Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Join my Mobile Club and get the latest news, updates and when I'm appearing near you - http://ping.fm/MtDw1
About a year ago I had the opportunity to take a friend of mine with me on the road. He brought his video camera and captured the craziness that happened on this trip. This is the first of a series he edited together. Enjoy!
http://ping.fm/BijNx

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Ah...torture! The game is on and the power goes out at my place. Better make alternate plans quickly!

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Photo shoot was awesome. Will post new shots soon!

Monday, December 7, 2009

You can say there's no such thing as Santa, but as for me and Grandpa we believe!

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Crash! Well that six!
I've been in TGI Fridays for about an hour and these jokers behind the bar have already broken five glasses. Nice.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

I have a photo shoot next week and need good ideas as far as poses, clothing, pictures you think are cool, etc. Help me out guys!
It's true...businesses are waiting to the last minute to book their holiday parties. If that's you, check out www.JasonMichaelsMagic.com.

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Last play of the game Titan's victory! Unbelievable!
Last play of the game Titan's victory! Unbelievable!
Titans from Row C. Virtually on the field baby!
Titans from Row C. Virtually on the field baby!

Saturday, November 28, 2009

I'm terrible about staying on top of my updates/tweets...so I guess that's what I'll tweet about!

Monday, November 23, 2009

Magic skills...check. Pizza skills...check.
Magic skills...check. Pizza skills...check.
Gym time! Swimming today...I think 25 laps should do it. It may be time to reconsider triathlons...hmm.
Becoming one of the cool kids...catching up on the social networking I've been way behind on. Ping is sweet!

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Clarity After the Fog Lifts

I had a strange experience recently. For about a day and a half I walked around totally in what felt like a daze. I was completely confused as to what I should be doing. And no, before you jump to conclusions, I wasn't high. But it was one of the most disturbing experiences I've had in quite some time. You see I like to be in control. I like to feel as though I am working hard and making things happen for my career and in my life. A couple of months ago I realized that I needed to take a good look at the direction my career was going and make sure I was putting my time and attention into the right things. After some reflection I decided to change direction of where I was taking my business in order to obtain my long term goals a bit quicker. That required me changing part of my marketing plan, promotional materials, and the like. That meant that I needed to hire someone to help me redesign that material which, in turn, meant that I was going to be giving up control.

Now I'm the type of guy that would be more than happy to do every little thing completely on my own. The problem with that is that there are unbelievably talented people that can do that type of specialized work so much better than I can. So I've learned to give up control to these talented people and let them do a much better job than I ever could. Unfortunately that means I have to wait on them to get these things done. Waiting is not my strong suit. I like things to be done well and be done quickly. Now, in all fairness the guy doing my design work is doing it on a timetable that we both felt was fair and that we both agreed to, I just wanted this stuff done immediately. Not exactly reasonable, but hey…that's just me. I mention all this to give you the background to why I was in such a funk.

I had been moping around trying to find other things I could be doing for about a week and then one day…BAM! Confusion hit. I just walked around totally in a confused, dazed state. After awhile of this, it started driving me crazy and I decided to focus my energies on something. Ultimately what pulled me out of that trancelike state I was in was refocusing and reapplying myself to the advancement of what I want to be doing in front of who I want to be doing it for. I know…it's not rocket science. I do think though that we often get thrown off course and we need to refocus ourselves on what we are supposed to be doing with our lives. The cool part is that the design work is almost done and I can now start charging forward again towards my goals. The work my design guy is doing looks fantastic and I'm excited to be able to reveal it within the next week or so. I'll keep you posted.

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Razor Blades

In my show I sometimes mention that I believe magic is more than just about tricks. I believe that magic should do the same things that a great movie, or piece of art, or song can do. It should stretch the audience's boundaries by sharing the artist's view of the world. This is the way I approach the creative process when working on my shows. I want some pieces to just be fun and I want some pieces to push my audience a little.

I initially developed my razor blade swallowing routine about six years ago after being inspired years earlier by a very little known book by Austin Brooks called Magic as Art. Some of the ideas Austin put forth in that book were very different and controversial. He thought about magic as more than just a variety art. He treated it with serious artistic depth. I was stretched by his book and am very pleased I spent time pondering his thoughts. I was subsequently inspired to create my version of the famous razor blade swallowing illusion from some of Austin's ideas.

With this piece I wanted to do more than just do a trick. I wanted to tell a story. Fortunately when it came time to stage this piece I found an excellent cut of music that helped tell the exact story I wanted my audience to feel. When I made this illusion sequence a part of my show I was very pleased with the response from my audiences. It really was a piece that everyone talked about afterwards. Some of the toughest guys I know told me that as they watched the story unfold it brought them to tears. Others said they just couldn't take their eyes off what was going on onstage.

