QUIRK: London Theater Employs Ninjas to Silence Cell Phones (No. Seriously.) | Sojourners

QUIRK: London Theater Employs Ninjas to Silence Cell Phones (No. Seriously.)

No matter how many times we see the little advert (as the English say) before the movie telling us to silence our phones, the temptation to go for our smartphones — to look up, for instance, the name of the other films that one actor (with the butt chin and beady eyes) was in before he became a superhero — is too much to resist.

Or maybe we just can't not text a friend to tell her how the ending of the Dark Knight legend picked up our expectations and pulled a Bane on them (i.e. broke their huge backs, shattering them entirely). 

Whatever the reason for putting down the bucket of popcorn and reaching for the squawk box, the fact remains: cell phones are a nuisance to everybody around us — in a cinema perhaps more than anywhere else.

Which is why a London movie theater recently started employing ninjas to combat rogue cell phone use during screenings.

Yes, ninjas.

As expected, the ninjas — volunteers who don all-black, full-body "Morphsuits" (think Green Man from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) in exchange for free admission — hide in the dark shadows of the theater. Faster than you can say Sasuke Sarutobi, the ersatz ninjas descend on the noisy, disruptive patrons, giving them a stern warning.

These altruistic heroes for angry London cinephiles do their thing in exchange for free movie passes— but, unfortunately, actual ninja training is not included.

Heck, I'd be a ninja for a free flick. Throw in the lycra body suit and I'm THERE!

NPR tipped us off to this important story early Friday on Morning Edition. Listen for yourself below:

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Brandon Hook is Online Assistant for Sojourners.

Photo credit: Ninja by Danomyte/Shutterstock.