My Routine at Medieval Times Part II

Once I've hung up my guard tunic, stowed my fake chainmail hood and put away any weapons I took to do guard duty, I head to my spotlight tower. There are four spotlight towers in the show arena, one for each corner of the arena. The towers are approximately 15 feet up. You climb a metal ladder into your tower. Once you're in your tower, you step from the ladder to the tower platform. You have to be careful at this point as a mis-step could result in a nasty fall. Once you're on the platform, you lower a metal plate over the opening so the platform is completely closed. Then, you get things organized on the platform for the show.

The first thing you do is turn on your spotlight. There is a power switch on the side of the spotlight which you flick then, you press an ignitor button right next to it. The spotlight will slowly come on. The second thing you do is don your headsets. The headsets help all the spotlight operators communicate with each other. Once the operator has donned their headsets, they'll check in by saying their name and the spotlight their on. Another important aspect of the headsets is that they enable the operators to hear the person calling the cues. There are certain times when specific spotlights have to be on specific knights or acts. The cues are the points when the operators has to open the shutter on their spotlight to highlight the knight or act or when the operator needs to close the shutter on the spotlight. The last thing the spotlight operator will do is set a chair for themselves. There are set points in the show where the spotlight operators stand down. The chairs give them something to sit on while they wait for the next cue.

If all goes according to plan, the show will last 2 hours or less. Once the show is over, all the spotlight operators turn off their spotlights and put their headsets back on the bar where they were before. At this point, I may end up doing one of three things. I may go to wardrobe to collect all the headsets that were used by the showcast. I may go back to the sound and lighting booth, don my castle guard costume and go to the dungeon to collect passes from those wanting to enter the dungeon. Or, I may take out the trash from the booth if the trash can is filled up. Once I've completed any of these tasks, I'll head back to the changing room. There, I'll change into my regular clothes. After I'm dressed, I drop off my costume at wardrobe. They'll launder the fake chainmail shirt, hood and hose. The Sound and Lighting booth is my last stop before I clock out. I drop off my boots there. By storing them there, I don't have to keep them in my car and I don't have to worry about forgetting to bring them to the castle. While at the booth, I may double check the schedule to see when I have to work at the castle again. Once I'm all finished at the booth, I clock out and head home.

That gives you an idea of what my days are like Medieval Times. It's fun working there. It's one of the few places where you can get paid for playing castle guard and using a fake English accent. It can also be a pleasure dealing with the customers. A lot of the folks that come to the castle are pretty nice. It's neat to see the small kids dressed up as knights or princesses. Sometimes, we'll get adults dressed up in Medieval or Renaissance garb. That can be pretty cool too. Cheers all!