BEST OUIJA SESSION EVER. Last night was intense. A packed house of enthusiastic Fringe goers provided no shortage of folks eager to get in on the act. I was also flattered and surprised that 2 of my former NYU Tisch students from 4 years previous made the trek, one driving all the way down to Philly from Cambridge, MA where he is now in a graduate Voodoo program at Harvard. I met with them and their friend for a quick drink at a UPenn/Drexel hangout afterward not far from the Blue Grotto.
Suffice it to say, hands shot up when I asked for 3 volunteers and got them rolling on the Ouija board at the show’s climax. The Ouija session was the most intense so far, with a unique and active personality at work. The session could have gone on much longer but alas we had to break it off and bring the show in for a landing. Here’s the transcript. The questioner here is a split between myself and an outstanding audience volunteer named R.
QUESTIONER: What’s your name?
SPIRIT (or subconscious ideomotor impulse depending on your beliefs): DAVID
QUESTIONER: When were you born?
SPIRIT: 1976
QUESTIONER: Do you know you’re part of a show?
SPIRIT: NO.
QUESTIONER (Jeff): It was R.’s idea.
SPIRIT: WHY?
QUESTIONER: We’re just seeking enlightenment tonight about our lives and about what happens where you are. Where are you now?
SPIRIT: LOS ANGELES
QUESTIONER: Do you know anyone in the room tonight?
SPIRIT: YES.
QUESTIONER: Who?
SPIRIT: PEOPL
QUESTIONER (Jeff): Cute answer. We do have a roomful of people here. I hate to break this off but we need to sadly wrap this up and continue the show. Maybe a fews will want to come back and chat with you more in a few minutes when we’re done. Final question: do you know what’s taped to the back of the grave photo hanging in the other room?
SPIRIT: YES
(Let me point out that this was a first. For the past 3 nights in a row since the show opened the response to this question was NO. I was caught off guard by this seemingly miraculous answer and remained skeptical.)
QUESTIONER (Jeff): You do? Okay, what is it?
SPIRIT: HOME.
(This actually put a lump in my throat and brought a tear to my eye. It gave me pause. It was an astute, even clever answer.)
QUESTIONER (Jeff): (long pause) That’s extremely close. It’s not literally that but HOME is a really special, poetic way of putting it. That’s really smart is, underneath, correct.
SPIRIT: VERY
QUESTIONER (Jeff): Big round of applause for David.
BEST OUIJA SESSION EVER. Last night was intense. A packed house of enthusiastic Fringe goers provided no shortage of folks eager to get in on the act. I was also flattered and surprised that 2 of my former NYU Tisch students from 4 years previous made the trek, one driving all the way down to Philly from Cambridge, MA where he is now in a graduate Voodoo program at Harvard. I met with them and their friend for a quick drink at a UPenn/Drexel hangout afterward not far from the Blue Grotto.
Suffice it to say, hands shot up when I asked for 3 volunteers and got them rolling on the Ouija board at the show’s climax. The Ouija session was the most intense so far, with a unique and active personality at work. The session could have gone on much longer but alas we had to break it off and bring the show in for a landing. Here’s the transcript. The questioner here is a split between myself and an outstanding audience volunteer named R.
QUESTIONER: What’s your name?
SPIRIT (or subconscious ideomotor impulse depending on your beliefs): DAVID
QUESTIONER: When were you born?
SPIRIT: 1976
QUESTIONER: Do you know you’re part of a show?
SPIRIT: NO
QUESTIONER (Jeff): It was R.’s idea.
SPIRIT: WHY
QUESTIONER: We’re just seeking enlightenment tonight about our lives and about what happens where you are. Where are you now?
SPIRIT: LOS ANGELES
(A clever play on words? He’s with “the angels.”)
QUESTIONER: Do you know anyone in the room tonight?
SPIRIT: YES
QUESTIONER: Who?
SPIRIT: PEOPL
QUESTIONER (Jeff): Cute answer. We do have a roomful of people here. I hate to break this off but we need to sadly wrap this up and continue the show. Maybe a few will want to come back and chat with you more in a few minutes when we’re done. Final question: do you know what’s taped to the back of the grave photo hanging in the other room?
SPIRIT: YES
(Let me point out that this was a first. For the past 3 nights in a row since the show opened the response to this question was NO. I was caught off guard by this seemingly miraculous answer and remained skeptical.)
QUESTIONER (Jeff): You do? Okay, what is it?
SPIRIT: HOME
(This actually put a lump in my throat and brought a tear to my eye. It gave me pause. It was an astute, even clever answer.)
QUESTIONER (Jeff): (long pause) That’s extremely close. It’s not literally that but ‘home’ is a really special, poetic way of putting it. It is, underneath, correct.
SPIRIT: VERY
BEST OUIJA SESSION EVER. Last night was intense. A packed house of enthusiastic Fringe goers provided no shortage of folks eager to get in on the act. I was also flattered and surprised that 2 of my former NYU Tisch students from 4 years previous made the trek, one driving all the way down to Philly from Cambridge, MA where he is now in a graduate Voodoo program at Harvard. I met with them and their friend for a quick drink at a UPenn/Drexel hangout afterward not far from the Blue Grotto.
QUESTIONER: What’s your name?
SPIRIT: PEOPL