I feel like knights at medieval times get a lot of action. I was only to one once, but there were tons of chicks getting pictures with the knights. You get any play from groupies or what?

Lol the bachelorette groups were the best. I did meet my ex from one of the show. Well, I had been talking to her for about a week and she asked the million dollar question "what do you do for a living?" This question is kind of hard to answer doing what we do. I mean, how do you react to "I'm a Knight" lmao. So I just gave her free tickets and she came to see me and answered her own question. But yes there was a lot of "how big is your lance Mr Knight?" Or after they took the picture they'd slip a lil note with a #. So pretty much to answer your question, the Armor and long Hair gave an extra boost if you were trying to not be single. Or, you know, do what you do...

when I was in 7th grade i was dared to ask some serf dude for his number. He replied by laughing and saying, "Pshh, if I had a number." is that what you mean by slipping a lil note with a # or what

Well you CAN get at someone like that. Usually what happened, was that after every show everybody would go out to the main lobby. So you would hang around for a couple minutes in the main lobby which is the entrance to the arena. After about 10 to 15 minutes, all the nights would come out to the lobby to take pictures with everybody and sign autographs for the little kids and stuff. That's where the women would either just ask you for your number or just give you a note with their number written on it. You went in your 7th grade field trip I'm assuming? Those are Matinee Shows. We don't do meet and greets for those shows. We only do meet and greets on the last show of the day. Which is obviously the nights show. The morning shows are all field trips, all schools.

Yeah lol i went as a field trip. I asked the guy while he was on his way into the show it was during this introduction thing

The show/story line changes every 3-5yrs so I wonder how different that show was from the one I worked. But either way he must've just been concentrated on his job lol

How was the pay?

It's not that bad actually. The more years you have with the company, the more you get paid. They do use the "Seniority" effect. At the end of every year you get a review pretty much like most jobs do. They evaluate your importance to the show, and how many fights you know and have learned and how much of an asset you are to the team. If you only do one fight versus someone who knows and can do 3-4 fights, that person will get a higher raise. But as with most other jobs we do take a beating and pay can be better lol.

So.... how much exactly?

I was the newbie, the baby of the Knight-Hood so I was making $16/hr. And I left on New Years of 2015 and was just a month shy of getting my evaluation and getting my $2 raise. But we worked well over 50+hrs a week. On busy season I remember hitting close to 80. 3 shows a day all week.

That's more than a lot of paramedics start at, sadly.

It becomes a lot at the end of the pay cycle once all the hours are added up. That's where it matters SPECIALLY on overtime (after 40+hrs). But honestly speaking for EVERYTHING that we do and go through to do a show, the pay is shit. I've had jobs in the past where I made bigger checks doing nothing. One of them was many years ago I was a doorman at a nightclub in downtown Chicago and I made bank. Not only did I get paid cash but the tips at the door were nice. And all I did was check ID's.

The senior knights are making like double that but they've been there many years and know the whole show in their sleep. It's like leveling up in a game I guess, you start at one level and work your way up.

I think I found your Halloween costume

Also if you're really that guy, can you update your twitter to include a Reddit mention?

Lol I'm a hashtag? And yes I'm him. I had a hard time trying to post pics or links, I have an album on my FB dedicated to all my Medieval Times pics. Find me under "Sergio Keko Aguirre". I have since cut my hair but it's not private so you can shoot me a request or just scroll through that album. About the Reddit mention, I'll have to read the "How To" on it.

It's easy, you know how you tweet normally? Just tweet out the word "Reddit" right now.

Do I hashtag it or... #reddit? @reddit? Lol

I mean anything really, just something that lets people know you are who you say you are. Otherwise people would just pretend to be other, more interesting people all the time.

Well I hash tagged and also "@" Reddit. Hope those worked.

Hahaha it worked fine!

Is that why Reddit "removed" my post... they said I didn't provide proof within a certain amount of time... ummm... I did I mean.

Yeah, they'll remove anything without proof eventually. You don't have to post it publicly if you're not comfortable, you can also message proof to the moderators directly. A lot of people take a picture of themselves holding a piece of paper with the date written on it and "Hi Reddit" written on it, or something to that effect.

Yea I saw that on some of the posts. Just that when I made this post here all it did was ask for a link at the bottom left corner not a picture, I could've just gone into my photos and added a pic with proof to the post.

Done

"@sergiokeko88" is my twitter

Ok so update your twitter with a Reddit mention. Tweet the word REDDIT right now

You're the hero we need. Thanks for helping.

You're my knight in shining golden armor! Thanks mate!

When you kept saying "update your Twitter" I kept thinking my Twitter IS updated what are you talking about I use it every day :/. When instead you ment POST and update/status on your twitter tagging Reddit... the wording I tell ya XD

Thanks so much for doing this ama, I have seen this awesome show several times. My biggest question is, how did you get this job?

Very simple. Go to any castle, at the front desk there usually is a big pile of applications. Just ask for one and on the application you write down what position you would like to work within the castle. There are many departments inside, like servers, photos, gift shop, Ect. I went in one day as I was driving past it, there is a huge mall a couple minutes from the castle so at the moment I was looking for a job. As I drove past the castle I happened to notice that there was a show going on due to the parking lot being packed with cars. I just walked inside the entrance, asked the front desk (when you go in you check in for your reservations or tickets, pretty much the ticket booth) for an application, filled it out and I got called into days. I was working within that weekend. Just like that.

I worked at the Dallas castle a long time ago, and man, we had a ton of fun. I was sound/lighting - less glamorous than knight, but more my speed.

We also had one knight break his collarbone on his dismount, but not tell anyone until after the fight, and had a stage kick go awry and lead to surgery on the boys to politely request that they return to normal position. Anything unexpected ever happen during a fight that sticks with you?

