LionHeart
08-06-2008, 02:04 AM
The Lionheart guide to being the best CEC you can be.
If there’s one thing I’ve noticed in the…two…Chuck E Cheese’s I’ve been to and worked at, it’s that, while kids come here to see Chuck himself, and are more then flabbergasted to see him, Chuck E isn’t really all that happy himself. I mean, sure, there’s a frozen almost-joker-like smile on his face, but this giant mouse barely has time for a half-efforted high five and a wave goodbye. This is a guide I wrote, based on my experience of a total of two weeks total time spent in the CEC costume, that may help anyone looking to improve or maker their employee’s improve on performances. Here we go.
This may go somewhat deep, but I noticed this helps me a lot too.
SECTION ONE: Changing identities.
“Go wake up Chuck.” Says a manager as a set of keys ends up in your hands. Are you happy? Great! Are you mad? Wrong. Even if you’re the most reluctant person to clamber into the suit, just tell yourself “I’m gonna have fun with this.” You’d be surprised how much it helps.
Okay, so you’re in the incredibly-small room that is the Chuck E room. I’d stretch if I were you. Especially if you’re not a teenage employee. First and foremost, it loosens you up a little, and a few endorphins make you feel more ready for what your about to do. If you want, add a few jumping jacks to add to a few more endorphins to the mix. It helps. Trust me. On top of that, it warms you up and gets you more used to the suits higher then normal heat very quickly.
Okay, you’re putting on the suit. Make sure everything is capable of staying on with extreme motion. This means that any available strap is secured to you and tightened. Not only for security, but the feeling of knowing you don’t have any loose appendages remove any annoying feelings you may have. It works. I know it does. Make sure the paws are on, comfortable under the sleeves of the shirt/fur. The shoes need to be on tight. Now, the head, the most important thing, ABO****LEY needs to have a strap to secure it on. Most heads have an elastic strap that snaps onto each of the ear pieces on the interior helmet. As long as you have that, you’ll be good to go. If not, even a knot in a make shift strand between the interior ear rings will be good. The reason you need to have the head securely on is it will remove the feeling of the head falling off, which is a really annoying distraction you have to worry about otherwise, and it really does help you feel like it really is your head. Which is something I’m about to get to.
SECTION TWO: Psychology
I know what you’re thinking. Does a tutorial on being a mascot really need to have a section on psychology? Yeah, kinda does. I’ll make it quick, though.
Putting on the costume, you should come under the influence that you really are Chuck E Cheese. That sounds corny, right? Wrong. This may sound crazy, but playfully thinking of yourself as the mouse helps you feel more enthusiastic. You are the man. The mouse. Big cheese, forgive the pun.
Know why? Because, if you do, it’s a gratifying feeling. Imagine being the worlds biggest celebrity. People either jump with glee or cower in fear at the mere sight of you. So, like I said, it’s a fun feeling.
SECTION THREE: The Floor.
So, you walked out the door. Already, parents have seen you, saying “look! There’s Chuck E!” (Like I said, easily the worlds most recognized celebrity.)
There are a couple things you can do, the minute you walk out onto the floor.
-If there’s a birthday party/parties in the showroom, go visit them. When live show comes around, your gonna be hard harassed to visit every table, let alone give the special attention every B-Day child deserves. So, look for the sticker or the B-day child, and give him the hello, first. I usually point to the sticker, which they get, and say “It’s my birthday!” Act like really surprised.
Throw your hands in the air, clap your hands, and give them a quick hug. That’s just a suggestion. It’s what I do. Then, point to them, and start counting. They usually get that your asking “How old are you?”
When they give you a number, give them a high five using that many fingers.
-Walk Around
Know your clients. Walk around the store; visit the tables and the kids playing the games. There’s a whole lot of fun stuff that you can do. Remember, do what’s fun for you. This makes the job better and actually enjoyable for even the reluctant Chucks.
· You can grab some tokens and play some games with the kids.
· Look for walk-in birthdays. Recognize them, same way as you would do with the reserved kids.
· Help a kid play a game. If it’s artic thunder, sit behind them and hold the steering with them, but let them do the driving.
· Play a game! This doesn’t have to be like a video game. Anything you want! Hide and seek, tag (be careful on the running! In fact, I’d power walk. I always let them catch me easy anyways.) There’s also catch, and whatnot. Be creative. The fact that you call the shots when your Chuck is what makes the job fun, because there’s no one telling you what to do. After all, you’re Chuck E Cheese! You own this place. Your name is on the building, and your picture is everywhere! In fact, you’re a narcissist. In a good way. (After all, your picture is on the token, the ticket, the games, the advertisements, the beverage bar, the wall, the TV, the prizes. I mean, come on. Narcissist.)
· Kodak Moments. Take some pictures.
-Road Show
Always a fun thing to do. Be it the Hokey Pokey, the Cha Cha Slide, or the Chicken Dance, doing these are always fun. But, it’s exhausting. I would definitely recommend saving road shows for last. If you plan on being enthusiastic like this guide is helping you do, then by the time your done dancing, you might be a little bit tired. This is also why I recommend cardio vascular endurance traning. It helps. Still, it’s always fun. Here’s some tips.
