Last week on Thursday, M and I set out for Intercon G in the oncoming rain. We had all of our props, costuming and other sundry items packed in the back of the truck. We pulled into Danbury in steady cold rain that was starting to feel more like slush. We drug ourselves into the hotel there and she made arrangements for the room while I was looking for a place to park where we wouldn’t get towed or broken into. Lacking a safe place to park, I decided to bring in the items in the back of the truck. (Well there was also the fact that we hadn’t really packed with much joint planning in mind, so we were opening the bins to locate our clothes and other important items like Deodorant.)

As I wheeled the loaded baggage cart into the hotel, dripping water from my jacket and pouring from the bins, I got a disgusted look from the girl at night desk. I thought little of it, since I was exhausted from the cold and wet. We slept soundly on what could only be described as a box spring with sheets. It was the kind of tired you get from being on the road far longer than you expected.

We got up in the morning and started getting ready for the final leg of the trip, I decided to go load the bins in to the truck. I exited the room with the bins, (much drier this time,) and I headed to the cart. Some of the other guests were in the lobby and stared at the growing pile of Bins on the cart as though it was something unpleasant.

The thought kind of hit me out of the blue, as I made a few connections here and there in my sleep refreshed brain.
“We are the next group of Entertainers. We have traded Sterilite Bins for steamer trunks and Automobiles for Pullman Sleepers.”

If you look at it from that perspective, those that write Interactive Theatre and LARP are essentially the Vaudeville and Carnies of our times. We aren’t that big yet, but we are starting to tap into the masses of people who are tearing themselves away from movies and TV for interactions with real people.

Most who participate in our art are of the mind to have experiences that they could not normally have. Slaying the dragon or rescuing one’s friends from certain doom are things that as people, we just don’t get any more. That’s where our art comes in. We use many of the stagecraft and carnival ideas of producing a show for an audience. What’s more, instead of a passive audience, our audience is IN our show. They are flying without a net by not having a script or knowledge that the outcome will be as they expect. And my dear friends, we are giving that to them. Indulging their fantasies by indulging our own as writers and directors, we manage to touch them in ways that less personal entertainment cannot.

Gordon Olmstead-Dean gave me a copy of the Knudepunkt book to read through and honestly, the preface is as far as I have gotten. (More time soon, I’m Sure) But the preface is a small discussion on why they chose the title “Lifelike” for the book. It was pretty insightful and really hit a chord.

Next Update: Intercon G and Awful Truths