Mandolin mishaps

[JoeGamble]

I find a little discouraging that so many people don't know what a mandolin is. Other times it can be pretty funny though. Just today I mentioned something about playing mandolin, and my friend turned to me and said, " Whats a mandolin? Isn't that like an orange?" ( She was thinking of mandarin, which is both a language and an orange, but to my knowledge not an instrument). I generally get the " Is that a ukulele ?"

I was wondering if anyone else had any funny stories where people didn't know what a mandolin was.

[JeffD]

"Is that a bazooka? Or a balaluke?

The biggest surprize I had was this last summer. I was sitting outside at a coffeehouse, playing my A style mandolin. An elderly woman came up to me and said, "Oh, I just love the sound of the mandolin." I smiled and thanked her. Then she asked me, "Now, what instrument is that you are playing?"

http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif

Turns out her bother played a mandolin as a kid, but it was a bowlback, and she had never seen any other kind of mandolin.

[Andrew Lewis]

I've been "uke'd" and bunch in my time playing mandolin and been "banjo'd" twice. I kinda understand the uke thing, but banjo?

[SnapCut]

I ran into a friend on a bus and after I told him what I was carrying was a mandolin he ask if I was going to move to Hawaii to play music. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif

[wannabethile]

i used to keep a mandolin of mine inside of a softshell case and carry it on my back. when i lived in southern california some people would even be ignorant enough to ask, "why are you carrying a tennis racket on your back??". -ugh- c'mon, folks!!!

[Mandolusional]

I was talking about playing mandolin to one of my web dev clients who actually knows what it is, and he said, "Well that's just another type of banjo..." if he wasn't a key client... http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[mandofiddle]

I've gotten the "I've never seen a mini-guitar before". Pretty funny. And of course the uke and banjo ones too.

[sailaway]

well my german shepherd puppy could not distinguish between a chew toy and the neck of my Colling MF5, fortunately i sorted it out yesterday Am just as she was going to chomp on it. she has already eaten 2 oak stair treads, the inside of a fleece vest (admittedly i had dog cookies in the pocket) a bag of Chespeake Bay Crab chips and 2 leashes one leather one plastic. (YES she is in obedience training. YES she has toys to chew on...)

she is fond of mando music , will tolerate dobro, but dislikes tenor b#$%o... http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mad.gif http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wow.gif

[GTG]

" Whats a mandolin? Isn't that like an orange?"

Bing! Glorious - straight to my signature line.

[MikeEdgerton]

I was playing a bar when this guy asked if my mandolin was a ukulele. My guitar player blurts out "It's an Italian ukulele" then we broke into our version of the theme from the Godfather that we call "Don Corleone's Breakdown".

[Dave Cowles]

I take one of mine to work with me most days (I open a convenience store/gas station at 5:30AM) and a couple days ago one of the morning customers saw it and asked if it was a violin. It's a 'burst finish F model, but IMHO it looks a lot less like a violin than maybe a ukelele. I'm thinking about a banner sticker for my case that reads:
" It's a mandolin, dang it!" http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

Dave

[miked500]

...playing The Little Bear, a big burly biker dude yells out (during the break no less) "CAN'T HEAR THE UKULELE!" I didn't feel like arguing with him!