Other than the normal (I'm sure you've seen it) cuts and blood which I got 4 adorable battlescars to remember my times I missed the block and the sword or axe came crashing right into my head, hmmm in my 2yrs there this one time it was like 5 degrees outside. Middle of winter I'd say it was right after New Years. Backstage where the stable are, there is a pipeline. Runs water to the horse showers and all around back there. Wel, due to the cold, mid-show the pipe exploded! We were right about to start the Axe Fight so it was like the good part of the show. So water was spraying everywhere and it was a lot! Like a fire truck hose blasting backastage. Fire trucks surrounde the back of the castle and ordered EVERYONE out of the castle. And when I say everyone I mean even the horses! So I at the time was not in the show for that show, I was backstage. So I had to run out in the middle of the arena and tell the chancellor what was going on and that he needed to let everyone know that they had to vacuum out the building ASAP. He had a mic obviously. While this is going on everybody's backstage scrambling trying to get all the horses (24) out of the stalls and find anything to sustain them, any kind of rope or anything so that we can walk them outside to the back of the castle where there was a huge grass field and corral where we kept the horses and let them run around on their downtime during the day. Mind you it's windy as hell, 5 degrees outside, snowing like crazy (if you've ever seen on tv or anywhere how bad it snows here... look it up. Blizzards lol), there's only about 14 of us and 24 horses. Not only that but we had a full arena of 1500 people that night. And the fire alarm goes off. Loud! It kind of reminded me of that scene from Titanic where there is just so much going on and everybody is just scrambling trying to get out LOL! I'm trying to run back with one horse on each hand trying to get outside, and by my luck I had one of the stallions and I had the chancellors horse which is the big Black Fresian. Only to sit outside for 40mins while firefighters seaes or shut off the blasting pipe and cleared everyone to go back inside. And we finished the show. Um, but only like half the ppl came back lol the other half went to their cars in the parking lot and went home. They had the crowd go out thru the main entrance and on the parkinlot.

But if you're asking about me personally during one of my fights, nothing ever really happen that stuck. I mean I got the unsuspecting weapons breaking or snapping mid fight, and I just froze like "oh shit I had no weapon... Squire!!!" The times I got busted open were pretty bad. Made my Fight look cool covered in blood I mean I'm sure the crowd enjoyed it. But it wasn't nothing where I couldn't finish my fight and then head straight to a nearby ER as soon as I got backstage. Oh, right before my joust (this one is for you Sound & Lighting!!), I guess they were training the new guy or something up there and prior to my incident which I'm about to explain, the king and the princess Mic kept going off or wouldn't work. Specially for the intro when we all get announced. Well right before my joust, as soon as the Chancellor dropped his sword which obviously ment GO, the lights went off!!! Me and the other guys jousted in pitch black lmao. I don't know if you've ever were able to see or maybe try on one of our jousting helmets but you can barely see shit inside that thing, now in pitch black?! I remember that I just went on because when you're in the middle of that there's really no stopping your horse. Shield up, lance up, I don't know where the hell I hit him I just heard and felt my Lance break and made contact with something! I got hit on my ribs and yes it hurt. Horses must have an unbelievable night vision because he literally just did a sudden stop, then the lights turned back on and I noticed I was literally all the way up against the wall on the other side. Now that was pretty unsuspecting

Did you enjoy taunts from the other colors sections?

What are some of the best?

Thanks for the many entertaining nights!!!!

Taunts are awesome when the whole crowd gets into the show. My favorite show was the Sunday night shows, usually it was nothing but adults who got very crazy into the show due to maybe the fact that they were drinking or whatever. But man where those Sunday night crowds LOUD!!! Think of it like a European soccer game, and the sections are just cheering either for you, against you, or going back n forth at each other. According to the show, the people don't know who is going to fight who yet, the first half of the show are games. It's not up until the fight part of the show that they see who we are going to face, and that's when they got even louder. I guess my most favorite one was when I was the Blue Knight and got the reference from Cable Guy. I felt the love :). But then it sucked on shows when I was the Red Knight because the reference was against me LOL

Some of my favorites to shout (staying clean for the kids of course):

Hey colorKnight, is that smell you or the horse?

pick the knight with the longest hair: If you spent more time practicing and less time combing your hair, you might actually win this thing.

knight misses a ring in the skills comp: Your poor girlfriend!!!

Whats that smell??? Oh colorKnight is back.

knight loses at joust: Maybe you should be an accountant.

Lmao I love the little ring one XD

Hey that "little ring" game was no joke that thing was super hard to get. And specially when you had a horse who had either a weird bumpy sprint, or one that moved away from the wall cuz it was scared of the crowd as it ran haha

It's been years since I've been to Medieval Times. The only things I remember are the food and the shops. Did you get any discounts or free meals for being a knight?

And how familiar were you with the rest of the staff? I only just found out my homecoming date recently and currently became the princess (or is it queen? I don't remember). Do they switch actresses or is it the same person for each show?

Also cool to see someone from the Schaumburg area. I guess... what high school did you go to? D211?

After each show, as soon as we got to the locker room we always ran to the kitchen to see if there was any food left over lol. The people from the kitchen were always very super nice to even sometimes make sure they would make any leftover food and save it for us. And yes their food is soooooo dam good!!! If your talking about discounts as far as gift shops and tickets, we got 50% off. Tickets were usually given to us free for holidays, birthdays, or just random if you asked for them. There are usually 3-4 princesses. Each have a schedule so they rotate. Unluckily for the Knights, we didn't rotate lol the same 6-7 Knights you saw one day were the same ones who did EVERY show. I went to West Leyden ;) class of '06 I live in melrose park.

Holy fuck this looks epic, really sucks they don't have such shows in the Netherlands (that I know of,) How old were you when you started working as a knight? And also, which weapons were your favorite to use?

I think out there you guys have something called "Battle Of The Nation in HMB"?? I was 24-25 when I started working there as a Squire, which is a Knights Assistant/Helper. They play a huge part in the show. Then after a few months you start training to be a knight. There was one that I liked using, my first fight I learned was the Axe Fight, which I used the Sword & Shield. I loved the loud SMACK when I blocked an Axe strike with my shield it echoed all around the arena. Here's a video of one of my Axe Fights I'm the one in Yellow:

https://youtu.be/tyzKR6iifbc

I love this show. We go to the one in Atlanta 2-3 times a year. How is the winner of each show picked? Is it a rotation they go thru or randomly pick one before each show?

Before each show we kinda just have a lil meeting in the locker room where the Head Knight goes over the layout. Not everyone can be champ, think of it as like levels. You start at level one, which is the first fight you learn. And you die first. Newbie lol. Then as months go by you learn another fight. Then another one after that. So on. You level up. In some years you'll eventually learn ALL the fights and learn the champ fight. Some fights are more than once so experience and endurance play a big role here. Champ fight is the toughest so only the senior guys are able to do those. So yea depending on which fights you know, you'll be asked usually what fight you wanna do or you can request a certain fight if like you got friends or family coming to the show. Normally the Head Knight makes the fight sheet and posts it on a wall by the door in the locker room and you just look at it, and see if you're "in the show". Meaning being a knight. And if you are you'll see what fight you're doing. If you're not "in the show", you'll be either backstage or a Squire. And that goes by rotation. There's usually one or two extra Knights to spare, only 6 are in the show so the other 2 will be helping out backstage with the horses and dressing and helping the Knights back there Ect. If there's 3 shows, usually you'll do 2 and sit out one backstage or squiring. But there's times when you'll kill yourself doing all 3 but work is work right ;)

So do the knights wear different colors, meaning the red knight may be the blue knight next week? If so how often do they change?

