The App Called Reality: Old-School Interactive Entertainment Thrives on the Strand
Although co-opted long ago by the tech industry, there is a deeper meaning to the phrase “interactive entertainment” that does not require GPS and camera settings on a smartphone or a Wi-Fi hotspot – a meaning that brings people together in a real environment with significantly less chance of falling off a cliff, getting hit by a car or at the very least being chased out of a yard by that baseball bat-wielding old lady you underestimated.
With all due respect to Pikachu and Mewtwo, interactive entertainment can be enjoyed far from Kanto, Johto, Hoenn or any other region of the Pokemon world.
And you don’t have to worry about battery life.
The Grand Strand is home to several venues offering such old-school interactivity options – spots where folks can unwind and run the gamut from perhaps solving a murder or getting hypnotized – to trying improv, solving a puzzle or cooperating with family and friends to escape from a break out room – or simply sing along to their favorite Motown hits.
The Surge spoke with several movers and shakers in the local interactive entertainment world, and found that it’s all about bringing people together and having fun.
It’s all here – so put down the device, grab another human and go interact.
WHODUNIT
We suggested to Murder Mystery Productions’ Jerry Winsett that he might be the daddy of interactive entertainment here on the Grand Strand.
“We’ve certainly been around for a long time,” he said, adding that his “Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre” bowed at House of Blues Myrtle Beach in December 2002.
Imagine minding your own business, enjoying a quiet meal, when suddenly a body drops and you find yourself caught up in a murder investigation. You become a detective and a suspect at the same time. The object is to follow the clues, solve the crime and come out the other end as a super sleuth.
Winsett said there are two distinct types of audiences for this show – the quiet, serious types who are dead-set on paying attention and solving the mystery, and those who want to have fun.
“Some audiences are really quiet – and they came here to figure out who did it, why they did it, and they want to win the prize at the end – and then we have people that just want to have a good time. They will fill out funny answer forms, and instead of really trying, they will say something like, ‘The butler did it with a candelabra,’” he said.
If you want to win, follow the clues and pay attention.
“But if you just want to have a good time, the scripts are funny, and we do a lot of improvisation,” he said.
Murder Mystery Productions [www.murdermysteryproductions.com ] is what is known in theatrical circles as a repertory company.
“For the Murder Mystery, we are doing some moving people around – pairing them up so that the repeat [guests] don’t necessarily see the same people all of the time in the different things. We have a very good stable of actors, and we are very lucky because Wilmington [NC] and Myrtle Beach both have a lot of very talented actors – and that’s why we have a large stable. Also, some of them are working actors,” he said.
He should know.
Winsett has been a working actor for four decades – running the gamut from film [Radio Days, Bastard Out of Carolina, Iron Man III] to television [Coach, The Inspectors, Newhart], off-Broadway, regional and repertory theatre, to voiceover work and standup comedy.
“I had to take off for eight days last month to film a movie in Asheville [NC]– so we have to have people who can literally do any role, and that’s how we work. Everybody gets paid the same no matter what they are doing. As in Shakespeare terminology, one day they will be spear-carriers and the next day they could be Lear.”
THE VALUE OF IMPROV
In 2008, Gina Trimarco began teaching improv on the Grand Strand. The next year, she opened the Carolina Improv Company @ Uptown Theater at the Myrtle Beach Mall.
“My initial motivation was stress,” the Chicago native said, adding that she studied at the iconic The Second City for years and knew the value of improv for life skills.
“It’s cheap therapy that teaches you how to be in the moment, open to others and collaborative. The job that relocated me to Myrtle was extremely stressful, so I sought out improv classes for emotional balance and stress release. And then I was more stressed when I found out no one knew what improv was. Secondly, I missed the ‘culture’ of my hometown. Improv is so fun and every show is different. When you grow up in Chicago, improv is almost your first language.”
The Carolina Improv Company [www.carolinaimprov.com] features five levels of classes, according to Trimarco.
“Levels 2-5 each have a student showcase at the end. We also offer some special intensive classes and workshops throughout the year such as acting, musical improv and Shakespeare improv,” she said.
But there are shows running two to four times a week, depending on the time of year – some family-friendly and some for adults only.
And at these shows, audience participation comes into play – but she said the term needs to be defined for people.
“Sometimes they're scared they're going to be ‘picked on’ or put on the spot. We try to be gentle to get suggestions from them to create the show. So, participation is highly important for a successful show.”
She added that all of her directors have been trained through Carolina Improv Company on how to read an audience and how to get suggestions from the most difficult – meaning quiet – groups of people.
“We might want a suggestion of something to do in Myrtle Beach. Most will answer ‘drink’ or ‘party,’ and that's not deep enough for us. So, we may instead look at someone who seems receptive and say, ‘You, sir, what did you today? Tell us about it,’ and we pull the suggestion from that, which makes for a much better suggestion and makes that audience member look cool when we play out the scene based on his day.”
Trimarco believes the Carolina Improv Company is a good fit for the Grand Strand.
“The Grand Strand is diverse and unique with its make-up of locals and visitors, for one. My original ‘why’ for creating Carolina Improv was because improv shows are perfect for families. I was shocked that they didn't exist in Myrtle Beach. You can literally bring every age to the show as a family at a really reasonable price,” she said.
