight horror showings. I’m just saying it gets spooky there sometimes.
I’d like it a lot better if I weren’t on my own
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