I have since taken this piece out of my show because I want to share a different message with it. Hopefully the new story will touch people as effectively as the original did. I sometimes wonder if I'm crazy to change something that was as powerful as this piece was, but I feel as though I'm being called to share a stronger, more hopeful message with it. I hope you enjoy the original version below.



Monday, March 30, 2009

The Gypsy Thread

The Gypsy Thread, sometimes called the Hindu Thread, is a magic routine that I am very proud of. I first saw it performed by one of my magic mentors, Eugene Burger. I immediately fell in love with how pure the magic was. In fact, whenever I see Eugene's performance of it, I am still in awe of the mood that he creates with such a simple, yet powerful piece of magic. It was his ability to tell a story with his performance of it that inspired me to create my version of the mystery.

This piece was one of my first attempts at creating magic that spoke at a deeper level to my audience. Generally speaking, most magic is simply a couple of jokes or corny lines that are strung together to be a light hearted distraction. I wanted this piece to make my audiences think. I wanted them to reflect on life for a moment and consider something greater than themselves. I firmly believe that magic can and should speak to us the same way that a great film, song or piece of art does. At times it should be funny. At other times it should be inspirational or action packed or even sad. When performed well, with a good presentation, magic has the ability to do so much more than just amaze. How cool would it be if magic addressed big topics the way other artists do? I feel challenged to find a way to incorporate my personal view of the world in an entertaining way that doesn't feel like I'm hitting my audience over the head with an agenda.

I don't perform this piece of magic in every show. It just doesn't fit for every occasion and for every audience. I do perform it for any theatre or performing arts center shows that I do because I think it adds another level of texture to the entire experience I am trying to create. You can check it out below.




Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Secrets and Illusions On the Road – Continued

This is the ending of the "Secrets and Illusions On the Road" blog. Please read that before you read the finale of the story here. And since the last blog post, we finished the documentary of this story. I'll be posting links to the clips throughout.

So, I wake up the next morning and Scott has done a little detective work on his own. He tells me that he thinks the problem is the driver's side tie rod. We get on the phone with this information and attempt to find some auto mechanic open on New Year's Eve who will fit us in and get us our truck back quickly. We didn't want to get stuck there for two or three extra days! After a series of failed attempts we finally hook up with a company that will tow the truck in and get back to us with a diagnosis quickly. The tow truck arrives about 45 minutes later and we all wave good-bye to our only transportation. Trust me that was a weird feeling.



In the meantime, we call Enterprise Rent a Car and rent a cargo van so we can get our equipment to the venue for the evening's show. Don't forget we still have a show to do! Enterprise comes and picks me up and I go get the van. Once I arrive back at the hotel we unload everything from the trailer the truck was hauling and load it into the cargo van. At this point, everyone is totally frozen and it's time to head back up to the room and warm up. I mean, it was so cold it physically hurt to be outside.

So, we're sitting around feeling pretty good about ourselves when Scott's phone rings. Scott answers and it's the mechanics on the line. The next thing I hear makes my blood run cold…the truck is gone. EXCUSE ME…WHAT? Then Scott says, "I'm sorry could you repeat that." Oh, that's not what he said. He said the truck is done. Whoa, much better! All of a sudden my emotions go from total shock to complete elation. Yay! They went ahead and fixed the truck. It was a tie rod. (And it was probably due to those awesome potholes we kept hitting on our drive up.) To cap it all off, it didn't cost nearly what we thought it was going to cost.

So, the mechanic comes and picks Scott up so he can get the truck while Greg and I head back outside to unload the cargo van and reload the trailer. Oh joy, frozen again. Scott arrives with the (fixed) truck a little while later and all is good with the world.

After a relaxing lunch, it's time to head to the venue and get everything ready for show time.

The show went great and we got to meet some really cool people. After packing everything up we head back to the hotel and attempt to celebrate the New Year. That is a whole story of its own. Here's the wrap up video clip of our entire adventure.


I hope you've enjoyed the documentary we put together for this crazy story. We certainly had a blast even though the trip was not without incident. Fortunately for us, the trip home was totally boring. Good deal!

Thursday, February 19, 2009

“Secrets and Illusions” On the Road

It's December 30, 2008 and I got up early to fix a going-on-the-road breakfast for my crew. I'm very excited because we have a friend, Greg Owens, joining us on the road. I was talking to Greg about a week before the trip and just mentioned that we were headed out for a couple of days to Rockford, IL, just north of Chicago, to do a show. We're going to Rockford to perform on New Year's Eve for about 3500 people who are going to be in attendance at the Rockford IceHogs hockey game. (The IceHogs are the Chicago Blackhawks's minor league team.) Greg said that he was planning on taking off from work for a few days and would love to go on the road with us. After thinking it over, he decides to go. That's awesome! We're going to have a blast traveling together. So I wake up to get a few last things together and fix one of my favorite breakfasts РCr̬me Brulee French Toast.

