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Have you ever walked out of a cinema/theatre half way through a show?

(261 Posts)
grandmajet Tue 16-Feb-21 08:12:04

I’ve done it twice. The first time was David Bowies’s film, The Man Who Fell to Earth. What a load of tosh! More recently we left Ben Elton’s stand up show at half time. I was disappointed as I used to like him and loved his books but he seemed to have turned into a bitter, unpleasant person and it was not fun to listen to him.
Anyone else done this, and why?

grannybuy Fri 19-Feb-21 23:44:48

Was treated to a performance of The Lion King on Broadway, and couldn't understand why people raved about it. The tickets were expensive, and it would have been offensive to the host, so couldn't leave. I had heard rave reviews about The Greatest Show on Earth, so bought the DVD, and sat down to watch it with DGC. I didn't ' get it ', but at least was able to leave the room!

poshpaws Fri 19-Feb-21 21:29:56

I walked out, with my son, of an Edinburgh Fringe show that only had 6 of an audience so we were very conspicuous! However the "comedian" was into audience participation (ugh!), was totally unfunny and was also insulting so we didn't feel bad at all.

earnshaw Fri 19-Feb-21 20:56:54

few years ago we had tickets for a sixties show, my husband came out of hospital a few days previously after having a operation for a complicated gall bladder removal , we decided to go the show and see how it went, we were really enjoying it but as the evening wore on my husband was experiencing pain from the op, it was what was to be expected but he just could not sit there any longer so we had to leave at interval , so it wasnt that the show was bad, in fact it was brilliant but had to miss the last half and get home

andreab2019 Fri 19-Feb-21 20:40:00

I went to see Hairspray with a group of friends 8 out of 10 never returned for the second half ( to be fair neither did a 1/4 of the audience) my friend and I stayed as the tickets were expensive.

Tickledpink Fri 19-Feb-21 19:45:12

Amateur Dramatics, for a good cause, but it was awful. People started creeping out and halfway through we did too. The bar staff had it on TV in the foyer and apologised for the bloke who caused the audience to disappear.

Elvis58 Fri 19-Feb-21 19:16:04

Stevie Wonder concert he was 50 mins late, did not apologise.Lectured us about black struggles and rights in America, how glad he was Barrack Obama was president.Played a song never heard of it, called a black guy on stage gave him an award for fighting for young blacks in Birmingham.One more song then thanked the audience for coming as he had put his mother in a care home and we were footing the bill.That was it my friend and l left we were not alone.Cost £65 each tried to a get a refund, no chance!

Dottyma Fri 19-Feb-21 19:10:34

I did give up on The Serpent but will give it another go now after the comments!

Grandmafrench Fri 19-Feb-21 18:39:28

Yes, once in the theatre. Duchess of Malfi with Juliet Stephenson - a Jacobean revenge tragedy!!!! Shame I never researched it when I was given the tickets as a gift. Went with an older couple. Just as well we were in a box because it would have been difficult for the 3 of us to leave when we did. It was dire. Best bit was their thank you letter afterwards when he 'reviewed' the play. I laughed 'til I cried - it certainly made it memorable.

And in the cinema, we actually walked out 5 minutes before the end of Fatal Attraction! I know. So we never knew (or cared) . There was a group of cackling trollops some way behind us in a fairly empty cinema. They so loved the sound of their own voices, jokes, their phones, food. They could have been slumped in front of the t.v. at home, no filters, no social awareness. There were no staff around. In order that I could avoid hitting them over the head with one of their giant popcorn buckets, we gave in, swept out, demanded a refund at the box office and went for supper somewhere civilised.

Whoever commented on 2001 Space Odyssey, we also laughed too much. It was forever named Space Oddity in our house.

Shizam Fri 19-Feb-21 18:25:14

Cats when it was first on in the west end in the 80s. Everyone raved about it. Tickets were stupidly expensive. But once they’d done Memories, and that’s early on, it was dire!

MissAdventure Fri 19-Feb-21 18:02:28

Out of interest, did she?
I've always found her fascinating and beautiful.

JadeOlivia Fri 19-Feb-21 17:29:48

Blondie ...sound was absolute rubbish and after checking that Debbie Harris as as lovely as she looked on TV, we were off.

Harmonypuss Fri 19-Feb-21 17:28:38

Went to some music concert back in the late 90s or early 2000s, it was so bad/immemorable that I can't even remember who was on stage, I do know there were meant to be 5 or 6 famous groups/solo artists but the NEC Arena was full of parents who'd taken their 5-10yr old kids to show them the artists of their own childhoods. There were kids running around, jumping up and down on the seats, the music wasn't that great either (I seem to remember a couple of the listed artists had been changed at the last minute).
I think I lasted about 20mins and walked out. At least I beat the rush to get out of the car park!