Thanks for answering these. I always wondered about how things ran behind the show.

We change colors every show. If you stayed for all 2 or 3 shows for the day, I'd be a different color each show. Once in a while I'd be the same for 2 shows. In a week I would be all 6 colors at least twice. Colors are random. As the winner changes each show. It makes it nice so you won't be bored being just ONE knight all the time. You may do the same fight all shows, but your color will change and it makes it un-boring getting a different section each time.

I was hoping for this answer once you mentioned that the same senior Knights win every night. It would be disappointing knowing red won 25 nights in a row before your show.

Well what's worse than on the last storyline before the current one that is on right now, the Green Knight never won lol cuz he was the bad guy and the "traitor". So he got killed every time. That was the old show thou. Way before my time. Now the "traitor" gets replaced by a real bad guy so that gives advantage for any knight to win even green.

Were people sat in greens section at the time? That would be cruel.

To this day at least while I was there, the Green section is the loudest.

Speaking of Atlanta, when I left the general manager of my castle resigned. And from what I heard, the new manager that replaced him was the one from Atlanta. Wonder how that's going...

This sounds like an awesome job! How did you get the position? How did the application, interview, and recruiting period work in general? What's your professional background like?

Applications was simple. Like REALLY simple. Go to the front desk (check-in booth, ticket booth) ask for an application, fill it out with the significance of putting position KNIGHT on it, you get called by the head knight. Who is like the manager of the Knights he's the boss. Interview will be like a breakdown of what they do, the shows, the times, everything. My boss was really nice he literally broke it down all the way to the fact where you had to think OK do I really want to be a nKight or not. It was straight forward. You start off as a squire. For like a year. They have a training period which starts in the slow season around summer. If you learn everything you have to by the time the season starts, (kinda like boot camp), then you will get in within 8-10 months as a knight. It took me around 7-8. I picked up everything quick. If you miss the trial. Which is usually at the beginning of the year, then you have to wait a whole year for that slow season again so you can perfect whatever you're missing on. And it's quick it's like "Sergio you ready to do the show today? Yes ok you're on". Just like that. He'll know when you're ready btw. Training sucks and it's horrible! I'd say 2 out of 5 guys make it. If you just failed or can't become a knight you don't get fired, you'll just stay as the Squire forever. My background was athletic. I did football, volleyball, and soccer in high school so I only stayed in shape. I also was an amateur boxer here in Chicago, so that helped me stay in shape too and my conditioning was already at par which helped me for this job immensely. But as far as swinging swords and real weapons around and horseback riding, I had absolutely none. Not even acting. You literally start at zero, and they build you up to 100 there. So if you're pretty fit and athletic, you can literally go in to a castle tomorrow, ask for an application and write down you wanna be a knight, and you'll get called within the week. Also depending on if they are looking for Knights. If they aren't looking for nights they will still call you and offer you other positions like servers or gift shop etc. There's many departments within the castle.

Thanks for the response! It sounds like a fascinating experience.

It'll be stuck with me forever. Every time I drive on the highway and pass up billboard, or see the commercial on the radio or on TV, I get nostalgic lol. At times i think dam I should've stayed. Other times I like how my life is right now. Nonetheless it's a bookmark in my life so I'm pretty happy to say that I was once part of that company and I was once a Knight. It's one of those cool stories to tell your friends ya know

Do you have any actual HEMA experience or just stage stuff?

I had no experience at all in anything! Very little horse experience being Hispanic and having a family that owns ranches and horses. But still any riding I knew was way short of what I learned there. They actually require people to have absolutely no experience in weapons, acting, fighting, or horseback. The reason for this is because everything they teach you at the castle or the company, this specific to the show. If you already know how to ride a horse, they will break what you already know and teach you how to ride their way. These horses are trained very well for the show and they're very specific, so if you already know how to ride those are bad habits for the horse which is trained specifically for the show. Makes sense? I mean the basics yes of course you have to look like a night and be somewhat handsome and all that, you know there's some squires that never become Knights because they either cannot get the hang of riding, cannot endure the Knight training, they just aren't fit or build to be or look like a knight, or they just aren't athletic are flexible enough. There's many reasons why some people quit within a week after starting the job, and/or why some get the green light by the Head Knight to start training and some don't. But to answer your question no, absolutely no training or prior experience is necessary to work at the castle. They teach you everything there is to know and that is probably one of the best things that I got out of working at the castle, I know now how to handle a horse and how to care for it and everything there is to know. I can ride ANY horse you put in front of me. As well as the great acting and weapons training I received, I can use that towards being a stuntman or for movies (which I'm currently working towards at the moment).

What do you do now?

Well in my teen years I used to be an amateur boxer. I did that for about 5-6 years when I was 17. Won a couple amateur tournaments and championships, including the Chicago Golden Gloves twice and I qualified for the 2012 London Olympics. Didn't win but just able to be there was an experience. I left the boxing sport due to some issues with the USA Amateur Boxing organization which then led me to find a job and landed at the castle. Once I left the castle about 2yrs ago now, I went back into the boxing ring in hopes to turn professional soon. Pretty much picked up where I left off.

the castle stuff is cool, but that's so much cooler! What weight do you fight at? and how was the Olympics over here in England for you?

Middleweight 160lbs. Everything was very different I mean, the regular tournaments I've fought in didn't compare to London. It was all like very professional but at the same time it felt very rushed. There was so much going on that it was just get ready and get in the ring. Once your fight was done it's like ok get off the ring, next fight up next. Just one after the other all day long. The time difference was a huge change to get used to. Nice experience but idk, that Olympic style boxing was something I'm not used to. It didn't suit my style since I'm a Boxer-Puncher with a bit of the Mexican inside fighter style. And you know in Olympic boxing it's that Cuban style long range boxing. It's scored 100% on contact points so that threw me off big time. If they asked me to do it again I'd say no. It just doesn't suit my fighting style.

thanks for the decent answer!

ah so you've an Oscar De La Hoya, or Marvin Hagler type then? (: I can imagine it's not as momentuous when they are just churning through matches...who did you fight?

