Best pens for autographing Playbills?

[TalkinLoud]

Posted: 8/24/09 at 12:05am

In my stage-dooring, I've noticed that a fine point Sharpie is not really ideal for getting Playbills signed. It's too thin.

So I'm looking to get a pen that gives a better signature. I'm thinking a medium point paint pen. Does anyone know of a good one or have a better suggestion?

I want to get one black pen and one metallic silver pen.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 8/24/09 at 12:06am

Most folks use sharpies....but the "regular" ones.

[wdwfreak]

Posted: 8/24/09 at 12:09am

Yes. It is pretty smart to get one of each because some playbills are darker than other(so you would use the silver) and ones that are lighter(which you would use the black sharpie).
For example, on the Spring Awakening playbill I have it signed with silver sharpie because it mostly black.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 8/24/09 at 12:17am

https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.cfm?boardid=1&boardname=bway&thread=962410

Ah, memories.

[TalkinLoud]

Posted: 8/24/09 at 12:43am

I went to a few places today, and couldn't find any "regular" Sharpies. Just fine point and extra fine.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 8/24/09 at 12:48am

I find it really hard to believe that none of the places you went to had regular Sharpies. Just find any brand black and silver permanent marker.

[raggballad2]

Posted: 8/24/09 at 1:13am

Regular= fine tip, as in this: http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/img-thing?.out=jpg&size=l&tid=6935309

Not Ultra fine, like a regular pen, or the really fat ones, like highlighters. Just the.."regular" Sharpie, which would be Fine Tip (I just bought them, they are under "Fine Tip"). Get a Metallic Silver and Black.

[roseaddams]

Posted: 8/24/09 at 1:14am

I'm assuming the 'regular' that people are referring to is a fine point Sharpie. That's the one I always use when I go to stage doors and it works just fine.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 8/24/09 at 1:39am

I just want to add that you should avoid paint pens that can be bought at craft stores. With many of those pens the user needs to press down fairly hard while writing to get them to work. When actors are trying to sign as many playbills as they can fooling with a paint pen can be a bother. A regular silver sharpie will do just fine. I have, also, used the pink, purple, and blue sharpies with nice results.

[Taryn]

Posted: 8/24/09 at 2:05am

I use a silver sharpie for everything, light or dark. It shows up really well on everything.

[RachelO]

Posted: 8/24/09 at 9:34am

I'm a proud supporter of the silver sharpie.
:)

[TalkinLoud]

Posted: 8/24/09 at 9:35am

Like I said, I've been using "regular" (which are fine tip) Sharpies, but the autograph is often very thin, sometimes it looks like it's barely showing up. That's why I was looking for something different.

Do they even make medium tip Sharpies anymore?

[mikem]

Posted: 8/24/09 at 7:28pm

When you say that the fine point Sharpies are too thin, do you mean the black ones or the silver ones? The black fine point ones are pretty standard, and as you can see from roseaddams's avatar, the black fine point Sharpie signatures show up just fine. I've used medium point, but the line is too thick IMO, especially if you want to get a lot of signatures on a Playbill.

If it doesn't look like the signatures are showing up (and you're using a fine point not an ultra fine point -- the ultra fine point ones don't always work well and have exactly the problem you describe), I'm guessing you're running out of ink. The silver ones run out of ink incredibly quickly (sometimes after just a handful of signatures), and they also don't write well on a windowcard or program all the time (as opposed to a Playbill) unless they are really, really new. The black ones last a while but run out eventually.

The other thing that makes it look like the signatures are not showing up is very cold weather, but I'm guessing that's not the case at this time of the year!

[NuMystic]

Posted: 8/26/09 at 1:05am

Have gone the silver and black route and have now settled on gold.

Perfect contrast on both dark and light backgrounds and actually compliments the Yellow of the Playbill header. :)

[saveusmike]

Posted: 8/26/09 at 1:23am

between autographs do u keep the sharpie lid off?
I learned this the very first time stage dooring at Ave Q. By the time I was getting my last sig (Jen Barnhart) it came out very small and dry and she asked me if I kept the cap on cause they dry out very fast. She told me to always keep it capped between sigs

I remember that advice to this day :)

[kchenofan]

Posted: 8/26/09 at 8:50am

I've used black, silver, and blue. Some actors come with their own Sharpies, but some don't, so if the first actor has a Sharpie ready, don't assume they all will.

[Wick3]

Posted: 3/5/17 at 7:52pm

Has anyone used bronze? I'm shopping for sharpies right now and thinking of getting silver, black, and blue sharpie pens. Does red work well on dark-colored playbills?

[StephieElise]

Posted: 3/5/17 at 8:13pm

I'm really a fan of the gold sharpie and have received many compliments from performers on it. At one point I found a retractable one which was good too as you didn't have to fuss with a lid. 

[PatrickDC]

Posted: 3/5/17 at 8:26pm

StephieElise said: "I'm really a fan of the gold sharpie and have received many compliments from performers on it. At one point I found a retractable one which was good too as you didn't have to fuss with a lid. "

I use a Sharpie on work documents for a word or two to stand out. And I am addicted to the retractable ones. Much easier than a lid. I'd think this would work best at the stage door, Playbill in one hand handing to the actor while you hold the Sharpie and click it with your thumb just before handing off. Retractables haven't taken off yet so I've found some folks fumbling with it trying to take off the  non-existent cap. But maybe actors are more well versed in Sharpies than the general public. 

[Wick3]

Posted: 3/6/17 at 9:13am

Did you order them from Amazon? The only gold sharpies I see on there are the ones with caps (no retractables)... Unless it's a different brand?