Chicken Dance: Left and Right. Lots of leaning. Put your hands in the air. Go all the way to the ground. Jump around.
Hokey Pokey: As far as you can. With your legs, as far as you can!
With your hands, as far as you can! Your head, well, be careful.
Cha Cha slide: Make sure you got some space and always be looking for that two year old who didn’t know Chuck E was dacnign. Sliiiiide waaaaaay to the left. Two steps waaaaay forward. Act like somethings forcing you to do so. Always gets a laugh.
SECTION 4: “You can talk, just…use your hands:” –Mitch Hedburg.
Chuck in real life. He likes to smile, and doesn’t say much. However,
He’s the most outgoing son of a ***** you will ever meet. He loves you.
However, he can’t find a way to say it. Here’s a series of Hand Gestures that replace the need to talk (Which, by the way, DON’T TALK.)
Wave: Hi.
Spread out your arms, palms forward: Give me a hug!
Point to yourself, to your heart, then to the kid: I love you.
Time-Out Sign 1: (To the kid) Stop hitting me!
Time-Out Sign 2: (To a fellow employee) GET ME THE HELL OUT OF HERE.
Put hand horizontal over your eyes, look back and forth (Like a sailor. Or something.): “Where are you? I can’t see you!”
Point to your ear, get closer: “What? I didn’t hear you.”
Rub your cheeks: “Your making me blush!”
Point to a game, then to you and the kid really quickly, over and over: “I’ll play you in that game!”
Click the shutter of an imaginary camera near your eyes: “Let’s take a picture!”
Cover your eyes, look down, back up: “I’m scared!” or “You scared me!”
Two pistol hands pointing (my favorite) “HEY! Buddy!” (Tone: Happy to see you)
Wag your finger, shake your head: “Dun do that.”
Open and close hand over and over again: “I gotta go. Bye!”
Lower your head, rub your eyes: “Your making me cry!”
Cover your mouth with your hands: * GASP * or “Oops!”
Shake your head back and forth, hands covering your eyes, head lowered: “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to do that!”
Middle Finger: “I swear to effing god, if you hit me one more time…’
There’s more that I can’t think of right now.
End of segment one: I’ll write more as I think of it by request, but I just figured that this would be a few good tips to help any Chuck with working his job. Any continued tips are always welcome, I just wrote this because I felt that the CEC training manual was…thin.
If there’s one thing I’ve noticed in the…two…Chuck E Cheese’s I’ve been to and worked at, it’s that, while kids come here to see Chuck himself, and are more then flabbergasted to see him, Chuck E isn’t really all that happy himself. I mean, sure, there’s a frozen almost-joker-like smile on his face, but this giant mouse barely has time for a half-efforted high five and a wave goodbye. This is a guide I wrote, based on my experience of a total of two weeks total time spent in the CEC costume, that may help anyone looking to improve or maker their employee’s improve on performances. Here we go.
This may go somewhat deep, but I noticed this helps me a lot too.
SECTION ONE: Changing identities.
“Go wake up Chuck.” Says a manager as a set of keys ends up in your hands. Are you happy? Great! Are you mad? Wrong. Even if you’re the most reluctant person to clamber into the suit, just tell yourself “I’m gonna have fun with this.” You’d be surprised how much it helps.
Okay, so you’re in the incredibly-small room that is the Chuck E room. I’d stretch if I were you. Especially if you’re not a teenage employee. First and foremost, it loosens you up a little, and a few endorphins make you feel more ready for what your about to do. If you want, add a few jumping jacks to add to a few more endorphins to the mix. It helps. Trust me. On top of that, it warms you up and gets you more used to the suits higher then normal heat very quickly.
Okay, you’re putting on the suit. Make sure everything is capable of staying on with extreme motion. This means that any available strap is secured to you and tightened. Not only for security, but the feeling of knowing you don’t have any loose appendages remove any annoying feelings you may have. It works. I know it does. Make sure the paws are on, comfortable under the sleeves of the shirt/fur. The shoes need to be on tight. Now, the head, the most important thing, ABO****LEY needs to have a strap to secure it on. Most heads have an elastic strap that snaps onto each of the ear pieces on the interior helmet. As long as you have that, you’ll be good to go. If not, even a knot in a make shift strand between the interior ear rings will be good. The reason you need to have the head securely on is it will remove the feeling of the head falling off, which is a really annoying distraction you have to worry about otherwise, and it really does help you feel like it really is your head. Which is something I’m about to get to.
SECTION TWO: Psychology
I know what you’re thinking. Does a tutorial on being a mascot really need to have a section on psychology? Yeah, kinda does. I’ll make it quick, though.
Putting on the costume, you should come under the influence that you really are Chuck E Cheese. That sounds corny, right? Wrong. This may sound crazy, but playfully thinking of yourself as the mouse helps you feel more enthusiastic. You are the man. The mouse. Big cheese, forgive the pun.