Another boxing one: If GGG fought Canelo this weekend, who would win? Or if they fight in a year or two's time, as will probably happen, who do you think would win?

Hmmm, I guess I'm more of like a Julio Cesar Chavez type. I'm ok mid range, but I'll kill you on the inside. It's where I'm comfortable. Like Canelo. I have a hard time with great boxers like Lara who fight from the outside. Ukraine and Poland. Them Europeans are tough I tell ya.

Idk that's a tough one. Age doesn't matter here. It's the styles. Canelo is decently quick and throws effectively. He's got great snap on his punches with good pop and power. GGG is the same but he's got that European style boxing. That "come forth" style, his defense kinda sucks he gets hit easily. Just that no one has actually been offensive against him. He's just really strong and fights like a bull. None of them are back-up fighters they both stand toe to toe, the problem is they both punch in spurts... neither can hold their combos continuously. It's usually 2-3 and rest. 2-3 rest. Whoever can pick up their punch volume will win no doubt. And stay consistent in that. Canelo will win by decision cuz he usually can go all 12. But GGG can knock him out before the 12.

ah so the outside, points fighter can be more of a struggle for you?

Yeah it should be a top quality fight once it finally happens. GGG seems to be able to take punches so well (he's never been knocked down, never mind out). HE's got that hardcore Eastern European to him.... Canelo probably seems to have better stamina, but once GGG gains any momentum he seems to be unstoppable thus far. But, is that down the quality of the opponents he's faced? Maybe. but he's very durable, thus meaning the time's he's left himself open have never caught him out. I think Canelo could put him on the floor but he'd never knock him out I don't think

Yes. They cal it the "Cuban Style" or "Olympic style" boxing. They come in, pop pop from the outside and slip out before you can even catch em. In my opinion Lara beat Canelo! With that exact style. Unfortunately boxing is a business and Oscar knew Canelo was his money maker so they gave it to him.

You said exactly what me and others think, GGG hasn't fought anybody as of yet. They've been scrubs and nobody has laid leader on him. Canelo has deffinetly fought more quality opponents. The fight is set for November of 2017 no exact date yet. By then this fight would die down. After the big let-down from Mayweather-Pacquiao, the fans don't hype up anything anymore. I'd just like to see how GGG reacts to actually getting hit by a well powered puncher like Canelo. But I'm not hyped about this fight. GGG just isn't an exiting fighter. His style is just, dull. He's just very strong that's all. Or at least his weak opponents have made him look...

Best of luck on your boxing career.

Thanks hopefully I make something of myself one day.

What are your thoughts on pineapple on Pizza O Shiny Knight?

Hawaiian Pizza is one of the best!!! On weekends between the 2nd and 3rd show we got free pizza from a nearby Rosatti's Pizza restaurant. I guess the castle worked out a deal with that franchise owner on Pizza for Tickets or something, so every weekend Saturday & Sunday we'd get anything from their menu and out of the 5-6 XL pizzas we got, I was happy to open one up and see it was Pineapple ;) but what about Pen Pineapple Apple Pen? Haha

Why did you stop being a knight?

Well... it's not a "fun" job after all. We do take quite a beating. Nonstop training and working, specially during the busy season. Usually you live the castle life and that mostly goes for any department, that place is like your home. We seriously saw each other more than we saw our families. Work, go to sleep for a FEW hours, back to work next morning. That is why to this day I still stay in touch with the other Knights who still work there, that job forces you to build a super strong friendship since you see each other everyday all day. Although the show was fun and exiting at first, after a while it takes a toll mentally and physically. We're all a ticking bomb and it just takes a slight flame to make us blow up which is what happened in my case. The show itself is stressful and harsh already, I always had the thought of the company having like a VIP section backstage and ppl being able to buy those tickets not to see the show, but to see all the chaos we go through just to put on a show and during the show. Kinda like a behind the scenes thing, getting to see things from our side of the curtain. Either way I Kinda just had enough of the bs, Not the job itself I loved performing for the crowds and the little kids, i loved my horse. just kinda what goes on backstage and the toll it took on me, I wanted my weekends and my personal life back. also some repeated bad altercations with the head knight so I just got up and left one day.

That sounds pretty tough. Probably similar to being in the military. Things are always a lot harder when sleep deprivation is involved. Good job on the AMA btw.

Good similarity. Tough training, gotta be on point at all times, mentally and physically tested, hard work, I agree.

What kind of shenanigans do you and the rest of the cast get into during your rehearsal and trainings?

Shenanigans as in... ?

Is it all serious practice until it's flawless or do you guys ever mess around with each other.... pull pranks, say the wrong line to mess with each other, etc. I guess I'm thinking along the lines of outtakes for movies for example, where the actors mess around with eachother.

Yes the practices were crucial! We practiced nonstop I mean every part of the show got drilled into your head to the point were to this day I still remember every fight that I learned! And it's been almost 2yrs since I left the castle. I have only been back to see the show one since I left but I still even remember the lines and dialogue. And talk about pranks oh my god there was nonstop. Thonk of it like the seniors messing with the freshman's during high school every day. We made it a very fun workplace because we worked very hard and even on our days off we were there for eight hours training and practicing and just going over the show. So the pranks were very common thing, it was one of those you gotta keep looking over your shoulder jobs lol but it was all to cheer each other up and keep us away from feeling like prisoners or the work. As for saying the wrong lines during the show, that would honestly only happen if you really did mess up for real. During the show there was no time to mess up because the show was specifically set to be the way it was written. If we goofed off during the show or during the fight, we'd get an earful as soon as we got backstage by the head Knight. It was very noticeable if you honestly made a mistake out in the arena or you had a blooper which of course at that excuse you wouldn't get penalized. We had our fun times but during the show there was no fun times it had to be strictly work and kept it very professional and the way the show and fights were written. But... Up in the locker room we did have a stack of hundreds of DVDs (every show was recorded for accident purposes or for any mistakes) inside a drawer that we kept as our "blooper reels". And sometimes when we had a bit of downtime between shows we would pull them out and just have a good laugh watching them.

He's talking any butt play

There was, some lol I'll leave it at that.

Could you give a summary of what an average day / nights work would have been like? I have no idea what 'Medieval Times' is, but from what i've read in this AMA it sounds like one of those places that combines a dinner with some sort of show / interactive type thing. Sounds pretty cool regardless!

Will these work for you?

1) https://youtu.be/PCO0gVt_Hl8

2) https://youtu.be/yPNvGUuZ5vc

I'll check these out when I get home - can get away with redditing at work, but watching videos might be a little too noticeable.. Cheers!

