Last night’s performance of Beautiful Zion: A Book of the Dead went well. The audience was small so I could bring the action to even closer proximity to them, making the show as intimate as possible.
A Facebook message from one of the Ouija volunteers today sez, “Another night, another great Fringe show. “Beautiful Zion: Book of the Dead. ” Funny, emotional, brave, spooky – what more can you ask for?…Interesting. I’m curious to know what kind of being it was, if it wasn’t human…”
A message from the 2nd Ouija volunteer sed, “Congrats on the success. It was the most entertaining and compelling one man show we’ve seen in a very long time. You created a real event, and it was such an experience. I’m going to cite it to my [theatre] students in class tomorrow morning. The Ouija board thing did freak me out a bit. Shalee meant something to me, as hard as I’m trying not to apply overly convenient interpretations.”
Shalee? Not human? What in Hell are they talking about? Here’s their Ouija transcript:
QUESTIONER: What is your name?
(the planchette was moving extremely slowly; we tried switching in a new volunteer but there was still a lot of static on the lines; in the interest of time I began jokingly hurrying the spirit along — “okay, pick it up, we’ve got a show to do,” etc. — and it seemed to respond by talking in shorthand)
SPIRIT (or subconscious ideomotor impulse depending on your beliefs): SHALEE
JEFF: Okay, that’s definitely not who we’re looking for.
QUESTIONER (to Jeff): Sorry.
JEFF: No worries. Keep going.
QUESTIONER: Unusual name. Are you human?
JEFF: It’s creeping toward NO, definitely not YES, so I’ll take that as a NO.
QUESTIONER: What are you?
SPIRIT: DK (then it comes to a full stop)
QUESTIONER: DK?
JEFF: Short for DON’T KNOW?
(the planchette starts moving pointedly toward YES)
JEFF: Okay, sorry to hurry things along, Shalee, but we’ve gotta wrap this up. Do you know what’s taped to back of the grave photo hanging in the Blue Grotto?
SPIRIT: NO
The Ouija session was again fun but I still didn’t get what I came for, so I had to again end the show with the nuclear option. Come tonight and find out what that means. Full details and ticket info. And don’t forget it’s FREEMASONRY FRIDAY. The first three ticket holders to discretely show Jeff their Masonic rings or other authentic Masonic logo jewelry in secret before the show will secretly be given a $10.00 Starbucks gift certificate. Don’t try to pull a fast one — I know my Masonic jewelry.
Last night’s performance of Beautiful Zion: A Book of the Dead went well. The audience was small so I could bring the action to even closer proximity to them, making the show as intimate as possible.
A Facebook message from one of the Ouija volunteers today sez, “Another night, another great Fringe show. Beautiful Zion: Book of the Dead. Funny, emotional, brave, spooky – what more can you ask for?” And as for the entity we contacted on the Ouija board, “I’m curious to know what kind of being it was, if it wasn’t human…” (see below).
A message today from the 2nd Ouija volunteer sed, “Congrats on the success. It was the most entertaining and compelling one man show we’ve seen in a very long time. You created a real event, and it was such an experience. I’m going to cite it to my [undergrad theatre] students in class tomorrow morning. The Ouija board thing did freak me out a bit. ‘Shalee’ meant something to me, as hard as I’m trying not to apply overly convenient interpretations.”
Shalee? Not human? What in Hell are they talking about? Here’s their Ouija transcript:
QUESTIONER: What is your name?
(the planchette was moving extremely slowly; we tried switching in a new volunteer but there was still a lot of static on the lines; in the interest of time I began jokingly hurrying the spirit along — “okay, pick it up, we’ve got a show to do,” etc. — and it seemed to respond by talking in shorthand)
SPIRIT (or subconscious ideomotor impulse depending on your beliefs): SHALEE
JEFF: Okay, that’s definitely not who we’re looking for.
QUESTIONER (to Jeff): Sorry.
JEFF: No worries. Keep talking to Shalee.
QUESTIONER (to Shalee): Unusual name. Are you human?
JEFF: It’s creeping toward NO, definitely not YES, so let’s take that as a NO or we’ll be here all night.
QUESTIONER: What are you?
SPIRIT: DK (then it comes to a full stop)
QUESTIONER: DK?
JEFF: Short for DON’T KNOW.
(the planchette starts moving pointedly toward YES)
JEFF: Okay, so Shalee doesn’t know whether he/she is human. We’d love to know more but we’ve gotta wrap this up. Perhaps we can speak with you more later. Last question: do you know what’s taped to back of the grave photo hanging in the Blue Grotto?
SPIRIT: NO
JEFF: Big round of applause for Shalee! You may return to your seats.
BTW a quick Google search this morning showed that Shalee as a girl’s name is a variant of the South Asian name Shaila (Hindi), and the meaning of Shalee is “river”. However, I then received the above message from the Ouija volunteer saying the name had a personal resonance for him but he didn’t elaborate. Perhaps that person will come forward with more info later.
This Ouija session overall was very different than the previous evening’s but I still didn’t get what I came for, so I had to again end the show with the nuclear option. Come tonight and find out what that means. Full details and ticket info. And don’t forget it’s FREEMASONRY FRIDAY. The first three ticket holders to discretely show Jeff their Masonic rings or other authentic Masonic logo jewelry in secret before the show will secretly be given a $10.00 Starbucks gift certificate. Don’t try to pull a fast one — I know my Masonic jewelry.
So maybe the spirit was showing off that it indeed lives at the CEC the way FRA said s/he did in the first Ouija session on 9/7 (transcript) by saying “the lawn had been mown by 8.” Maybe that was supposed to impress or frighten us but if so, it failed. Well, let’s see you try and interpret a bunch of gibberish.
DISCLAIMER: please note that I am not an exorcist. Spirits may remain in your home and may become pissed. Objects may spontaneously catch fire and pets may become temporarily possessed. Tickets and full details.