Know why? Because, if you do, it’s a gratifying feeling. Imagine being the worlds biggest celebrity. People either jump with glee or cower in fear at the mere sight of you. So, like I said, it’s a fun feeling.
SECTION THREE: The Floor.
So, you walked out the door. Already, parents have seen you, saying “look! There’s Chuck E!” (Like I said, easily the worlds most recognized celebrity.)
There are a couple things you can do, the minute you walk out onto the floor.
-If there’s a birthday party/parties in the showroom, go visit them. When live show comes around, your gonna be hard harassed to visit every table, let alone give the special attention every B-Day child deserves. So, look for the sticker or the B-day child, and give him the hello, first. I usually point to the sticker, which they get, and say “It’s my birthday!” Act like really surprised.
Throw your hands in the air, clap your hands, and give them a quick hug. That’s just a suggestion. It’s what I do. Then, point to them, and start counting. They usually get that your asking “How old are you?”
When they give you a number, give them a high five using that many fingers.
-Walk Around
Know your clients. Walk around the store; visit the tables and the kids playing the games. There’s a whole lot of fun stuff that you can do. Remember, do what’s fun for you. This makes the job better and actually enjoyable for even the reluctant Chucks.
· You can grab some tokens and play some games with the kids.
· Look for walk-in birthdays. Recognize them, same way as you would do with the reserved kids.
· Help a kid play a game. If it’s artic thunder, sit behind them and hold the steering with them, but let them do the driving.
· Play a game! This doesn’t have to be like a video game. Anything you want! Hide and seek, tag (be careful on the running! In fact, I’d power walk. I always let them catch me easy anyways.) There’s also catch, and whatnot. Be creative. The fact that you call the shots when your Chuck is what makes the job fun, because there’s no one telling you what to do. After all, you’re Chuck E Cheese! You own this place. Your name is on the building, and your picture is everywhere! In fact, you’re a narcissist. In a good way. (After all, your picture is on the token, the ticket, the games, the advertisements, the beverage bar, the wall, the TV, the prizes. I mean, come on. Narcissist.)
· Kodak Moments. Take some pictures.
-Road Show
Always a fun thing to do. Be it the Hokey Pokey, the Cha Cha Slide, or the Chicken Dance, doing these are always fun. But, it’s exhausting. I would definitely recommend saving road shows for last. If you plan on being enthusiastic like this guide is helping you do, then by the time your done dancing, you might be a little bit tired. This is also why I recommend cardio vascular endurance traning. It helps. Still, it’s always fun. Here’s some tips.
Chicken Dance: Left and Right. Lots of leaning. Put your hands in the air. Go all the way to the ground. Jump around.
Hokey Pokey: As far as you can. With your legs, as far as you can!
With your hands, as far as you can! Your head, well, be careful.
Cha Cha slide: Make sure you got some space and always be looking for that two year old who didn’t know Chuck E was dacnign. Sliiiiide waaaaaay to the left. Two steps waaaaay forward. Act like somethings forcing you to do so. Always gets a laugh.
SECTION 4: “You can talk, just…use your hands:” –Mitch Hedburg.
Chuck in real life. He likes to smile, and doesn’t say much. However,
He’s the most outgoing son of a ***** you will ever meet. He loves you.
However, he can’t find a way to say it. Here’s a series of Hand Gestures that replace the need to talk (Which, by the way, DON’T TALK.)
Wave: Hi.
Spread out your arms, palms forward: Give me a hug!
Point to yourself, to your heart, then to the kid: I love you.
Time-Out Sign 1: (To the kid) Stop hitting me!
Time-Out Sign 2: (To a fellow employee) GET ME THE HELL OUT OF HERE.
Put hand horizontal over your eyes, look back and forth (Like a sailor. Or something.): “Where are you? I can’t see you!”
Point to your ear, get closer: “What? I didn’t hear you.”
Rub your cheeks: “Your making me blush!”
Point to a game, then to you and the kid really quickly, over and over: “I’ll play you in that game!”
Click the shutter of an imaginary camera near your eyes: “Let’s take a picture!”
Cover your eyes, look down, back up: “I’m scared!” or “You scared me!”
Two pistol hands pointing (my favorite) “HEY! Buddy!” (Tone: Happy to see you)
Wag your finger, shake your head: “Dun do that.”
Open and close hand over and over again: “I gotta go. Bye!”
Lower your head, rub your eyes: “Your making me cry!”
Cover your mouth with your hands: * GASP * or “Oops!”
Shake your head back and forth, hands covering your eyes, head lowered: “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to do that!”
Middle Finger: “I swear to effing god, if you hit me one more time…’
There’s more that I can’t think of right now.
End of segment one: I’ll write more as I think of it by request, but I just figured that this would be a few good tips to help any Chuck with working his job. Any continued tips are always welcome, I just wrote this because I felt that the CEC training manual was…thin.