Good Luck, Babe!

Because of the belief that mischievous spirits lurk within the theatre, determined to ruin a good show, performers will never wish each other “good luck”. Instead, they will say something contradictory as a way to confuse the manic pixies and ideally yield a positive opposite result. Far from simply wishing another performer “bad luck,” which is much too basic for thespians, pre-show sayings include:

“Break a leg”

The overwhelmingly counter-intuitive “break a leg” is often used as well-meaning encouragement before a show. Initially, another way to confuse the theatre spirits, "break a leg" is now considered bad luck in some circles, or as the joke goes:

“Why do actors say break a leg?

Because every play needs a cast!”

“Merde”

The French word for excrement is commonly used as a way of wishing someone good luck in the theatre. Originating in 19th-century Paris, when audiences of the Paris Opéra Ballet would arrive in horse-drawn carriages, an excessive amount of horse manure outside the theatre would indicate a full house. “Merde” became shorthand to wish your fellow dancers a good show and packed audience.

“In Bocca al Lupo”

Italian for “in the wolf’s mouth,” saying, “in bocca al lupo’ began in Italian opera houses and theatres. Like “merde” and “break a leg”, saying “in bocca al lupo” and responding with “crepi il lupo” (“may the wolf die”) is another example of wishing something bad to ensure a good performance.

“Toi Toi Toi”

Also originating from the opera world, “Toi Toi Toi” is a German/Yiddish phrase meant to mimic the act of spitting and ward off evil spirits before a performance.

“Chookas”

Aussies are well-known for our ability to shorten most things, names and places to fit our colloquial charm. Think “Maccas” instead of McDonald's, “Tassie” instead of Tasmania and the need to put a vowel at the end of every name. Therefore “chookas” doesn’t seem like much of a stretch for our unique vernacular, especially when it originates from wishing your cast and crew a delicious chicken dinner. An expensive meal at the time, a bigger audience meant the performers would be better paid and therefore afford higher quality food ie. chicken. Chicken became chook and “chookas” was born.

As the wise Albus Dumbledore declared in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, “Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself.” Yet you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone brave enough to utter “Macbeth” in a theatre.

William Shakespeare’s 17th-century play Macbeth, has obtained legendary status for all the wrong reasons. Believed to be cursed, some people think Shakespeare used real dark magic and incantations for the witches’ spells, bringing on a legitimate jinx from a coven of witches. It doesn’t help that King James I, on who the play is overwhelmingly referring to, was obsessed with witchcraft and wrote his own book on the subject Daemonologie in 1597.

If you do find yourself saying the forbidden “Macbeth” while in a theatre, you must perform the following ritual to reverse the hex: Exit the theatre, spin around three times, spit, swear and then knock on the theatre door, or fear the wrath of King James, and your stage manager.

Potentially the most practical superstition (but with the spookiest name), leaving a light on in an empty theatre is considered good luck. Not only will a light source keep you from falling into the orchestra pit, but in the 19th Century when theatres were lit by gas lamps, leaving a light on during non-performance periods would have burnt off any excess pressure within the gas lines that could potentially cause an explosion. Others believe leaving a light on, wards off the theatre spirits who are up to no good when left to their own devices.