Tuesday, March 22, 2011

How to Drop a Tray

I don't know if this is real or not, but who freakin' cares? It's brilliant. According to the original You Tube posting, "Joe Pantoliano, a.k.a. Joey Pants, (The Sopranos, The Matrix, Memento, Bound) was shooting a scene in a restaurant. The cast was waiting for the film crew to do something off-camera when a waitress walked past the table and spilled a huge tray of food on the actors." Maybe this is all part of the scene, but I would like to imagine that it isn't. Observe, please and be prepared to be amazed:




Parts of it seem incredibly real, right? Watch the blond woman who has her back to the incident. Her reaction seems real. But look at the guy in the bottom right hand corner of the screen and he looks like this was take number 49 and he is struggling to stay awake. He looks like me when I am being an extra on Law and Order and I have to look surprised when the perp runs past me in Central Park for the 1000th time. Some people say it was staged because the waitress doesn't do anything after she drops the tray. She just stands there with her hands covering her mouth in shock. Like if it was real, she would immediately start cleaning it up or least take the damn tray off the guy's back. Personally, I would have just kept on walking until I got to the time clock and then just punched my ass outta there and went home. Game over.

I have watched the video dozens of times and the one thing that I can't get out of my head is the woman at the table who only knows three words: Oh, my and God. How many times can she say that? And you can tell that if the video kept going she was about to look at the waitress specifically and say, "Oh, my God."

This post is very short today because a picture is worth a thousand words and this video is worth even more. Go ahead, watch it again and again and again. And then share it with your friends.



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15 comments:

JillOfFandoms said...

I think it might be fake, if only because the camera is rather high quality for a security camera that only has a decent view of a single table.

Mary A. said...

Admit it. You wish it was you, don't you?

cyberisis said...

Haha! he lives in my town...

donna freakin' reed said...

Did you see her jack hit that chair? I don't know. I've got to watch it again. And again. And again. And again. And again. Holy hell, my guts hurt from laughing so hard! This effin' fabulous! Fake or not. I LOVE it. I'm going to watch it again.

Server at said...

This scenario is most definitely a fake.

I know as a server that if you are carrying a tray jack/stand (experienced or otherwise) you would automatically turn the stand so that you have the least chance of actually nudging a guests chair, also as soon as the tray started to slide you would do a little walking stutter and possibly even drop the stand and get hold of the tray before it tips.

There are too many things in this that speak of a fake instead of a real life scenario, the blonde at the table didn't have the kind of expression/reaction you would get when this happened either.
Also the camera is most definitely staged as in any restaurant you would have the most coverage on your tables you can get, the quality of the camera is a moot point as I have seen some very good to high quality footage in some restaurants.

Nevertheless, it is most definitely a great clip and humorous as well, besides Joe took it very well. Even with the clip being a fake, I wont be surprised if we see a movie or tv show soon which has this scene in it without the spill.

Bunny said...

Real or not, it's awesome. I can see how someone could think it was fake but even some of the reasons "Server" pointed out could be because she not as experienced or had an off day. Either way, it was way funny!

SkippyMom said...

Fake. You can almost see how she tips it and sorry, but if I was one of those customers I would've jumped up immediately after having all that crap dropped on me.

Her "trip" wasn't too real either.

Practical Parsimony said...

The klutzy girly really did get the stand caught. The whole thing looks real to me. Look, if you are stupid or green enough to try getting through that space with the stand beside you, what makes anyone think she would have the presence of mind to adjust the tray. She even looks in the direction of the stand, not the tray. I think she tipped the tray because she lost her concentration when she rammed the stand into the chair.

Many a person has reacted like those people when I accidentally or purposefully spilled a tray of drinks. They are too polite to be anything but stunned. They don't start the low, muttered profanity until a bit later...lol. If they make a scene and yell, then they lose everyone's sympathy. She has not stood long with her hand over her mouth. Give her a chance to react.

My ploy was to start apologizing profusely, grab a stack of napkins from the tray and wipe off the guy's lap whether any thing spilled in his lap or not. "Oh my goodness! I am so sorry! I can't believe I did that. This the first time this has ever happened." That usually had people laughing and asking me to wipe off their laps. I have even mopped faces om a fake ploy to win forgiveness. Actually, the first face-mopping and lap-wiping was genuine. It was received so well, that I continued it.

If that were staged, it is done realistically imo. Someone bored? There are people who act just like that, like they are just too tired to react, maybe too many drinks or just cannot believe she is so stupid.

My gas station has better monitors and security videos than the old systems. There could have been many security cameras in the place.

If the spill were planned, it's good.I was klutzy but like a good fake-spill for revenge.

Blondeology said...

Haha awesome either way, but I think it happened on purpose. You know whether or not you can fit through a small space between two chairs with a huge tray and a jack. She probably would have said excuse me if she were really trying to pass by without an issue.

Tony Van Helsing said...

I reckon it's real and she had a bet that she could hit Joe and his bald mate at the same time.

J9 said...

Congrats being featured on Born This Way - that's an adorable picture of you!

Jodie said...

It's fake. The food is very dry--no sauce on the pasta, no dressing on the salad. You can see that after he gets the food on him, he kinda shakes it off and his jacket is clean, and so is the guy sitting next to him. There's almost no oily or liquid mess, just chunks of spaghetti and tomato and lettuce.

blogger sam said...

First time i saw it, it did look real but watching a couple of times you can see something just don't add up

Ben said...

Someone wrote this explanation on youtube, but I don't know if its true?

Here's the story behind this clip. Which might explain why it looks fake.... SOURCE: Actor Joe Pantoliano was shooting a scene in a restaurant. The cast was waiting for the film crew to do something off-camera when a waitress walked past the table and spilled a huge tray of food on the actors. It was not part of the scene. Camera was rolling as they were about to run another take.

Anonymous said...

Fake. She didn't even turn her head when she felt the tray start to go; just kept walking. Believe me, you know the minute that thing starts to slip and you adjust your body to take the spill rather than have it go all over the customer.