Friday the 13th

[Tricky]

Yep, today's the day. I usually celebrate the day by violating every bad luck superstition I can think of. I walk under ladders, open an umbrella in the house, break a (cheap) mirror, spill salt, turn the shoes upside down (my mom told me that one), and if I can find them, walk where a black cat has crossed and hang a horseshoe upside down.

Anybody got any others, old or new? The only thing I can think of is finding a four-leaf clover and plucking the extra leaf off.

[ChristineR]

Surgically reattach a foot to a rabbit? Say "Macbeth" in a theater?

[Tricky]

Surgically reattach a foot to a rabbit?
:big:
Good one.

[Hagrok]

Along the same line, you could shoe a horse :)

[Tricky]

Along the same line, you could shoe a horse :)
...or see a penny and leave it there.

[tsg]

Running with scissors?

[kmortis]

Kill an albatross on deck?

[dogjones]

Surgically reattach a foot to a rabbit? Say "Macbeth" in a theater?

I'm an amateur actor, and I make a point of saying 'Macbeth' in every show I'm in - without anyone hearing me. I just mutter it to myself, and see what happens.

Funnily enough, major things have gone wrong, in the scene directly after I say it:

Romeo and Juliet, 2003 - said 'Macbeth' in the interval. In the very next scene Friar Lawrence walks on stage, trips, and careens into the audience.

Waiting for Godot, 2004 - again in interval. I walk on stage. A gust of wind takes my hat off and blows it down a chasm (we were doing it outside.) I had to mime the hat juggling.

Proof, 2004 - Again in interval. Next scene, leading lady gets stuck to a door and has to shout most of her lines.

There have been other occasions. Of course, this means absolutely nothing. I'm sure other things have gone wrong in other scenes in other nights, but these were the ones I remember!

Anyway, I'm off to find some single magpies, and then neglect to say "Good morning Mr. Magpie".

[ChristineR]

I'm an amateur actor, and I make a point of saying 'Macbeth' in every show I'm in - without anyone hearing me. I just mutter it to myself, and see what happens.

Funnily enough, major things have gone wrong, in the scene directly after I say it:

Romeo and Juliet, 2003 - said 'Macbeth' in the interval. In the very next scene Friar Lawrence walks on stage, trips, and careens into the audience.

Waiting for Godot, 2004 - again in interval. I walk on stage. A gust of wind takes my hat off and blows it down a chasm (we were doing it outside.) I had to mime the hat juggling.

Proof, 2004 - Again in interval. Next scene, leading lady gets stuck to a door and has to shout most of her lines.

There have been other occasions. Of course, this means absolutely nothing. I'm sure other things have gone wrong in other scenes in other nights, but these were the ones I remember!

Anyway, I'm off to find some single magpies, and then neglect to say "Good morning Mr. Magpie".

This is universal in the theater. EVERYONE refuses to say it. If you say it aloud, you'll be hounded until you do the ritual. I've even had people insist to be that they too once thought it was nonsense, until the day when they said it....

[tsg]

You could try some of these (http://www.oldsuperstitions.com/bad_luck.html).

[dogjones]

This is universal in the theater. EVERYONE refuses to say it. If you say it aloud, you'll be hounded until you do the ritual. I've even had people insist to be that they too once thought it was nonsense, until the day when they said it....
http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7804/2112/320/Macbeth.jpg

[Paul C. Anagnostopoulos]

Step on every damn crack you can find.

~~ Paul

[brodski]

I'm an amateur actor, and I make a point of saying 'Macbeth' in every show I'm in - without anyone hearing me. I just mutter it to myself, and see what happens.

Funnily enough, major things have gone wrong, in the scene directly after I say it:

Romeo and Juliet, 2003 - said 'Macbeth' in the interval. In the very next scene Friar Lawrence walks on stage, trips, and careens into the audience.

Waiting for Godot, 2004 - again in interval. I walk on stage. A gust of wind takes my hat off and blows it down a chasm (we were doing it outside.) I had to mime the hat juggling.

Proof, 2004 - Again in interval. Next scene, leading lady gets stuck to a door and has to shout most of her lines.

