Reflections of a Scare Actor

So while I was looking for a more permanent job here in Melbourne, I got a job off Facebook as a scare actor at the Royal Melbourne Show. Apparently, the royal show was a thing pre-COVID, and that it was an annual occurrence held at the Melbourne showgrounds (think Singapore EXPO, except it is outdoors, not indoors).

This was an 11 day event from Thursday 22 Sept to Sunday 2 Oct. At this point, I'd like to point out the significance of the start dates. Now, you must be wondering, why start on a Thursday and not a Friday or a Saturday even? I'm not sure whether this was pre-planned or it was planned with this in mind, but 22 Sept happened to be a National Day of mourning for the recent passing of the late Queen E. And so that was a Federal public holiday here in Australia given that the Queen (and now King C) was the Head of State of Australia. Thank heavens we are a republic. That weekend however, was an ultra long weekend - because Friday was also a public holiday in Victoria; and you better believe this, Friday was 'Footy Day'. What is Footy Day? Footy Day is the day before the AFL Grand Final. That is an actual public holiday. It is just so mindblowingly cool that the eve of a sports event is a declared public holiday.

So I went to look it up and there is another Victorian public holiday known as Melbourne Cup Day! This is just brilliant. And what is the Melbourne Cup? It is an annual horse-racing day! Its like Singapore having a CNY TOTO Angbao Draw Day as a public holiday.

Anyway, back to the point. So I went for a quick interview on the Friday before the Show, and then a 4.5h training session the following Tuesday where they pointed out where the various 'scare points' were, plus what we can/ cannot do. Generally, we have a lot of creative freedom on what we can do, the only thing we can't do is to touch the guests. We were also told to be nice to kids and (idiot) adults with young children while going all out on teenagers. As someone who had no other commitments, I could do all 11 days of the show and so I was one of the few who were involved every single day. There was even a day where there was a radio crew that came in and filmed. Here's the clip on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/p/CjFVs6eDbs0/?hl=en) and while you can't see me, I was the first scare.

One of my main fears was being punched in the face and the 'trainer' has mentioned that it had happened before and not so few times, after multiple shifts, that fear subsided and my guard went down, which was a big mistake. Because on my 2nd last shift, I was round-house kicked in the guts. The fella apologised but wow the sheer randomness of the kick caught me totally off-guard and I did not even attempt to block it when it happened.

So 11 days and 12 shifts later, here are my thoughts on the people who went in.

1) Group of teenage girls/ boys who are out to be scared
They are the best! They come in wanting to be scared, they scream their lungs out throughout the 3-5 mins they are in the Haunted House, they have the most fun, we have a lot of fun scaring them as well.

2) People who come in wearing headphones or earphones or/and a hoodie
Seriously, wtf? Why would you pay $25 to come to the Show, another $15 to come into the Haunted House and walk through the House with your hoodie up, listening to music as if you are simply taking a stroll through the park? Is it just to pay $15 so that you can go out and tell your friends that you have done it?

3) Parents who bring in super young kids traumatising them for life
There is a big sign outside that says not suitable for kids under 10. Our staff also explicitly tell you it is not suitable for the kids, but no, you decide the Haunted House is the ideal place for a parent child bonding time. Now there are parents who after the first scare and hearing the terrified screams of their kid wisely decide to bring the child out through the emergency exit. There are also parents who, despite the screams and tears and desperate pleas from the kid decides that 'Oh, its not too bad, they aren't real, see they are waving at you!' and then proceeds to physically carry/ drag their child through the whole house. I can assure you, that is a core memory made right there. The child will never forget that and hopefully they find it in their heart in the future to forgive you.

4) The macho boyfriend/ boy in the group
After a scare theyturn to you and walk towards you doing the Ah Beng head lift as if challenging you to a duel. Dude, you literally paid $15 outside 2 minutes ago to be scared. Don't act like you don't expect this! I'm just doing my job dude, no I'm not squaring you up. i'm not paid enough for this and even if I was, dude its a freaking Haunted House, this scaring thing is the whole concept of it.

5) The ones that try to find you and scare you
Wahlao eh, you pay money to get scared and I am paid to scare you leh, why you wanna do my job? And frankly, most times we see you coming before you notice our presence so even if you did scare us, the shock/ surprise level is not high also. And all of your scares are jump scares. Low level stuff.

As usual, here are some pics








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