Let me know what you think.

Is this AMA still live? It says it's live. I gotta know, how do you pick who to throw the rose to? Like do you just look for the hottest chick? The closest child? Do you avoid tossing it to chicks that are there with guys, or do you toss it to them on purpose? HOW DO YOU DECIDE?

It's a Carnation to be exact and I pick any female in my section. Of course we pick the gorgeous ones lol they melt when they catch it ;). I also tossed them to the little princesses and the older ladies. We got a bunch of them after every game so I would go Carnation-Trigger happy on my sections. And yes I didn't care if they were with their Bf/husband, she was mine for those 2hrs she was there. It's random just look n toss. You get about 4 moments to toss them and each time you got about 5-7 carnations. So most of your section would get one for sure.

I'm new to this so idk what it means that I'm live or how to go un-Live lol but I'm answering them as they come.

My wife and I went to a show once and ended up leaving. My wife is big into animal rights and had only bought tickets because she thought I'd like it. But while watching it she became concerned for the horses and I offered to leave if she didn't want to stay.

So my question is, how were the horses treated? I told her they probably treated them pretty well because they were necessary for the show.

They ARE the stars of the show. It wouldn't be a show if it wasn't for them and they are so darn great! Each with their own personalities, and playful and very smart. They aren't like most other animals where if they get abused they obey. Horses never forget. Specially the stallions who are not neutered they sometimes act up. Now imagine if any of the staff abused them. They'd go crazy specially IN the show. Those guys get royal treatment. The company does have backstage passes or tours anyone can take and go back in the stalls and see the horses up close and as you are waking back there you can see us handling them, feeding them, showering them, everything. Now there IS dicipline when training them and there is a certain level of correction and actions that must be taken when they do tend to get out of hand. But it doesn't fall under abuse. Like I stated, the Stallions aren't neutered and sometimes do act up at each other so at times we'd scream at them (scream their name) to get their attention when they are lunging at each other, or simply grab a crop (the whip you saw during the show) and tap them on the butt to stop them from being aggresive. They are so trained that almost every time all we had to do was smack the sand with the whip and they'd stop whatever they were doing bad. And fall back in line. Hardly we ever had them chained up or tied up to the rail, we just had them lined up against the wall and they'd stay there. Out in the arena they were perfect. They love performing and they are so well at it. Sometimes one of the guys would fall off mid show and the horse would continue to do the show on his own, they KNOW the show and they know their part very well. Most of the times I never needed to command my horse to do anything he just knew where to go and what to do. If they do mildly act up during the show it's usually in a long week where they are tired and don't really wanna run or you can just tell he's burnt out. Other than that, they come from the wild mountains of the company's ranch in Texas, and into a home where they get fed daily and showered and they get to play outside in the open corral. They're playful. Wish you would've stayed for the whole show and could've seen what great animals these horses are.

Put it this way, when have anything about animal abuse gone out for Medieval Times like it does at a circus? Nowhere do you see ppl protesting outside any castle. And next time you go to a show, ask about the backstage tour and check out the stables. They charge a bit of an extra fee it's like a couple bucks but you get to see a lot of the behind the scenes stuff. It's neat

why you dont build your own castle?

Well... it'll be hard to compete with Medieval Times... they got a good gold mine there with all 9 of their castles. Wether ppl love the show or hate it, that company is banking money like crazy. But hey, they DID start off with just 1 castle, so... wanna be my business partner haha??

Well the nearest one is 350 miles from me, so I'd say there is an untapped market here in New England.

We'll make this one like an R rated show lol

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[deleted]

Unfortunately, the links or photos you've posted could have been posted by anyone, and they don't prove that you are the person doing the AMA. Your proof needs to be something that connects the fact that you're doing an AMA with your identity. This could be something like a photo of you showing what you're doing the AMA about with a sign that has your username and the date. It could also be documents (partially redacted if desired) with a note that has the username and the date.

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Just saw your tweet - you're good to go.

All I need is somewhere to send you guys a pic taken right now with my Reddit Name, Date and time, and a paper saying "I was a knight at Medieval Times". That's all. Cuz all this does here is asks me for a "link"... can I email you the picture or how can I do that?

You're fine, I hadn't seen your reddit tweet. Your post is approved and back up. For future reference, [email protected] works too.

Noobie Problems (me)...

Don't feel bad. It's a weird interface and can be tough to figure out. Looks like you're doing a great AMA though!

Someone told me about this and that it would be a great idea to make one about my last job as a knight. It feels like a public interview. Which is kinda nice it brings back some memories ya know ;). So is this awkward thread we're having public lol?

Is it scripted which knight wins or are you guys basically fighting for who wins?

It's a performance. We gotta make the fights look good and cool and get the crowd on the edge of their seats. And the storyline has to be good and interesting too. If we just picked a weapon and went out there, and just swung for the fences or just killed the guy with one strike, not much of a cool fight scene right? I mean you are paying $65 for one badass 2hr show and to see knights joust and fight with real weapons, we gotta make sure we make your money worth. Each show is random and it's always a different guy and color that wins. The Knights fight each other specifically. It's one side (Blue, Red & Yellow, Green) vs the other side (Yellow, Black & White, Red). But it's pre-set. That's why we train.

That's what I was wondering if the same guy or few guys won every time or if it was mixed up

It's scripted. And there's more than one guy that knows that champ fight. I never got to be champ I wasn't there long enough to learn it. Takes 4-5yrs to make it there.

What was the jousting like? were to lances made to break pretty easily? how difficult was it to hit someone with a lance?

Jousting was probably one of the hardest things to learn while training to be a Knight. You're riding with a heavy shield on your left forearm and gripped by your hand while holding the reins with that same hand. On the other hand your holding a really heavy metal lance that weighs down at the tip so you have to hold it correctly to balance it from falling. Once the lance and shield go up, we let go of the reins because if you bring them up with your shield you're pulling on it. So you're riding freely with only your feet, and your feet are the only thing controlling the horse. Once you hit, you gotta gather yourself ASAP to grab those reins wherever they are flopping and stop the horse. All that in about 5-7secs. The tips were made of wood, and yes they were pre-cut by the head Squire backstage to enable a cool break effect and shatter. But only cut to a certain point so those things to take a nice pow to your shield and shoulder. If you're not seated correctly or brace yourself, you will get knocked off your horse! It's hard to hit someone because like I said that lance is tip heavy. You have to have that forearm muscle to sustain it straight and aim while that horse if flying. We aimed at the top right outside corner of the shield. If you hit anywhere inside you're literally blasting thru the shield and hitting the other guy dead on and that's a huge no no. The point of hitting the shield and getting a good "explosion" from the lance IF you hit right. The fall was the worst. And I mean it sucked. Falling off a horse going 20+ mph was a task. We are trained to fall and push off with our leg a certain way to prevent injury to us and the horse. 1st pass is a normal both break pass. 2nd pass the far end guy falls. The guy falling is literally riding free. No reins, feet are off the stirrup, (if you have your feet in them, they'll get caught while you fall and will seriously hurt yourself), just your ass on the seat balancing yourself trying not to fall during the ride. Here's. Video of me in Yellow doing a fall..

https://youtu.be/qgzGYRImac0

dang that is awesome, thanks for typing out such a detailed response. If i remember correctly there is like a competition where you have to put the lance through some rings hanging down from a piece of wood, how difficult was it to actually get the lance through? did knights ever accidentally miss during a show?

