Crusty comedian shares slice of cellphone etiquette live on stage

Stephen Guy-McGrath's show at The Mackin Charlottetown has a strict rule.

The show, called Spinning Yarns, presents tales and tunes of a homesick Newfoundlander and Guy-McGrath warns before every show thatif your cellphone rings, he is going to use it to order pizza.

On Tuesday night, someone's phone rang.

"They did not own up to it, but I figured a deal is a deal. I had said I would do that, so I ordered a couple of pizzas from Nimrods'," Guy-McGrath said.

He said a delivery person from Nimrods' showedup about 15 minutes into Act 2 with a couple of pizzas.

"We got an interruption from the stage manager," Guy-McGrath said. The manager came over the microphone and told him there was pizza there.

Audience stunned

Guy-McGrath said the audience was a "bit stunned into silence" as he invited the delivery boy on stage and handed out pizza.

"At first I realized they actually think this is part of the show," he said.

Guy-McGrath said it went smoothly because the audience thought it was part of the show, until he told them.

"Finally,I turned to them and said, 'This is not part of the show,'" Guy-McGrath said.

When the stage manager and others started snapping pictures, the audience caught on that it wasn't part of the show, he said.

"It was a one-time event."

Can't find culprit

Unfortunately, Guy-McGrath couldn't nail down whose cell phone rang so he had to call from his own, but he said the offender knows who they are.

He is a little worried people are going to try to take calls to get more free pizza at the show, so he highlighted aground rule.

"The thing is now, it has to be a legit call. You can't plant this," he said.

Guy-McGrath not cheesed off

Guy-McGrath has been a performer for decades and initially interruptionsstarted with pagers.

"I don't think anyone does it maliciously. I don't think anyone thinks they are that important they need to have their cellphone on, they think they have turned it off," Guy-McGrath said.

He said he views it as a mistake and when he reminds people to turn off their phones, a lot of people who forgot reach into their pockets or bags.

"You kind of got to be forgiving toa certain degree. Ultimately you don't want to make your audience feel bad either. You want them to feel like they are welcome, not embarrassed to be there," Guy-McGrath said.

Now, it's not just cellphones, evenFitbits and Apple Watches can unintentionallylight up the stage, he said.

As for Guy-McGrath, his show wasn't thrown off by the ringing phone he said he thrives inspontaneity.

"I live for that stuff," he said.

This show plays select dates until Sept. 28.For more details visit the Confederation Centre website.

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