Term of the Day: janky

 janky--extremely poor quality. "The props from the regional theater rental show were quite janky."

Term of the Day: poking the bear

 poking the bear--to provoke a stagehand known for explosive responses or tantrums. "I wouldn't wake that old timer up. It is better to avoid poking the bear."

Term of the Day: canary in a coal mine

canary in a coal mine--when someone or something indicates that there is a change of mood in the theater.  "When the young ASM is uptight, that is a good sign that the PSM is on the warpath. She's like a canary in the coal mine."

Term of the Day: big muckity-mucks

big muckity-mucks--important people, VIPs. Can be sarcastic.

Term of the Day: too many brains on stage

too many brains on stage-- when there is a crisis during production or during the load-in, and several self-proclaimed geniuses are clustered around to problem solve, it may be better to stand back. "There are too many brains onstage," said the modest stagehand. "I'm going to wait right here 'til they are done."

Term of the Day: grabby

grabby--adjective describing a head who claims jurisdiction on things outside his/her department.

Term of the Day: a white whale

 a white whale--an obsession that may end up destroying you. "I hate that guy...I have been trying to make sure he doesn't get his card time. It's become my white whale." This is a reference to "Moby Dick."

Term of the Day: make a hole

make a hole-- move out of my way. When moving through a group of stagehands, you say this to get them to move.

Overheard Stagehand Line: "God left Broadway years ago."

Stagehand #1: "The shop fucked up again. They forgot to send controller cables. God willing, they will come on the next truck."

Stagehand #2: "There is no God on Broadway. God left Broadway years ago."

Term of the Day: death of a thousand cuts

death of a thousand cuts--when the person calling the shots, maybe a head or a PSM, keeps changing their mind, harping on small details or adding new tiny responsibilities on a long-running show. The "death of a thousand cuts" was a 10th century Chinese execution method where a prisoner was dismembered while still alive over the course of hours or even days.

Term of the Day: prop and dump

prop and dump-- when an advance prop person props a show, sets it up during production and hands it off to the house prop person.