The games part is 100% all skill. None of that if rigged or faked. If you win the certain game you got carnations to toss to your section. If you lost you got nothing so you'd run to your section just waving I guess lol. That little ring was the hardest of all the games. Same as jousting, you got a horse running full speed, and those game lances aren't the same ones we use to joust, those are heavier since they're all metal, so you're balancing and trying to keep the thing steady. That ring is only about no more than and inch and a half round. Maybe even less. The tip of the lance barely goes through it. Try getting a lead pipe if you can find one laying around your garage or something, about 7-8ft long, holding it no more than 2ft from one end, running full speed and getting it into the opening of a milk gallon that is hanging about a foot above your head. The feeling I got when I did get it was orgasmic lmao

You're taking about the little ring that hang from a metal piece connected to the wall right? Cuz there's another part, we begin the games by flying out the tunnel collecting rings that hang from the ceiling. Those are supper easy they are huge. We'd laugh at whoever missed one of those lol.

The hard part too was the jousting helmets. Couldnt really see shit in those things. Took some time to get used to them...

https://instagram.com/p/wCgdJXlmtz/

Oh, talk about having a cool job!

Have you ever had a big injury during those 2 years (falling off a horse, etc.)?

What are your favorite TV shows?

Never fell off my horse unless I had to during joust. The only injuries I had was 4 cuts caused by weapons to my skull. Separate incidents of course. Toughest one was the one at the top of my skull, had to get 7 shiny staples to close that one up. Still got pics of those lol not for the easily disgusted.

My fav TV shows WERE That 70's Show, Who's Line Is It Anyway (I still love watching the re-runs), I'm a huuuuuuge paranormal geek so my current fave is Ghost Adventures, Worlds Scariest Haunted Places on Earth (History channel), anything paranormal honestly.

Also, weren't you in that Buzzfeed video about if woman could become Knights?

That was a great funny segment they did lol it's been one of many who have done segments about women becoming Knights. Although I have done many tv shows and such segments, That video was at the Buena Park Castle in California I think. Not the Chicago Castle I worked for.

What did you have to do to get the job? What are the requirements , I'd love to do this for a little while haha

Pretty much sign your personal and modern day life away.. lol it's not a part time job even though they make it seem to be for some employees. You'll get hours for sure. Be fit, athletic, be able to work in a fast paced LIVE SHOW, anything can happen and will happen so gotta be ready. It's a live show with 1,500ppl (Chicago Castle capacity, idk what the other 8 castles hold) so no room for mistakes and if they do happen then think quick n bounce back. You're working with real Thousands of Dollar state of the art pure bred Spanish Stallions and horses so these are not your regular pet dogs n cats. They are huge. These guys are expensive and require some real care and handling. You can get killed doing one wrong move. It's fun, it's a steady paycheck, deffinetly for the person that wants to work and will work his butt off. Go on and apply you'll get called for sure. But if it's only for a "little while" well you might not get called. Idk how little your while is, but they want guys who can stick around for some time. And eventually train from squires to be Knights later on. So this would be your main job put it this way.

Did you get paid while training? I saw you said you had no experience before hand, is there a height requirement or something to be a knight? How old were you when you worked there

Yes you get paid as soon as you set your foot on that sand on your first day. You start off as a Squire and in months you'll start training on days off or if there's time before the show. Days when there are no shows we are usually there from 9:30am-4:30pm training and riding for hours. Specially on down season when there's only shows on weekends. Lots of training days during the week. Idk if there's an exact height requirement... right before I left we had 2 squires training to be Knights and they were pretty short. Like around 5'7-5'8 I would guess. I've seen videos on YouTube of other castles and they seem to have some shorties too. When I started I was the shortest one and I'm 6ft. We had a dam good crew back then!!! Then you know, one by one they started leaving or getting fired or whatnot. Mostly it's by necessity that the Head Knight will be willing to train a Squire. In our case those 2 shorties were trained cuz we needed them. But man did they bust their ass and have heart. Can't speak for all castles but our Head Knight loved it if you gave it your all and saw you bustin your ass running in that sand as a Squire. If he saw you were dedicated he would train you to be a Knight. I was 24-25 when I started.

I've only been once, but I remember one of the knights choosing a girl out of the audience to be his lady. Is this predetermined or done randomly?

Are you taking about the champ choosing the Queen of Love and Beauty? This happens every show. It's always a cute little girl and it's just like idk to make her day I guess. The girl is random unless it's her birthday or if we know her like if she's my little niece or something. She gets a sash and tiara. It's not his lady it's more like Queen of Love and Beauty. I usually seeked out the cutest little girl in my section, specially one wearing a cute dress or a princess outfit.

Awesome AMA! Doing great stuff here. So background in boxing, was a knight at Medieval Times. Any desire to participate in the Medieval Fighting Championships? -2015 USA v Poland- I'm kidding, of course. Did your time at the castle inspire you to learn about the history of knights or anything like that? Any coworkers take their performance a little too seriously?

No history of Knights was influenced there lol. I wouldn't say the guys took it seriously, just out in the arena we did for our safety so we tried our best to be perfect specially in fights. But I think you mean like outside of work? No not at all. We hung out and kicked back having pizza n beers or went out to a Cubs or White Sox game like any other long haired human out there lol. Outside of our shiny armor you would NEVER think we were the 6 Knights that worked at Medieval Times.

That sport is no joke we used to watch on YouTube some of those videos lol they kick ass. Props for those guys.

I have seen the show many times, especially in Chicago (born and raised!) Do they make the armor for each knight individually? Do you have to be trained in all of the weapons or only the ones you liked? Were you able to keep any of the props when you left?