She said she spent many years in Chicago as the director of marketing for an immersive theatre event called “Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding.”
“I really loved the experience of watching the audience get involved,” she said. “There’s nothing like making the audience feel good. And the best part of what we do is impacting others, whether it’s the child audience member who got to actually come onstage with us or the hundreds of adults transformed from our classes.”
A NEW HOME FOR AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION
Performers and entrepreneurs Rich and Elizabeth Wylde recently moved into new digs – the GTS Theatre [www.gtstheatre.com], right next door to Jamin’ Leather on Port Drive in Myrtle Beach – closing their Big Laughs Theatre in Myrtle Beach after a three-year run.
The pair feel they are positioned into a viable niche in Myrtle Beach, and every show that happens here is all about audience participation.
They converted a restaurant space into a 140-seat, 1920s cabaret-style theater.
“We started renovation last August and got up-and-running with our full schedule in the middle of February,” said Rich Wylde.
The schedule currently includes “Motor City Musical - A tribute to Motown,” a Christian music show called “Amazing Grace,” and two hypnosis shows – “Fusion Family Fun” and the racier “Wild & Crazy” adult show – with more productions in the works.
The Wyldes have been performing their husband-and-wife, “Wild 4 Hypnosis Comedy Show” for 18 years, and owned a 600-seat theater in Dells, Wisconsin for 10 years.
“The hypnosis shows are 100 percent audience participation because we ask for audience members to come up onstage to do some fun things while they are in a state of hypnosis,” he said.
One interesting bit is that audience members are hypnotized and told that they are professional rap stars – but when the backing music starts to play, it is made clear that they are Chinese rap stars.
“So of course they stand up while the song is playing, and they are giving their version in what they think is Chinese. It’s just amazing, the funny stuff that comes out of people.”
At the adults-only show, hypnotized men are told that they are about to give birth.
“We definitely put that in there every year during Mother’s Day time to give the mothers a little snicker there,” he said.
At the Motown tribute, Wylde said performers come down into the audience and get people involved with dancing or singing along.
“Everybody from that era knows every word to every song,” he said.
Future productions include “Beach Party,” “Night Fever,” “Redneck Christmas Show,” and a burlesque-themed affair called “Vaudeville the Show.”
Because of the intimate, cabaret-style setting, it’s easier for folks to interact.
“They are actually feeling like they are a part of the shows – not just something where you are just going to see people standing on a stage – and once you have experienced a show at GTS, you know you are a part of something special,” he said.
GETTING OUT IN TIME
Break Out Room Escape in North Myrtle Beach [www.breakoutmyrtlebeach.com] currently boasts three themed rooms where groups of people are put into the room of their choice and given 60 minutes to work together and find clues, decipher codes, find a solution and get out before the clock runs out.
The three rooms are Red Beard’s Revenge [find the treasure], CSI Myrtle Beach [identify a murderer] and Serial Killer [escape at all costs], with another room coming soon.
“You have a 60-minute time limit and each room has a different backstory and a different thing they have to accomplish,” said operations manager Jennifer Whitehurst.
She noted that folks get a sense of accomplishment if they complete their challenges in time – and she hears from moms, dads and grandmothers after some of the games, happy that everybody had a part in it.
“Everybody finds something, even if it’s the little kids that find the hidden key,” she said. “It’s really great for families, and we have a lot of teambuilding. It’s just a great way for people to get together and do something they usually wouldn’t do.”
We brought up the fact that folks can do something together here without being tethered to a device, but Whitehurst told us that the breakout game concept is firmly rooted in online gaming.
“I used to play these games online when I was younger – virtual escape rooms where you clicked to find things. A lot of people have played those before, and that’s what brings them here. So now instead the popular thing is to do it in real life versus a digital version, which is ironic.”
GET IN THE GAME-SHOW
Sqrambled Scuares is the only television game show produced on the Grand Strand, and tapes Thursday nights at 7 p.m. from its new production facility at Barefoot Landing.
The show airs Monday through Friday on HTC digital channel 4 at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. Alternatively, episodes can be viewed on demand at www.sqrambledscuares.biz or on the show’s Facebook page.
We asked show creator, producer and host Buzz Berry how Sqrambled Squares factors into the interactive experience.
“I think all up and down and around the Grand Strand, there are shows that people can go pay and watch – but with Sqrambled Scuares, they can actually come to the program and they may wind up becoming a star of the show,” he said.
He added that folks can sit and watch a television game show come to life right before their eyes, or they could wind up as a contestant.
“If they want to be considered to become a contestant, they can fill out a contestant application form. Otherwise – everybody in our studio audience gets a raffle ticket, and we award prizes during commercial breaks.”
Berry is all about making sure everybody has a good time.
“We even bring folks up sometimes to play quick games in between commercial breaks, so it really is family fun. It gets very interactive – even when they watch it on TV. We are the only show that I know of where the commercial breaks are interactive – and even watching the show at home, you can win prizes. How neat is that,” he said.
This story was originally published August 26, 2016 at 5:01 AM with the headline "The App Called Reality: Old-School Interactive Entertainment Thrives on the Strand."