Where To?
Spanner In The Works
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The
act begins subtly, with the waiters collecting glasses, emptying ashtrays, etc.
whilst our waitress serves spoof canapés of slices of carrot, banana, a jelly
baby and a hula hoop on a stick (Believe it or not, guests quite happily nibble
away, oblivious to what they are actually eating). The object at this point is to arouse a few guests' suspicions, but not enough for the cover to be blown. If requested, the wine waiter will call guests through for ...........Dinner. |
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As
guests enter the dining room, our background tape is quietly playing easy
listening sounds and cocktail jazz. At this point, for many guests, nothing
will yet seem amiss. The Spanner team will help show guests to their seats. This familiarises us with the guests and any requests, such as "Can I have a glass of water" are played straight. We then help place serviettes on laps, pour wine and serve bread rolls, all in a subtly questionable manner. |
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The starter is then served by the genuine venue staff and, whilst it is being eaten, the spanner staff remain in the room stood against the wall looking bored or wandering around checking people's progress and making the odd comment.
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Their strange behaviour becomes more noticeable, for example, our waitress will start searching on the floor for her supposedly missing contact lens. (at one venue 20 guests got on their hands and knees, each scouring a section of carpet and, another kind gentleman fetched a torch from his car.) |
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At the end of starter the more astute guests will have begun to realise that all is not as it seems. The team becomes more obvious with, amongst other things, plates stacked in an unusual way, knives and forks slipped into pockets, unusual wine offered (their own printed labels), e.g. Le Crappeaux Rouge or White Shite. |
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Enter
the friendly maintenance man complete with toolbox and step ladders. It is at
this point that the gags are obvious and highly visible, leaving guests in no
doubt they have been set up. Guest begin to point fingers at the organisers, discuss what they have witnessed, and start looking out for what's going to happen next. We are then able to interact with guests and the Spanner performance is now in full flow. |
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Throughout the main course guests are entertained by a non-stop stream of one-liners, ridiculous props, impromptu head massages, fashion tips, DIY, whilst the drunken waiter tries his hand at cartooning guests, the maintenance man seizes the opportunity to astound each table with crap magic tricks and our unusual antics continue. Also, the jazz and easy listening is interspersed with such crowd pleaser as The Teddy bears Picnic, Two Little Boys and a repeated announcement for a taxi for Dave. |
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The fun continues, reaching a climax with our workman drilling under a table, the infamous Sweet Trolley being wheeled out to collect used plates, offering a novel way to dispose of any leftovers and the wine waiter keeling over and being carried out. |
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It is insisted that an announcement is made at the end of coffee, either by us or ideally the organiser, to exonerate the venue and their staff from the unusual service, followed by a few words from the Spanner crew and the sing-a-long classic 'Delilah' is then performed in our inimitable fashion. |
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Helpful Information In our experience, the fewer guests that know their function
has been infiltrated the better.
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