Ghostbusters is a great film to enjoy at home. You can quote every line without anyone getting upset with you. (Unless your cat is a jerk.) It goes without saying that it’s even better on the big screen. You get great closeups of the PKE meter and other equipment/gear. No more straining your eyes to make out that Crunch bar either! But what makes Ghostbusters such a great candidate for Audience Participation (AP?) Well, if you’re kind of a purist, then….nothing. But who doesn’t love a quote-along? And trust us, AP is even more fun than that.
But just in case you need some encouragement…a gentle reminder, if you will…never fear, we’re going to give it to you. Today we introduce the first part in a multi-part series entitled “Possibilities in Audience Participation” You will probably see this referred to as PAP in the future, as we’re too lazy to write it out over and over again.
Possibilities in Audience Participation – Part One: Throwing Stuff
Without going into a long and storied history of AP, anyone with a cursory knowledge of pop culture knows about the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Probably you have a friend who has a friend who plays in the cast! The mother of all party screenings, the very start of AP, right here in the Big Apple. Creative and possibly irreverent but most undoubtedly dashing fans turned a critical bomb into a cult classic, and brought AP into being by yelling strategically timed lines at the screen and even using props! Never been to see Rocky Horror? Its no problem; their official fan page goes into detail on what to bring and when to throw it.
We here at Minions of Gozer are convinced that Ghostbusters brims, no, teems, with multiple possibilities for AP. Especially the kind you can throw. Respectfully. But with great joy. See if you can guess what you might want to bring to the theatre for this scene?
That’s right, your shoelaces! Wait. What? You never threw your shoelaces at the old librarian before? Not even to show her how much you liked her? Oh well, I suppose that was just us. No shoelaces then. But how about index cards? Affordable, accessible, and they make that clicking sound when you’re shooting them up into the air.
Next, we have a no-brainer.
Yay! Lets all throw marshmallows! Try and catch them with your mouth! He who catches the most gets diabetes! Or makes their pre-diabetes worse if they’re one of the minions (the one with high sugar.) Amazing!
And lastly, we’ll leave you with a little video!
We’ll let your imagination run wild. Until next time…..when we’ll cover call and response…have a great night and don’t forget to RSVP to our open (shadow)casting call!!!
stepping on churches since 1984 