Stage Door Dramas

I’d like to get some of you guys’ opinion on autograph hunters, if you do have any to share. I was on the fence about them up until I was in London last month, and now I don’t like them. (I nearly made a new thread but decided to just bump another.)

Long ramble ahead, you have been warned:

So there I was at the Nash with 5 blokes split into two groups; 3 to the left of me, 2 to the right. One out of the trio, who was bearded and of a large build, showed off this huge book/binder filled with actors’ headshots to his companions. I overheard them seeming to give each other tips on the best times to stage door for the best chance of catching a certain actor etc. I approached them and enquired who they were after. Beardy pointed to four people: Charles Edwards, John Sackville and Jonathan Slinger of Absolute Hell, and then a woman from either Nine Night or The Scottish Play. Alarm bells should’ve gone off that they hadn’t even set foot inside the Nash as Slinger had been indisposed for weeks. But still, the stupid naive child that I am, asked them if they’d seen the show, and ofc they all go “no”.

After I’d stumbled into a couple more people, inc Anne Marie Duff of The Scottish Play and another cast member from AH, Charles came out. He seemed to ignore the trio and head straight for me, maybe cos I was stood in the right place and just happened to be the first face to greet him or he’d recognised me, whatever. So we say hi and exchange pleasantries and all that lovely stuff. (I didn’t want anything off him btw, I just fancied a chat.) Over his shoulder, I could see the trio looking like a pack of hyenas ready to pounce on him at any given second, so I sort of said, “Oh sorry, I’ll let you let sign for these guys first” motioning towards the men, so I could get rid of them quicker. 

And then when CE had dealt with them, he turned back to me and I was about to resume our conversation when a 6th man (who was old and looked like a tramp, with an unsettling aura about him) came out of nowhere and sort of pushed in front of me, wielding a pile of maybe 7 or 8 DVD covers, and the poor bloke had to sign them all. Without a word of thanks or even an acknowledgement of appreciation, the old dude walked away. Well that was just splendid.

So do these people expect actors to come and give them their time when they themselves haven’t put the effort in to go see the show (the Nash is not expensive, in general) they’ve put their blood, sweat and tears into? Then they just pop these scribbles inside a drawer to gather dust or flog it on eBay for a quick buck? Yes, call me naive, but that’s just plain wrong. No wonder actors avoid the stage door or flat out refuse to sign stuff when you have gits like these swanning about, leaving genuine fans in the dust.

TL;DR: autograph hunters are, if these people are anything to go by, self-entitled, rude, and as tight as a duck’s backside who aren’t genuine fans and just expect actors to give up their time when they cba to give up their’s.

Most actors recognise these scroungers for what they are and avoid dealing with them if possible. 
They can be rude and aggressive ( I've been hit in the head with a clipboard) and for some unknown reason are always in need of a good wash!

At least these obvious autograph hunters- usually middle-aged males, usually wearing anoraks from September to June, usually holding clipboards- can be dealt with in a minute or two, and they’ll be more than satisfied with any bit of scrawl the actor’s prepared to scribble on whatever’s offered...

Far worse for the actor, I reckon, is seeing that ‘familiar face’, time and time and time again, and feeling that they’ve got to make polite conversation with them, and all the time having to smile.

I mean, once you’ve met your hero once, and told them how great they were, what more can you say...?

I find the whole ‘frequent fans’ thing far more questionable to be honest.

I believe the prevalence of ebaying autograph hunters is why a lot of actors ask who an item is to be signed for - it’s much harder to sell on something when it’s got someone’s name on it!

I think it was on the old forum I told the story of going to a book signing and one person turned up with a copy of every book the author had ever written, in a stack not much shorter than the person carrying it. I can't remember now whether she shot him a look that said "Seriously?" or actually said it out loud, but she was obviously unimpressed.

I also think it rules Barbara Cartland and Enid Blyton out!

I enjoy visiting the stage door and hunt for autographs (if I have visited a show)
I do have a few actors I have seen more often and I do bring gifts to some. Usually stuff from my country as they seem to enjoy that.
I even had an actor sending me a message once, when I send him a tweet I enjoyed the show, why I was not at the stage door after the show as he would have loved to catch up.
I do love watching maddness at the stage door too.

Lots of people constantly stage dooring in London are e-bay dealers, there are some autograph collectors who never go and see a play.

I actually got into going to the theatre from doing a bit of autographing so have a foot in both camps. I may occasionally get something signed at a play or musical I haven't seen but I probably see 95% of shows I graph at. For shows I don't see, it's often an odd completion I want on a programme etc or it might be at say RSC if I've seeing one show and maybe completing programme of the other show or going to see it in a few weeks time.

I've met a lot of collectors who think they are entitled to a signature but never see a show, don't know what a certain performer looks like. Wednesday matinees seems a popular day for them all to do the ins. Sometimes I've joined them if I'm seeing the show and then after the matinee I may be completing a programme but I'm the only one there. Performers have commented to me "At least you've seen it" or "Where did the rest of them go" etc.

I used to multiple stage door if I had days in London if there were big names there, I'd certainly see one show but might check out times of other shows and grab a programme for them. I'd always do my research about who signed and who didn't. I never did crazy stage doors but more niche performers I may like. Now I don't do London anymore as SD's seem to get crazier although the names in the West End aren't as big as they used to be IMO.

As someone who likes to get programmes signed, the NT ones have always been one of my pet hates too.

Totally agree, often an actor may sign the photograph of them and not their biog, so it is also hard to know who you have and haven't got especially with a large cast.

A similar experience happened when I went to a movie premiere a few months ago -- I was around the area and wanted to see Oprah in the flesh so went for a wristband for the A Wrinkle in Time premiere. Was very lucky to get in the pens and a decent enough position for the carpet for an autograph/selfie and made friends with other fans around me. However there was a really large group of men that fit bas1l's description with huge folders of headshots for the entire cast. Proper big burly bearded men!

Although La Winfrey did not grace our direction, the PR people at the premiere were doing lotteries for tickets to actually go in and watch the film with a lengthy cast Q&A beforehand. The autograph hunters won the lotteries and shouted 'nah we don't want it mate! we couldn't give a sh*t!' -- so they happily passed the winning chance to go in and see the film and be a few feet from Oprah over to me and the friends that I'd made!

I am extremely grateful to them for giving me the chance to have such a fabulous experience, yet I am always surprised that people can have the time and patience to do stage doors and premieres etc purely for economic reasons to sell on the signed merchandise and not out of fandom for the person they're waiting to see.