Yes each Knight their own specific armor. Although sometimes we would just grab whichever one was their. Green knight had black armor so his was always his. You train in the weapons for each fight that you are learning. So eventually yes you have to learn all the fights and their weapons for it. That's if you wanna get a raise at the end of each year. I mean you can stay forever knowing just one fight but that does no good to the team and for your paycheck. When I left I could've. Like my belt, chaps, spurs, if I really wanted to. We each customized our own belts. I just left everything in my locker when I left. Some of the guys had cracked or broken shield n weapons at their houses. We'd toss them out even for a crack for safety purposes. After the show sometimes we'd call dibs and go around the back to the trash can outside the castle and pick them up n sneak them away. Then again Gift Shop in the lobby sold weapons and shields way cooler than the ones we used in the arena, and we got 50% off all that so we'd get those nice shiny ones instead of taking the beat up ones from the show.

Did you work at the one in Schaumburg in the mid 1990's? I may have caught the "rose" from you as our knight with long brown hair won that show, and I caught the rose in the stands. I remember because it was one of the best memories I had from that age!

I worked within the past 5yrs there. I think it's time for you to go again?

Is what they feed the horses better than what they serve the customers?

Lol The horses did get some five star class meal I'll say that. With the addition of loads of treats that we would give them, if those horses could speak they would tell you how much they love their nutrition. In all honesty I believe the $65 per ticket that the company charges goes normally towards these animals. Some people do believe it's a bit expensive, but you honestly get what you pay for for a two hour show. And it's not cheap to maintain these majestic animals. In all aspects. Doctor checkups, food, stable maintenance, water, medicine, horseshoes, Ect. Our Castle and I'm guessing that goes for every other castle, carried just enough horses to do the show. We could not afford to lose any of our stars. But damn is that chicken and them ribs so good also :) other than my favorite Church's Fried Chicken, I believe the chicken at the castles is my 2nd favorite

Here is some taunts from the game Chivalry medieval warfare I bet you really get into that.

Here's a kind of excelent, dumb discourse!"  "What a comedy is your defiance!"  "Thou drone! Thou slug! Thou snail! Thou sot!"  "Art thou my eunuch? I shall make it so!"  "Your wife provided fitter sport!"  "They flock together in consent, like so many wild geese."  "Go off! I discard you! Let me enjoy my privates!"  "Well fought, I'll give you that." "Not bad for a squire." "Hah, I'm almost trying." "You have strength, you should join the order." "You should join the order." "I nearly broke a sweat." "You are well matched i'll give you that.

You're a gamer? I'll find myself grabbing my Xbox One once in a while. It kind of helps to get away from the real world a bit. But I'm not a hard-core gamer or anything like some of those crazy YouTube videos I've seen LOL. Talking about Medieval Games, I'm pretty interested to see "For Honor" and see how that plays out. About a year back UbiSoft Montreal (developers and makers of the game) contacted me off my Facebook to give me a short interview and ask me questions about the striking and realism of the game. They practically wanted to make the game and the weapons and fighting as real as it possibly can get, and I guess being a Knight at Medeival times they wanted my opinion to see if the game felt accurate to the realism. So it's nice to know that my opinion and my experience with weapons helped in a big time game soon to come out. I hope

What's your perspective on the fitness level a medieval knight must have and how difficult do you believe it would be to try to be the top knight of the medieval army?

Well, we did have some military personnel that came in. Last a day or 2 and didn't get past that. I'd say 8 out of 10 squires don't make it past the first week. At my castle that is, I'm sure other castles have a different training way or difficulty level. I'll tell you, even as a Squire that whole running in the sand and carrying weapons and al that, it's not easy. At all. And training to be a knight is more than twice as hard as just being a Squire. I'd say the fitness level would be equivalent to playing a tough contact athletic American sport. I'd compare it to football. You're running constantly, getting hit all the time, if you're a knight your taking hits from shields and heavy weapons, the falls off the horse at full speed, just running in the sand itself sucks. It'll leave your legs sore for weeks! Being one of the senior Knights takes time. It's not only how tough it is to learn all the fights to get up there. But the tougher fights are multiple. You go out, do a fight, come backstage n rest for a few mins. Then you have to go out again for another fight. The Champ is super tough, he does 2 fights back to back and they are the longest most conditioned and physical fights so you REALLY gotta be in shape for that one. You literally are "dead" tired when you get carried backstage, as you SHOULD be. If you're perfectly fresh at the end of your fight, you either cut corners in your form or half-assed it and it's very noticeable. Remember, "shortcuts are the easy way", but in this job if you cut corners you can tell cuz it's a VISUAL show. So from a level of 1-10 fitness level I have to say a 10. I mean, I mentioned on another comment that I used to box few years before I started working there. Boxing is tough and training is harsh. This is equivalent to that and even more. And that's coming from someone who's been in the ring and training as a boxer for years. Which is what I do now again actually.

Did any of your fights on stage get or feel personal?

It was common. We worked a lot, we saw each other so much, more than we saw our own families. We were like all brothers. Nothing ever happened outside of the castle but once in a while one will get pissed off at the other over a mishap during games or a fight, in my case I did a cut where the waist is, the other guy is supposed to jump back to avoid the cut. He didn't jump "properly" or half assed it and I cut with intentions to literally cut his mid section. I mean I'm supposed to make it real and since he's dodging the strike I'm going full force since I KNOW he's supposed to dodge it. Well his half-assed dodge wasn't enough and I smacked my sword on his jewels pretty hard. And I mean hard, he screamed SO loud it was obviously not scripted. I just froze like come on man what kinda dodge was that... we carried on to a part where he grabs a really long weapon and it was my turn to dodge about 3 strikes. And he came at me trying to kill me for real. Clipped me on the thigh and I went down and craddled in the sand. It just looked off for anyone in the arena. I was hurt on my thigh and his jewels were in pain. After the fight we got backstage and yea there was a war of not swords but words. Assistant Head Knight had to put us apart n sent me upstairs (our locker room was directly upstairs of the backstage, there was a staircase that led there) to cool off. It happens. We work together, we make mistakes and accidents happen. It's a stressful job and well the fights are so intense sometimes we let out our differences in the arena. But deep in our hearts and head we know it was just the spur or the moment. We end up huggin each other n apologizing. We don't intend to hurt each other at all it's just the heat of the moment and we unleash. We all actually feel HORRIBLE when we accidentally hurt each other. But it's what brings us together. The hate-ups and the make-ups lol later after the show we are al having dinner or couple cold ones together.

