Mini Rant---SM T-shirts and products

[RuthNY]

There's been a proliferation lately of products for the Stage Manager, among others, T-shirts. While it is fun to see our profession immortalized on clothing, mugs, and bags, etc., I have a problem with most of the the designs I've seen, and that is that the sayings on them either aggrandize us, or insult our colleagues. We are not Gods with all the answers nor are our colleagues lazy or stupid.  I know it's all in good fun, but I have yet to find one I would actually wear--one that identifies what I do without insulting my actors or other co-workers, and one that doesn't make it seem like my ego is huge, and I think I'm above everyone else based on my job title. Neither of those two extremes work for me, and both are dangerous in a professional setting.  Does anyone actually ever purchase and wear these things?

[MatthewShiner]

I agree as well - I find the recent series of t-shirts to be a little offensive.

But, it goes against my style of stage management - but maybe it really does apply to certain people and their style.

To each his own . . .

[On_Headset]

The only people I've seen wearing dickish SM gear (and, yes, I think "dickish" is the right word for the sort of "I AM GOD, TREMBLE BEFORE ME, HA HA HA" stuff you're describing) are high school students and community-theatre types.

[Tempest]

I'm not a big t-shirt person, though I might go for a coffee mug with the "Already Calm - I'm the Stage Manager." I don't think that's "dickish," though the "Keep Calm" thing has become way overused.

[PSMKay]

A real SM's mug would be a mini carafe, spill proof and thermally insulated, with a dot of glow tape at the lip and "Stage Manager (who else would have this mug?)" written on it in sharpie.

The thing is, the people who buy these things are as OH said - young kids looking to show crew solidarity and promulgate the onstage/backstage divide that's so common in high school and community theatre. Vendors cater to the marketplace. Pros are more likely to make their own gear or get their branding on something very discreet, like a flashlight or a pen.

[On_Headset]

Oooooh, and that raises a whole other interesting point.

We aren't the market, are we.

I have a friend who is now in her third year of teaching at the K-12 level, and she's suddenly up to her neck in teacherly gear (book bags, bumper stickers, t-shirts, "Keep Calm And Do Grading" posters, etc.), none of which she buys for herself. But now that she's a teacher, any time someone has to buy her a gift, and isn't quite sure what to get her... well, hey, here's a darling little bookbag with an apples-and-chalkboards motif. What could be more perfect for a teacher--right?

The market for these products isn't necessarily us; it's the person who knows her distant cousin who she sees twice a year is a stage manager, and has to buy her something, and on the other end of a Google search for "stage manager gifts", look! Coffee mugs! Oh, on_headset would just love that, wouldn't she!

[nick_tochelli]

I have a couple pieces of SM gear but as previously mentioned by others, they were gifts. Now, my wife who bought them for me is smart enough to not get anything horribly offensive. One of them became my favorite tech week T-shirt and it said "I'll sleep when we're open."

Not even SM related. It brings about unity as we're all frappin' tired. The other one was the Stage Manager's prayer and I got that more because I'm a crabby paddy and it ends with a line about how I should be able to hide bodies where no one can find them. But that's a poster and I would never bring that to work with me.

[KMC]

Interesting thread.  I wonder if it's also helped by the recent surge in internet listicles utterly devoid of any real content that you see on sites like Buzzfeed and other internet wastelands  ("21 signs you went to X state university". "15 things only X people would understand").

Meant for a cheap "me too!" and nothing more.  That said, nobody would make it people didn't buy it, so someone is buying this crap. 

[XanderQCall]

I found this thread quite interesting which prompts me to just throw it out there: What would your ideal SM T-Shirt be if you could make one?---GO!!

"Hold please."

[On_Headset]

My ideal Stage Management t-shirt is black.

That's... that's it. Just black, thanks. 

[PSMKay]

The only places I'll wear T-shirts with printing on them is to the gym or doing yardwork. I actually stopped volunteering at a place because they required their volunteers to purchase and wear imprinted gear when working public events. I think it looks sloppy and unprofessional.

[MarcieA]

I found this thread quite interesting which prompts me to just throw it out there: What would your ideal SM T-Shirt be if you could make one?---GO!!

"Hold please."

I had a shirt that says this. Someone made it/had it made as a gift for me years ago. It was lost in a move years ago. Devastating.

[iamchristuffin]

Surely that would be better on a mug?!

[PSMKay]

Good point. One asks a simple favor while the other requires buying dinner first.

[RuthNY]

"Hold, please." A terrific double entendre for an SM. I like it!

I found this thread quite interesting which prompts me to just throw it out there: What would your ideal SM T-Shirt be if you could make one?---GO!!

"Hold please."