Mikey Posted December 15, 2003 Share Posted December 15, 2003 Does anyone know the origins of the term 'To West Coast a Cloth' The practice of a number of bodies spreading out below a cloth or gauze, flying in the cloth, gathering it up and tieing it to the bar or around the cloth to 'sausage' it into a bag.We reckon it has nautical origins, you see sails on ships tied up in a similar way. Does anyone have any other terms for this practice?Ta! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robloxley Posted December 15, 2003 Share Posted December 15, 2003 My hazy recollections of sailing a square-rigger include buntlines and gaskets, used when furling the sails up out of use, but maybe someone has the terminology better at their fingertips!Haven't heard the phrase West Coasting though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
death-of-fleas Posted December 27, 2003 Share Posted December 27, 2003 As far as I'm aware it's an American term. So it could be from anywhere then. How about Tormentors and Teasers? Which one is English and which is American? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gareth Posted December 27, 2003 Share Posted December 27, 2003 How about Tormentors and Teasers? Which one is English and which is American?Tormenors = English. Teasers = American. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smeggie Posted December 27, 2003 Share Posted December 27, 2003 as far as I know, the practice you have described is known as reefing the cloth. this term is only the nautical one though - I haven't heard of any other term for such practices. it could be used to store a kabuki drape for a long time or to keep a cloth out of the way for the entire run of a show. another thing could be to use it for a cheap snow release, or not. have never heard the expression to west coast' though.cheersandrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Robertson Posted December 28, 2003 Share Posted December 28, 2003 Tormentors and teasers In my humble opinion Tormentors (Eng) are (movable) vertical pieces at the pros and a Teaser (USA) is, as well as the above, the first border behind the pros (usually no. 1 bar) which 'teases' the audience in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
techwsussex Posted December 29, 2003 Share Posted December 29, 2003 as far as I know, the practice you have described is known as reefing the cloth.It is called reefing, the same as curtains that gather folded at the pros are called reefers. We've got one. Owen PS.Useful if you've no flying space Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ynot Posted October 18, 2009 Share Posted October 18, 2009 How about a bit of serious thread necromancy... ;) Just back from a load-out and the topic of West Coasting the cloths came up. I vaguely recalled this discussion here and said that as far as my memory served it was something to do with an American term - being coined on the west coast of the states. But there's a house casual who is a Merkain himself and having worked venues on both sides of the continent he said he'd never heard the term used... However, later, in the crew room, one of the other guys said that it had been coined by a couple of Cameron Mackintosh's touring stage techs who - after dropping several cloths this way, and not knowing what to call the manouvre, decided "Hey, we're on the west coast, so that's what we'll call it...!"Now, this is hearsay, and I have no way to verify, but I'll open the topic for further discussion/analysis... :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonathanhill Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 Apparently 'westcoasting' is a Phil Large-ism, the method was 'invented' at the West Coast Cafe in Blackpool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Kronman Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 "Westcoasting" has been around as long as I can remember and was the term used when I started out in the 1980's. Nobody new where the term came from then and I recall asking the older union guys in IATSE local 22 in Washington DC the same thing. One of the great mysteries of theatre? BK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chiefy Posted October 27, 2009 Share Posted October 27, 2009 I recall an ageing rock and roller explaining this term to me some years ago, I think it went something like this... When you tour around the states there are various grid heights (like anywhere else in the world I suppose!) but the grid heights across the west coast were particularly lower than anywhere else, so the crews would bundle up the cloths at grid height in order for the cloth not to gather up on the floor. When the cloth was taken down it was then bundled into a sausage shape in order for the next fit up to go a little quicker. As I said I was told this a number of years ago so might have some of the story wrong, but that's my 10p's worth!... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indyld Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 Must be time to drag up this thread again. With an additional usage that I haven't heard before. Currently having an email conversation with a US friend about the different uses of "West Coasting", which never seems to mean the same thing twice in a row. To me, the practice is for the crew to spread along underneath a cloth, hold arms out and collect it as it flies in, before tying it off to the bar (say, every third tie, like reefing) and/or bag it, and/or sausage it up and (sometimes) remove it from the bar altogether. My US source says that he has recently heard it used as in 'West coast that loom straight into the box' which meant, as it sounds, dropping a loom straight into the box as it flies in. Another usage for the archives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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