Yondr... Put your phone away!

Technology exists to block mobile phone signals. It should be installed in every theatre.

That would be illegal in the UK.

I was at a recording of the Late Late Show with James Corden last year. While we were waiting outside they told us that this show they were about to record was special and we were asked to leave our phones in the car. We didn’t have a car so they literally confiscated our phones in exchange for a piece of paper. When the show finished they had two tables full of phones laid out and handed them back to people. Everybody could have just grabbed them and run... I would rather have had a pouch like that at the time.

What was that all for btw? For a „special performance“ of BTS... I wouldn’t have filmed that anyway...

If they ensured that it didn’t slow down the exit from the theatre I would agree to use it but I would not give up my smart watch. It’s monitoring some health data that is important and I always put it into theatre mode so it won’t light up anyway. So phone yes, watch, not so much...

It might be a bit late to change the law. Everyone would start screaming about "What if I need to update Facebook? What am I supposed to do? Wait?"

The UK's laws on radio are weird. For example, it's perfectly legal to own a radio receiver capable of receiving any frequency you choose (and it's not like they could prevent it, because it's easy enough to build one yourself), but you can't use it to listen to anything that isn't a broadcast signal. There's no way of knowing if someone's breaking the law, but it's illegal all the same.

Theatres really need to make better announcements re phones too and make it known they can't be used.

Last night at Six the 2 ushers walked up and down the sides of the theatre with their little laminates like a pair of deaf mutes. Open your mouths people, not everyone is looking at you.

The girl in front of me STARTED texting after the lights went down and I said 3 times rather loudly 'turn off your phone'.

Nothing...she didn't give a sh*t. She was still going after the 'divorced...beheaded...' section had started.

Her Mother did nothing...

Surely no court in the land would've convicted me for decapitating her with a Six program?

Having been involved with discussions regarding blocking mobile phone signals in another field in the UK, the way it was explained to me is that this is illegal in the UK as the technology interferes with the frequencies used by emergency services.

It may well be that France use a different system for their emergency services.

Of course, the processes for implementing new laws in the UK are going to be tied up for years to come with another ongoing issue. Changing the laws on blocking phone signals is never going to be a priority. A lot of schools would love to be able to do that.

I believe the Yondr case has been designed not so much to prevent people from taking calls, as - perhaps in an ideal world - people would normally be expected to switch their phones off or into flight mode, such that they cannot ring or vibrate during a performance. 

By contrast, I believe Yondr cases have been designed - and are being used on Broadway right now - with the aim of preventing people from going online during a performance.  This is both so:
a) people don't go sharing copyrighted material or, in the case of an improv show like Freestyle Love Supreme, material that is created there and then and the value of which lies also in that it is unique and unrepeatable; and
b) people can stay focussed on what is happening live before their eyes instead of being distracted by the online world. 

Reason b) may perhaps look silly to many of us who haven't grown up with a cell phone, but it is pretty significant for the younger generations who at times seem to be inseparable from their phones and social media. 
Years ago I attended a Mumford and Sons concert where they were premiering some songs ahead of the release of their third album, and we had to leave our phones with the FOH staff before going in.  It was remarkable how much closer attention everybody was paying to the music being played and how closer the engagement with the band was, as nobody could give in to the temptation to video a song or the like.  

Having attended a performance of Freestyle Love Supreme earlier this year, I can just say that it was a super smooth and quick procedure, both going in and leaving the auditorium, and if that can prevent those"could you please turn it off?" directed to your neighbor who is suddenly feeling the urge to check their Insta account or tell their Facebook friends what they're seeing or who the special guest on stage is... I actually see a good deal of positive about it.  

Do you know what, where I work we are not allowed to have our phones on us unless on breaks - and so far no-one has died from this! People are capable of going for far longer than the time of a show without them so why not have them completely banned in theatres. I for one love the idea of seeing a concert without someone else's arm in the air in front of me desperately recording the show, also why on earth they want to then listen to all the out of tune audience members singing along via their computer is a little beyond me. If you're so important that you HAVE to be reached no matter what and it can't wait 90 minutes or so then you really probably shouldn't be there anyway.