The Tiger Story

So there we were. It was the big finale for a product launch, it was what called the “Big Money” moment. Big show. Big client. Big ending. It’s bigness was very big.

The audience were lining up outside the auditorium and getting restless, we had kept them waiting for 20 mins outside and now they were bored and tetchy.

The client.? Well they were under pressure so understandably we were under pressure and the buck was firmly in our corner.

We were under very heavy fire to deliver and our cause wasn’t helped by the fact that CEO started to complain. Admittedly he had a point. 25 minutes earlier we had stuffed him into a concealed shelf underneath a steel cage as he was the star of the finale and now he was becoming about as vocal as its possible within a dark claustrophobic space complaining about the heat and smell of cat’s wee.

Ah! the cat. In fact a large Siberian white tiger owned by a very famous Vegas act who was pulling a major grump (the cat not the act) and refused to get inside the cage. No amount of cajoling or sweet talk would work. According to the trainer, the CEO was a strange “smell” in his cage and he wouldn’t get in.

The tension was unbearable. The production team and client started laughing at the absurdity of the situation which in the circumstances was an entirely appropriate response. Bad move. There was an angry muffled expletive from the cage. “What’s so bl**dy funny”?

“The Cat refuses to get into the cage because he thinks you smell”.

We will never forget the waves of convulsive laughter coming from the cage.

The Cat got in. The CEO performed. We still work with them. They trust us.

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