There have been other occasions. Of course, this means absolutely nothing. I'm sure other things have gone wrong in other scenes in other nights, but these were the ones I remember!

Anyway, I'm off to find some single magpies, and then neglect to say "Good morning Mr. Magpie".

Just so long as you dont whistle on stage.

Or use real flowers.

or use a new pot of pancake on a first night.

[CFLarsen]

Kill an albatross on deck?
What flavor is it?

[Jitterbuggery]

Saying "MacBeth" won't bring you bad luck in theatre.

Doing COMMUNITY theatre will....

[tsg]

What flavor is it?

It's bloody albatross flavor! Bleedin' seabird bleedin' flavor!

[kmortis]

It's bloody albatross flavor! Bleedin' seabird bleedin' flavor!
gamn you.

ETA: Do you get any crackers with it?

[Azrael 5]

I crossed many people on the stairs and refused to salute a solitary magpie!

[Solus]

Yep, today's the day. I usually celebrate the day by violating every bad luck superstition I can think of. I walk under ladders, open an umbrella in the house, break a (cheap) mirror, spill salt, turn the shoes upside down (my mom told me that one), and if I can find them, walk where a black cat has crossed and hang a horseshoe upside down.

Anybody got any others, old or new? The only thing I can think of is finding a four-leaf clover and plucking the extra leaf off.

Oh yes glad you reminded me: the day they show that lousy slasher movie on a couple cable channels. If I see a ladder I'll go under it. but Too lazy for the umbrella :)

[Steven Howard]

When you take your hat off, toss it on your bed instead of hanging it up.

[Chimera]

You could try some of these (http://www.oldsuperstitions.com/bad_luck.html).
Jeez!! What an utterly exhausting list. If I tried to not do all of those things, I would never find the time to read my daily horoscope, visit my psychic, and chant voodoo love spells over my Greek evil eye amulet.

[Outhere]

On Friday the 13th a few years ago, I went uptown on my lunch hour. A ladder propped against the side of a building blocked my path, and I felt obliged to walk under it to show my freedom from superstition. I was unaware that a local TV station had positioned a camera across the street for a Friday 13th news segment. Just as I came out from under the ladder, someone atop the building swept dust and debris off on me, and I had to go home to bathe. However, I was proud when I saw myself on the late news.

There are times when safety comes before skepticism, and I walk warily around ladders now.

[tsg]

On Friday the 13th a few years ago, I went uptown on my lunch hour. A ladder propped against the side of a building blocked my path, and I felt obliged to walk under it to show my freedom from superstition. I was unaware that a local TV station had positioned a camera across the street for a Friday 13th news segment. Just as I came out from under the ladder, someone atop the building swept dust and debris off on me, and I had to go home to bathe. However, I was proud when I saw myself on the late news.

There are times when safety comes before skepticism, and I walk warily around ladders now.

This is one of the few woo things that actually came out of sane advice: Don't walk under ladders, not because it's bad luck, but because the guy on it might drop something.

[Tricky]

This is one of the few woo things that actually came out of sane advice: Don't walk under ladders, not because it's bad luck, but because the guy on it might drop something.
LOL. Yes. Like it's bad luck to stand in the middle of the street.

But I hope everyone had a safe Fri-XIII. I was perfectly safe in spite of my deliberate and repeated violation of the rules of luck. I actually had a bit of good luck in finding a shop-vac at a garage sale for $5 that I had braced myself to pay $40+ at the hardware store.

Anybody else have a particularly lucky or unlucky day?

[Jon.]

Anybody else have a particularly lucky or unlucky day?

No. :D

[El Greco]

In Greece we have a superstition I like a lot: It is bad luck when you see a priest out of a church.

On second thought, I don't think this is a superstition after all.

[clarsct]

I bought Lottery Tickets.

[Mongrel]

We had a 3 phase mains fuse start to melt at work, whilst technically a bad thing we had 2 hours with no telephones or computers :)

[Dicon]

The fact that nothing bad happened to me on Friday is PROOF that there's a massive coverup by the government and the Rand Corporation to hide the truth about bad things happening on Friday the 13th. The complete lack of evidence is all I need to know that it's true.