AlexG Fri 19-Feb-21 17:11:41

Early 60s went to see a show in London with Jimmy Edwards and Eric Sykes, can’t remember the name. They thought they were both hilarious and ad libbed constantly and pathetically. Left in the interval. Left a Ken Dodd show before the end as it was so hot in the theatre but heard later he went on until about 2am. Could have walked out of a stage show of Cats but stayed to see if it improved. It didn’t.

minxie Fri 19-Feb-21 17:10:49

Three times in total, the last being 2018. I think it was called Nativity. Hugh Dennis was in it and it was dire. We three girls decided in the interval we would rather go for cocktails, so we did

cookiemonster66 Fri 19-Feb-21 16:44:11

I walked out during Jim Davidson stand up show in Windsor, he spent the first 10 mins swearing and insulting the audience (who had paid good money to come and see him) disgusting!
I left the cinema during one of the Oceans 11 films, jumping back and forth in time, got so confused! Also The interpreter, was too confusing for my little brain. I went to the red carpet premiere of Inception met all the big stars, Tom Hardy, leo diCaprio, Cillian Murphy, (my name is...) Michael Caine, but should have taken a notepad as I could not follow it at all and was dreading all the celeb sycophants asking me what I thought as they were raving non stop about it afterwards. I also went to see Whitesnake play Hammersmith pally, David Coverdale had a cold, so it was a karaoke concert where the band played the music and expected the crowd to sing it themselves. There was nearly a riot in the lobby as hoards of people were leaving and VERY angry. They should have cancelled the gig, you come to hear him sing it, not expect to sing it yourself!

GrauntyHelen Fri 19-Feb-21 16:40:40

My Dad walked us all out mid Jimmy Tarbuck inthe70s he was dire but when he started doing an all Scots are mean set we left along with half the audience all Scots on their Glasgow Fair holiday at an English resort

Alioop Fri 19-Feb-21 16:38:03

I was taken out of Pinocchio in floods as a child, not Bambi. When the whale swallowed them I got in such a state my poor mum had to take me home.

CarrieAnn Fri 19-Feb-21 16:17:21

I don't remember walking out,but I have definitely fallen asleep at the cinema.Many moons ago,not long married,my husband was a journalist and had to do a critique of James Bond films at a midnight matinee.I really dislike James Bond films at the best of times,but this was ideal for six hours of sleep(only woke

up for the ice-cream)

Severnsider Fri 19-Feb-21 16:07:29

My mother told me that I cried my eyes out at 'Bambi' and she had to take me out. Then a couple of years later I cried at 'Lassie Come Home'.

More recently a friend and I paid a lot of money for some opera tickets, thinking we needed some culture, and started watching 'Il Trovatore'. We didn't understand a word of it, (in Italian), nor could we follow the story. We scived the last Act!

Karalou51 Fri 19-Feb-21 16:02:58

My friend and I went to see the Exorcist in our early 20's, much against the wishes of our parents. We lasted until her head began to spin (the girl being exorcised, not my friend) then beat a hasty retreat. There were staff in the foyer checking that early leavers were OK. It ended up with them calling my Dad to come and get us. All he advised was that we never told my Mum where we'd been! I never did!

MissAdventure Fri 19-Feb-21 16:01:40

My daughter, my mum, and me went to see Take That at the height of their popularity, and there was a woman next to us with a face like thunder, with a bit of tissue stuffed in each ear. smile

pintuck Fri 19-Feb-21 15:51:24

Yes, a couple of years ago I went to see Aiden Turner in a play called The Lieutenant of Inishmore in London. I loved him in Poldark and stupidly booked it when it was first announced without reading anything about it. It was absolutely dreadful. It was about the IRA and had scenes with torture and also featured a dead cat which people seemed to find hilarious. It was one of those occasions when you look at people around you laughing like drains and think 'am I in a parallel universe' - I couldn't wait to get out. I also started watching 'Hamilton' on my daughter's Disney plus channel and turned it off after half an hour. So very glad I didn't pay through the nose to see it in the West End - couldn't understand a word they sang (there is no speaking) so if you don't know anything about American history, you're mystified. One film I wished I'd walked out of is The Favourite - totally bonkers and with a horrendous clanging soundtrack that gave me a headache.

MissAdventure Fri 19-Feb-21 15:34:15

I don't enjoy shows very much.
Too 'showy' for me.
I've seen Joseph, we will rock you and some others, but I would rather have been at home. blush

Lewie Fri 19-Feb-21 15:23:51

Ellianne - snap! we also walked out of Aida grin

We have walked out of several plays/operas/movies over the years. Life is too short to be bored to death.

Purpleknight49 Fri 19-Feb-21 15:14:16

Fatgran57, yes we’re all so different, I’ve seen Phantom on stage 3 times plus watched film on tv loads and read the book. I listen to the music and it makes me cry!