My Halloween

At some point last night, while riding in the back of a cargo van, trying desperately to keep a homemade supercomputer prop from falling on top of me as Ptolemy drove through the bumpiest, swerviest side-roads on Roosevelt Island, I thought, "This is probably the weirdest thing I've ever done."

And that says a lot.

Last night was a lot of work (and I think I did the least out of everyone involved) and a lot of fun. I really enjoyed myself.

It's not interesting to recap the game's plot to those who weren't there (and it isn't my story to tell), but at the end of the night... maybe 1 or 2 a.m., I was in a wheelchair, feigning unconsciousness, hooked up to this supercomputer that was killing me.

And this large group of players (I don't know how many - my eyes were closed) slowly approached us. They were told the only way to stop the supercomputer was to chant a code, and they did.

So we were slowly surrounded by this chanting horde, and the only thing I could see through my eyelids was their flashing iPhones as they took pictures of me drooling (I can't wait to see them). They chanted louder and louder, Ptolemy, the main baddy, exhorted them to stop, and the supercomputer finally died in an amazing burst of light and whirrings. I was saved!

What a way to spend Halloween.

And I mean that seriously, what an awesome way to spend a Halloween.

It makes me think of last year, when I wrote and produced a jukebox karaoke musical for the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre called High School: The Deathening.

Again, it was a lot of work, but a lot of fun.

At the time, I thought, "I'm sacrificing my Halloween, nay, my entire month of October, this year. Instead of doing something fun, I'm giving something fun to the people." But I've since realized that this is kind of nonsense, because I really loved making that show. I was doing it for an audience, but I was also doing it for myself.

In the same way, I really enjoyed helping out some fine people with this alternate reality game. So thank you, Prototype161, the pleasure was all mine.

Still, it was really weird to be seriously concerned that I could get badly cut by a supercomputer (that sucker was full of sharp bits).