Sitting in the Newark Airport

Yep. I'm in the Newark airport. Waiting on my flight. Had a mystery show in the Catskills last night. Tonight this area is supposed to get 4-10 inches of white weather, so I better get out of here.

The problem is Chicago. It's already been hit by the snow. So...I'm delayed. But I'm not alone. More than a few of us are sitting here in the Newark airport. Hoping to be leaving soon. Nothing against "The Garden State", but after the last twenty four hours I think it would be better named, "The Pothole State", ("Newark" should be "Soot City"). Anyway...here we are....sitting....waiting.

That's when a little girl walked up to me and started a conversation, (one-sided, but still, a conversation). What'd she say? Not sure. Her words sounded like a far eastern dialect of that very popular language among the young, ("Gibberish"). But, in fairness, she spoke it very well, (and fervently).

Her mother, (sitting across from me), didn't seem to speak much English either, but she acted as interpreter. Thru "Mom" I learned the little girl was two and a half, her name was "Tae", and she liked to jump. I now know that the most repeated word in the gibberish language is "nemo". It's a fish. I think.

Anyway, Tae was very interested in my open computer. So, I offered her a blank "Word" document and she began to vent. Here's what Tae typed.



I'm sure it was very important. She worked very hard on it, In fact, she also made several wholesale deletions which, at the time, I thought were "misteaks", but when Tae ended with the above, she seemed very happy. I would suggest that everyone reading her words, heed them.

Then, when she seemed to be finished typing, she said something like, "flikkened". I realized, after several insistent jumps, that "flikkened" meant "draw". So, I open up my "Paint" program, and she drew the picture below. I helped with changing colors, lines, and stuff, (a little).



What's "gibberish" for prodigy?

Randy

It's crazy busy time right now. Christmas! What a great time of year! Everyone's busy, (and stressed), but when they come to their holiday party....they're ready to have fun!

And we have more shows in December than ever before! Lot's of traveling,...all over the country. And more actors too! We are blessed to have actors doing our shows in Los Angeles, Boston/Providence, Chicago, Des Moines, Louisville, and, of course, St Louis. It's been a good ride.

When I started Jest Mysteries, my plan was to get good actors good pay for the good work that they do. Knock on wood,...it seems to be working out.

Good people equals good business.

I flew back from a Team Building show in Miami last week. It was great. Lot’s of fun. Florida’s great.

My flight included a layover in Atlanta. In the few minutes that we had to spare, Marybeth, (my acting partner), and I chose a place to eat in the airport.

Nathan’s famous hot dogs. A famous chain. Great food. Great reputation.

Although the place was very busy, there, behind the counter were approximately 5, (or 6), very “listless” employees. They were not friendly. They were not mean, they were just "there". I could go down the list of issues that I had with the staff there, but that would waste everyone’s time. But you know what I’m talking about. They don’t care. If you ask for “mayonnaise”, they give you a disgusted look. If your drink was not right, they hold the replacement drink close to their body so that you have to extend out to get it. Marybeth and I laughed about them for 5 minutes or so. I’m sure the fine folks at Nathan’s would not be happy with that crew. But I loved my Philly cheese steak. It was the best.

We got on our plane and took off. Our flight arrived at St. Louis at 10:30ish, (that’s pm), and by the time we got our luggage, it was 11:00ish. We wheeled our luggage out to the Car Park shuttles.

When we approached the shuttle for our particular parking garage….the driver, (an older man), stepped out, smiled and nicely said, “Welcome home”.

Frankly, I was caught off guard. The only comeback I could think of was “thanks”.

He helped with our luggage.

We sat down in the back of the shuttle.

It quickly filled. By radio, “Mr. Larry” was told to wait 90 seconds before departure. No new riders were coming so he turned around and said, “I know you all have been out of town so you probably didn’t hear about the big accident here in St. Louis last night.”

Concerned, we all said, “No! What happened?”

Mr. Larry said, “A man had a wreck and lost his left arm and his left leg.”

We all said, “Oh. That’s terrible!”

Mr. Larry said, “Yeah, but he’s all “RIGHT” now.”

Everyone laughed just a little.

So, at 11:00 at night, with a shuttle bus full of very tired passengers, Mr. Larry quickly drove us
to our cars and told us jokes. Silly jokes. Children’s jokes.

Marybeth and I ended up being the last on the shuttle. As soon as we were alone with Mr. Larry I said, “How long have you been doing this?”

“Five years.”

“Do you get more tips than the other drivers?”

“I don’t know, but I’m happy with the tips I get.”

Do the other drivers know your secret to more tips?”

“I don’t know if they do or not.”

”Well. Maybe they do, maybe they don’t, but you and I know, don’t we.”

“Yep.”

Mr. Larry stopped at our car, helped us unload, gratefully accepted a tip, waved and drove away into the night.

I like people who do their job well. I really do.

Team Building by Death

A lot of people ask "Do you do team building?"
The short answer is...."Yes! Our mysteries are excellent team builders!"

...and then I go into a list of how they build teams...
1. Everyone works toward a common goal.
2. Everyone has a great time.
3. Everyone works together.
....blah, blah, blah.....

While those things are all true, I'm not sure that people realize just how effective at "team building" our really shows are. So, how about if I give you an example? In fact, how about a strange example?

Rehearsal dinners.

Saying it twice might help.

Rehearsal dinners. (Nope. Didn't help.)

I'm talking about the dinners that are held the night before the big wedding. You know. The ones that have the members of both families.

Please take a moment to raise your eyebrows in surprise.

"What? Why would you have a murder mystery at a rehearsal dinner?"

My answer is....What do you have at a rehearsal dinner? You have two families coming together. Some of them may know each other slightly, but generally they are two different, (and distinct), groups. The plan is to reward family members for being part of the wedding party and to give the families a chance to get to know each other before the big day.

Well, normally, the entertainment is...a meal. I like that. I like to eat. Food is always good.

But the rehearsal dinner is also a nervous time for the families. Everyone wants to appear as successful, rich, well dressed, smart, etc. as they can be. So at these traditional dinners, they will only get to know each other with their "guards up".

But, how about we throw a "Jest" Murder Mystery into the mix!

At the beginning of the evening, the two distinct groups are separate. A bit nervous. A little stand-offish. But,...as time goes on, and as we have helped the individuals become funny, creative, and witty, etc,...guess what happens? By the time someone is "murdered", the two families are buddies and have something to talk about at the wedding and for years to come...friends for life.

I've seen this happen time and time again.

At the end of the night. They really like each other! No joke. No exaggeration.

...and that's a perfect example of what happens in the corporate world with teams.

Looking for a team-building event? We're not going to make your team members ride bikes in a relay race, or have four of them walk in shoes nailed on boards in unison.

We're going to help them perform, solve a murder mystery, and have a "tun of fun" in the process.

Frankly, I have seen this bring families, (and teams), together.
It's another reason why I'm proud of the work we do.

Thanks for reading this,

Randy Manning