Esc

Today, I witnessed an escape so terrifying that the spirit of my great grandfather rose within me! It was creepy to feel that I was, in fact, being ruled by a sort of reality that he confronted three generations ago. I'm a big fan of The Great Houdini, who spent his boyhood in Appleton, Wisconsin. It makes it even more delicious to have battled the spirit of Great-grandfather Saladino back to his grave, right there in Appleton, because Harry loved to debunk psychics and mediums. Magicians are familiar with far more forms of trickery than they practice and he used his skills in an attempt to prove that what is dead is dead and no spirits would, or could walk the Earth, or communicate from beyond the veil.In the world of the internet, we know that people can now live forever, or at least their words may. The way I was gripped by Great-grandpa's spirit was as real as it gets, in some ways, more real than these words on the screen. I felt that I had not evolved one iota from his day, when the moving picture shows were brand new. Great-grandpa was older then, but what he saw up on the screen seemed completely real to him, and what I saw that sparked this was both awe inspiring and terrible at once, but in my case 100% real!

There is a family story about how his contemporaries had to stop taking him to see early silent films, because inevitably there would be a villain and Leonardo would jump up and shout, "Watch out! Behind the Door!" or whatever pitfall awaited, as if he were trying to get the person on screen to save themselves, rather than fall into the clutches of the evil character.

To help put the whole event into perspective, I saw a young woman duct taped to a chair. Half a dozen wraps of the stuff at each wrist and ankle. Half a dozen around her chest. This seemed to take several minutes during which time she was completely calm and relaxed. This was near the end of a four part magic act, and so, seemed completely normal. But what happened next was totally unexpected. A plastic bag was placed over her head and duct taped around her neck. Leonardo's spirit rose in me, gripped me. My heart raced, my blood pressure rose, I got a gripping sensation in my chest and throat. It seemed like the walls and the air in the entire room had rushed out, not only of her, but of me! The last thing I expected to happen, I wanted to run up and save her, or scream "Don't do it!", just like Great-grandpa would have done.

So here I was, rendered motionless by the intense, gripping fear and frustration at not being able to help. I could not move from where I sat. simultaneously, I was trying to have a conversation with the spirit of a long-dead relative about why it would be inappropriate to run to her aid! Great-grandfather would hear nothing of it! I don't know how long it was between the time that the tape went around Jordan's neck and when she finally broke free, but the entire time, in my head, a storm raged between Great-grandpa and I. Me, trying to rationalize why I needed to remain aloof, my need to remain "just" a spectator, trying to remember that this was a show, not "real". Eventually, I felt compelled to grapple with Great Grandpa in his realm, the spirit world, overpowering him, much like when you have to run in a dream but are aware enough of the fact that you are sleeping as to be paralyzed. However the sensations were reversed. I was fully awake, not dreaming and still, completely inert. I was almost convinced that my blood had curdled, or been chilled by contact with spirit. At the moment that I abandoned my hold on objective reality, and gave in to the call of the spirit realm, Great-grandfather loosened his grip on my consciousness and I was free.

I could move and as fast as I rushed to help, I felt I was flying away. It was as if all my neurons had fired at once and although I could have moved if I wanted to, no coordinated motion could be initiated.

Incidentally, that coincided with Jordan breaking free from her bonds, yet not before she was wracked with spasm and her powerful writhing knocked her chair completely over! Later, discussing the event with another actor, he half grinned and said, that was completely real, Jordan is just that powerful. She exhibited the power to escape and impressed thousands with the feat! I only impressed myself at my hyper-active inertia.