The Virgin's Guide to Rocky Horror - Part 3

Part 3 - Audience Participation Lines

Audience Participation apparently dates back to a show during the 1970's in New York, and has been custom ever since.  In addition to dressing up and singing along, members of the audience talk back to things the actors say. At first glance, audience members shouting at the cast may seem confusing and rude. Here is everything you need to know about shout back lines!

No shout-back lines are carved in stone. New ones are invented from show to show and old ones which were maybe funny thirty years ago but not now are discarded. Here are some things I noticed people yelling at the last stage show I attended:

- Classically, when the Narrator says Brad Majors's name, people in the audience yell "Arsehole!" This is always funny, but not if you yell it when the name is mentioned by other characters or during songs. Then it's just annoying.

- Similarly, when the Narrator said Janet Weiss's name, people used to yell "Slut". But at the last show I attended, and this was the first time I've heard it used, people yelled "WEISS!" after Janet's name, because Brad later pronounces it wrong like "vice". This is certainly funny to yell after Brad gets it wrong, but I'm not sure I like it when the Narrator says it right, a classic example of how new lines are invented but are not always funnny.

- Rocky used to be called a "Pokemon" but that isn't very fresh anymore and didn't get many laughs at the last show at all. Let it die!

- After the narrator says "I would like, if i may" during his first entrance, most people yell "You may!", to which he usually replies "Thank you." It's not particularly funny unless you're there, in which instance the atmosphere of getting involved is just great!

- The response which got the most laughs at the last show I saw was after the narrator said "Brad and Janet had just tasted..." Before he could say "Forbidden fruit", a crude member of the audience yelled "Frank's cock!" which got many laughs. Bless him, Gerard Kelly who was playing the narrator handled it very well and yelled back "Well I was going to say 'forbidden fruit' but if you want Frank's cock!", to which a girl yelled "Yes please!" getting further laughs.


The crucial thing about audience particpation is that it should compliment the show, not disrupt it. Some people choose to be very, very rude and this isn't always funny. Don't yell stuff out just for the sake of hearing your own voice. Don't try to be the loudest or the most frequent yeller - you'll just interupt the show and piss everyone off. Great shout-back lines are hillarious and can sometimes even cause the actors to giggle. Bad shout-back lines are just annoying and disruptive. Don't shout things during the songs - people are singing along, so it isn't funny! And don't shout anything during the takeover scene where Riff Raff kills first Columbia and then Frank and Rocky. It's a touching and dramatic scene, and I've seen it ruined by idiots who shout rubbish.

Shout back lines are only funny if they're well-timed, appropriate, and (crucially) funny in the first place.

Look out for The Virgin's Guide Part 4 - Costumes!