Or perhaps I'm the ONLY one in this forum who ever approached a KJ after waiting nearly two hours to sing (and witnessing some person in the back who I was SURE just sang his third tune) to ask when I was up?

I have a couple of new shows that are still building, and it's pretty common right now to have ten or twelve singers. When one of them comes up to me three or four tunes after they sang and starts whining, I get a little frustrated. After all, it's obvious that there are very few people in the place and they'll get their turn.

On the other hand, I have a venue that regularly draws 40 plus singers, with rotation times over two hours, and new singers arriving sporatically throughout the evening. When a singer approaches to ask about their turn after they've been waiting patiently for a couple of hours, I can totally understand why they'd inquire. This does not bug me. Most of my regulars are pretty good at knowing who's next, etc. but in a crowd of this size (40 singers usually means 125 to 200 patrons) it's hard for them to keep track.

A KJ acquaintance has helped remedy the "am I next" problem a tiny bit by adding one of those multi-segment scrolling LED signs at his shows. It flashes the name of the current singer, then scrolls the next couple of singers. He raves about the concept, though it seems like he spends quite a bit of time banging away on that little miniture keyboard that controls the sign.

Some KJ's think they're bigtime when they first start out. Others are just downhome types that will never be 'bigtime'.

It's all about attitude.

How about the ones that have to get home or friends are leaving, I tell them I will give back their song slection to bring in to sing next time they come by. No matter how ugly they may get I always meet their request / demand with a smile.

People sing in their posted place in rotation on my dry erase board. Most sit back and relax knowing their turn is assured. Everyone hates to wait, but I attract a lot of faces, some new some regulars from all over the country, but with the board in plain view they understand why the wait is so long.

I do move my shows along at a fast clip of about 4 minutes per singer (14-15 songs/singers per hour). I have made some great customers out of my one time whiners used to throwing their weight around at other shows. A KJ can turn many of these in to good patrons, after all thick hides, mind reading and psychiatry are prerequisites for becoming a KJ! - LOL

A "whiney KJ" will sometimes want me to sing certain songs so the audience won't leave! Usually it's when the night is getting a little boring and the crowd is starting to dispurse. I'll usually do his/her request, or an offshoot of it. But, I try to pick what I think everyone will enjoy, and not just the KJ.