That's awsome. I've never been there but I've always wanted to go

The company is very good with coupons and discounts, make sure you pick up on those.

Would the pay be worth it? Would you ever go back? Have you ever tried to get friends to work as knights? How old are you now? Sounds like you have a really nice life 😊

Pay is... eh. Eventually I didn't do it for the money. It's one of those jobs that you gotta love it for the crowd, the action, just being a "Knight" and playing a huge role in a show that is sold out with 1,500ppl. Your crowd/section cheering for you, making the little princesses and little boys smile and make their day. I loved the thousands dollar horses I got to play with and the cool-ness of being able to fight with real titanium weapons that sparked every time you got a good contact metal to metal. I loved more than the paycheck. I actually did love my job. Idk if I would ever go back, good question. I honestly would have never left if it wasn't for me pursuing what I really wanted to do in life. I went into that job with the mindset of "ok just a couple years, have fun, give it my all and get out". I didn't refer anybody I knew to be a knight no. Either because I totally knew they wouldn't handle the training or cuz I just knew they weren't fit to be one. Visually and physically. I'm 28 now, I'm a March baby ;). My life is great at the moment and those were some of the best 2yrs of my life.

What do you do now?

Exact question I answered on another thread. I used to be a boxer years back. Stopped for a bit. And now I have gotten back into the sport. Hopefully to make it big or at least a popular name.

Who would you want to squire for you from game of thrones?

Alright, all you GOT fans are gonna kill me for this. Although EVERYONE was a fan in the locker room, I'd have to admit that I was the only one who has never seen an episode... although I do believe I'm 100% sure somewhere I saw a picture from another castle, with I think it was their MC Chancellor m, took a quick selfie with Jon Snow. And Jon was dressed as one of the Castle's squires. So idk if he actually started working at one or maybe he was filming in that castle, maybe he just wanted to be a Squire for one night to see how it related to the tv show. I don't know but I'm POSITIVE I saw the pic. And the only reason why I know who Jon Snow is, because I had to google him since the person that posted seemed sooooooo exited about the selfie with him. Cuz I think the caption was "Jon Snow is alive!!!!" Whatever THAT meant...

Is it hard to poop with all that gear on? Explain the steps of pooping?

Do people call you a white knight?

The gear is tights, with cool threaded glitter stuff on em lol, a long sleeve under shirt kinda like the stretchy under-armor sports ones, and our armor is just a BMX razorback vest. We tie on or bolt on the metal shoulders. So there's really noting undernead the tunic other than the BMX vest which comes off just by un-clipping the 2 clips that go from the back under your arm pits and clip on the front. Like a lifeguard vest. Very flexible. The question should be is it hard holding it in once on your horse out in the middle of a show lmao ;)

Idk what the question really is, they call us whatever color we are. Red Knight, Blue Knight, Black & White Knight Ect. Although each night has their actual name (The fiction ones in the show), we are usually just known by our color and section.

You sound like the coolest guy ever. What is your favorite / least favorite memory? As someone in chicago I'm sure I've seen you before in the show. Also, how important was having good hair? Also, are there any female knights / squires? Can't imagine such a job is appealing to females

Favorite... there's many. And trust me, many! To narrow it down, one of my faves would have to be the first show I did as a Knight. You have no idea the grueling training and practices I did for 8 months to be ready to be a knight and have my first show. It was like, unexpected. "How you feelin today Sergio? Good? Ok ready to be in the show? Aright you're in" before I can even answer anything lol. I was Yellow Knight, and did the Axe Fight. My least favorite, would be when we did 3 shows that day. I think it was a Sunday. I was Red the first 2 shows and the last show I was Yellow. Sooooo I go up to catch the flowers. And mind you Red section is RIGHT next to the princess throne. Well, I'm the yellow knight this show ok, and yea I tossed all my flowers to Red section lmao!!! It took me a few seconds to figure out why NOBODY caught any of them and looked at me puzzled, as I'm over here trying to cheer them up... Red Knight wake up to me as he's ready to asi toss his flowers, "thanks my lord very nice of you". Huh? I looked down at my tunic, yup I was Yellow not Red XD. The hair thing was nice, first time I let it grow and apart from all the other guys I kept mine medium length. They all had it very long. So I got complimented often. And let's face it i rocked it pretty well lol. Chicks dig the long hair I soon learned. I took care of it like I did normal short hair. But We all had a thing for the Aussie Shampoo and Aussie Conditioner, the purple bottle with the kangaroo on it. You'd see bottles of them laying around everywhere in the locker room. And no women Knights or squires, due to the fact that the owners are real spaniards and the company has been in their family for years. They kept it as legit and real as possible. No female Knights back then, no female Knights now. Do you remember when was the last time you went to the Castle? If it was anytime within the last 3yrs ('13, '14, '15) then yes you deffinetly saw me, we only had one set of Knights and we did every show.

yo dude i went to see this bullcrap for a field trip once and the wizard who walked out in velvet robes and a ridiculous beard was wearing reebok pumps.

How do you explain that?

With your goddamn precious lance?

I highly doubt that haha for one, we have never had a wizard in our show, and two, every performer/actor in the show wears riding boots called Ariat Boots. They are black. For performers the attire is very strict. But if we had the choice I would deffinetly not mind wearing gym shoes, those boots we wore were NOT cheap (we didn't pay the castle did) and they were real leather. Those along with the riding chaps that went up to about your knee were very heavy specially in that almost foot of sand. With that said the spurs we use for the horses would not fit any shoe the right way unless they are riding boots. Are you sure he was a performer IN the show and not one of the Gift Shop or server?? Or maybe a random person who went to the show that dressed up?

He was not some loonie who goes around to other peoples shows dressed as a wizard, it was part of the act.

I remember being in grade 4, eating my chicken leg and like 4 extra pieces of garlic toast cause everyone except me thought it was shitty,

and then a huge bunch of smoke and shit goes off in the middle of the sand trap that is called a stage, and this wizard dude walked out like some budget bastardized dumbledore.

His reebok pumps were sometimes obscured by his robe while he was mostly stationary but everyone in the class was laughing because the wizard was wearing some dope ass kicks.

I actually backtracked after I read your comment, and I guess some years back they did have some sort of wizard on one of the last storylines. I browsed through this Reddit and found a server did an iAmA. He mentioned they would ask servers to be the wizard and "dance around" during this part sometimes? If that's the case then yes you are right as servers are allowed to wear any kind of shoes since they walk all day. But this show was way before my time.