The bassists had a tricky entrance in a piece the orchestra was sight-reading. Even though the score said to start playing on an off beat, our ears fooled us into thinking otherwise. Consequently, all six of us missed the entrance. The conductor stopped us and said, "Hang on; we need to get this." I thought he would follow up with, "This is where you come in," or "Please remember to count, and don't let your ears fool you." He surprised us, however, by saying, "Bassists, do you know how foolish a conductor looks when he goes like this, and no one responds?" While asking this, he raised his arms, clenched his teeth, and made his eyes bulge menacingly. A passerby, upon seeing this unflattering pose, might have thought the conductor had just escaped from an asylum.
The next time around, all six of us played our entrance correctly.
