When you are a school kid playground fights are generally the spectator event of the year... Someone shouts "Fight! There is a fight at the gate!" and like eponymous warriors of the film Zulu kids would rush out and form a circle to watch the drama.
Of course, as adults this kind of thing doesn't/shouldn't happen. But, there was something alluring about a good fight.
I propose a novelty bar/pub (ideally decorated as an old 'Wild West' saloon) where every week or so a group of stuntmen stage an impromptu bar brawl
One of the actors starts a heated argument. At this point a stagehand would very quickly come along and cordon off their area of the bar so not to involve the public. That gives the green light to the combatants who will use all manner of stage props (like sugar bottles and balsa wood furniture) to have a convincing scrap.
The whole thing will end when the police/sheriff (actors!) arrive to sort out the mess. A team of cleaners then efficiently set up everything as before and make the table available to the public.
Addendum: You could have 'special guest' fighters...ie lookalike actors. Imagine the reaction of everybody when some guy looking like John Wayne, Bruce Lee or B.A. Baracus enters the saloon.-- Jinbish, Jul 22 2002 Anger management - the Chinese way http://news.bbc.co....pacific/5251952.stmNever mind balsa wood... [Jinbish, Aug 07 2006] An uncontested Bready comestible for you Senor Jinbish, I want to hear rinky-tink piano music in the background as well though :P-- The_Englishman_Abroad, Jul 22 2002 This would be far more convincing than anything the WWF(E) could come up with...and there would be more beer and less spandex.-- Jinbish, Jul 22 2002 I am all for more beer and less Spandex, though you might possibly be able to see your way to including the Rock in the theme bar! (only kidding :P)-- The_Englishman_Abroad, Jul 22 2002 Westworld?-- TwoSheds, Jul 22 2002 was a whole world whereas this is specifically a pub/inn I think its significantly different, beside westworld used robots and would be a WIBNI is posted here, this we however, could do! <brandishes a broken balsa beam> ggrrrrr-- The_Englishman_Abroad, Jul 22 2002 True T_E_A, Westworld is basically a futuristic extension of the theme park idea. You can go to any number of these where there are mock fights staged. It reads like this idea is based on that but in the High Street. Sounds like fun but would be better if the fights were real and involved the public. Come to think of it...that's my local.-- TwoSheds, Jul 22 2002 The Wild West was just an example. Alternatives could be Chicago speak easy maybe using tommy guns and squibs), British hooligans pub or Hells Angels bikers bar. It might not even need a theme. It just so happens that I think bar fights are synonymous with west saloons (and The Quiet Man).
[TwoSheds] - Ideally they would involve the public...I want to be involved. But I wanted some sense in the idea...too many legal/insurance issues and implications if untrained people get injured in my pub.-- Jinbish, Jul 22 2002 //there was something alluring about a good fight// In the movies perhaps, but try getting into a real bar fight some time. I don't think that this would work just in one location. After all, people would be expecting it and that takes the edge off of things. It would be better done as a touring 'performance art' thing so that nobody, except the bar owners, knows where it's going to happen on any given occasion.-- DrBob, Jul 22 2002 B.A: I pity th' foo that come a waltzin in heah. Sucka, don't touch my gold. Drink milk! Face! Where's face? How many times I gotta tell you, BA do'n fly on no airplane. Sucka, I gotta teach you a lesson. Dial 1-800-collect.-- Mr Burns, Jul 22 2002 You brazen hussie, you call that sorry excuse of pastry a croissant? I'll show you savoury...one sandwich de knuckles comin up!-- Jinbish, Jul 22 2002 This does sound like something I once saw at Knott's Berry Farm. There's no current info on the site, but Google's cache reveals the following: "Ghost Town's roughest and toughest cowboys meet daily in Calico Square for a stunt fight and shoot out to determine just who is the best in the west."
Besides, other than being set in a bar, in what way does this difference from a WWF performance?-- DrCurry, Jul 22 2002 DrBob has a very good point - me and my friends got bundled into the road outside a bar on Saturday, straight into the path of an oncoming taxi, as a fight spilled out from the pub onto the pavement. We weren't even in the bar, only walking past. Some people see something that 'looks like a good fight', and pile in to have a ruck just for the hell of it. I doubt you will find a bar owner will to risk his employer's liability insurance (or public entertainment licence) on some random performance artists.-- sappho, Jul 22 2002 Ho hum. The proposed idea is very different from a wwf performance - This is an impromptu bar fight in a pub, used as a gimmick to entertain punters. I had originally thought of the idea using punters rather than actors, the bar providing the sugarglass bottles etc. They could then have what amounts to a pillow fight. However, this would have horrible legal/insurance ramifications should anything go wrong and is unfeasible.
Next best thing is to have a surprise spectacle, where all precautions are used (cordons etc) to ensure public safety.
WWF is an event wherer hulking great spandex wearing men talk pre-scripted trash in a wrestling ring. they are occassionally involved in a mock wrestling match This currently goes under the banner of 'Sports Entertainment'.
[sappho] - I realise that it could invite trouble makers and insight violence, even with any precautions. I have also been involved in a pub fight before, my friend needed 6 stitches.It was thoroughly unpleasant. Point well made and taken.
Its not a perfect idea...its a half-baked idea.-- Jinbish, Jul 22 2002 Assuming the bar is big enough the fight scene could rotate around the tables, like crop rotation on a farm. The stuntmen/actors could wear different disguises in an attempt to fool the regulars.-- Del, Sep 28 2003 come to any bar bar in ireland at about 5 o clock in the after noon on St.Patricks day. eveyones been drinking for about 10 hours already ....youll find what your looking for-- sully, Apr 04 2004 No... that would be a real fight. I can quite easily find a real fight on any night of the year. You just have to know which pubs/bars to go into in Glasgow wearing the appropriate shade of blue or green.-- Jinbish, Apr 06 2004 It is my assumption that this would spawn "fake" fake fights where hooligans would come in and stage their own matches. With the popularity and the knowledge of what is supposed to happen, the crowds would be so large it would be hard to stop right away. One could even invite someone they don't like there and start a real one with them... I like the idea.-- decentcat, Apr 06 2004 Well, to be fair I was envisaging enough security and organisation to cover that scenario... but what the hell, a little audience participation never hurt anyone...-- Jinbish, Apr 07 2004 What happened? Well, I mentioned that my doctor had asked me for a specimen. Then he asked me what that was ...I told him, "Piss in a bottle".He said, "Fart in a jug". ... and all hell broke loose.-- dpsyplc, Apr 07 2004 Why not just let us fight each other, the most alluring prospect of a fight is the chance of knocking the crap out of someone.-- The Dark Lord Chuckles the Silly Piggy, Apr 07 2004 You'll need to issue all the spectators some safety goggles at the door (you could cleverly advertise them as "beer goggles"). Even flying glass sugar and balsa wood splinters can cause damage if you're caught in the face. + for you.
This would go over EXTREMELY WELL at one of those new Las Vegas Theme Hotel/Casino joints.-- Size_Mick, Apr 08 2004 Violence (even in a fake way) creates violence. It's really probable that after the show the mood in the bar would be set for a real fight. Not a good idea-- Mexican thinker, Apr 16 2007 random, halfbakery