Greg arrives and he has his video camera with him. I realize it's a brilliant idea. We'll be able to shoot some video to show friends and family what it's like to be on the road with me. At least, that was the initial thought.

So, Scott, Greg and I are hanging out eating and waiting for my assistant Jamie to arrive. Nine o'clock gets here and we decide to shoot a little pool. Nine thirty rolls by and we're still shooting pool. Ten o'clock gets here and I'm wondering where in the world is Jamie. We were supposed to leave an hour ago. To be honest, it really wasn't a big deal since we didn't have to perform until the next day. But I'm one of those on time freaks and when people show up late it drives me crazy. Finally, an hour and fifteen minutes late Jamie arrives and we hit the road.

Now, whenever we get started on the road the first couple of hours is crazy. We always act like a bunch of nuts. We're telling jokes, picking on each other and just having a great time. After a few hours though…the monotony hits and we just plug away until we get to where we're going. Unfortunately, due to the crazy traffic (and all the toll booths) in Chicago a nine hour drive somehow turns into a twelve and a half hour drive. UGH!

As we're making the final stretch of about 45 miles or so we start hitting the deepest, widest potholes you've ever seen in your life. It felt like we were getting blasted out of our seats. At the same time, it's going from really cold to downright frigid outside. We finally make it to our exit and get off the highway. Two u-turns later we find our hotel and start making our way through the snow that has blanketed the area. As we get to the hotel, I hop out of the truck so I can go get us checked in. As I head back outside to grab my bags and get everyone situated, Greg walks up to me and says, "We may have a problem." Oh, let the fun begin!

Always the optimist, I pay no attention to the look on his face. That's when Greg and Scott point out that the two front tires of the Trail Blazer are pointing in opposite directions. Yep that's right! One tire is pointed all the way to its right the other tire is pointed all the way to its left. That stopped me in my tracks. I was seeing something I didn't even know existed. I had never seen anything like it. I didn't even know that two tires could do such a thing. It was like I had been mentally frozen and I just stood there looking at the tires like an idiot. (Now anyone who knows anything about auto mechanics probably already knows what happened here. My crew and I, on the other hand, we're totally ignorant and have no idea how bad this might be.)

We soon figured out that one of the tires was free floating while the other tire was still attached to the steering wheel. So, Greg and I had to manually push the one tire into a position that made the vehicle drivable while Scott inched it forward little by little. The problem was we had no idea if this was dangerous or not. For all I knew the tire was getting ready to fall off and the truck would land on one of us. So, we finally got the truck out of the way and decided to go inside and get warmed up. Over dinner we make a plan to wake up early in the morning and try to fix this little issue.

Take a moment, stop and put yourself in my position. It's late at night the day before New Year's Eve, we're a good ten hours away from home, and our only means of transportation is totally worthless. I don't know if it can be fixed or if the whole vehicle is trashed. At this point, I'm not sure how we are going to get the show to the venue in the morning and get ready to perform. This isn't good.

Now, here's the extremely cool part. Greg got this entire drama on video. He edited it together and we're posting it on my YouTube page so you can see what happens. I just watched the segments and they are hilarious. If you have ever wondered what it is like to be involved in a touring show you definitely want to check these clips out. You will laugh out loud.










Sunday, February 8, 2009

Background and Thoughts Behind My Award Winning Magic Routine – The Renaissance Cups and Balls

In 2004, I was going through some notes on my computer to get ideas for a new routine. You see, I've always been interested in performing one of the oldest pieces of magic, the cups and balls. I had heard and read for years that if you wanted to judge how good a magician was you simply had to watch their performance of the cups and balls. Supposedly, when it was done masterfully, it was beautiful to behold and when it was in the hands of a hack, it was torturous to watch. For years the cups and balls had been on my list of magic routines I would like to tackle, just to see if I could do it justice. The problem was I really didn't see myself performing it anywhere. Because of the larger venues I performed in I didn't see how a piece of close-up magic could translate. Then I read an article about a street magician named Gazzo. He was a master street performer and entertainer and he had performed his version of the cups and balls in every venue imaginable, from the street to the largest stages. After doing a little more research my eyes were opened on how this piece of close-up magic could translate for a larger audience. So I set myself on a mission and started brainstorming.

I start going through the file I keep on my computer that is full of ideas and subjects that I find interesting. Several pages into the notes I come across a notation that says - Shakespeare - and I realize that I've hit the jackpot. You see, for years I've been an actor as well as a magician and illusionist. At some point I made a note to myself that it would be cool to create some magic based on a Shakespearean subject. I know, instinctively, that this could be a very cool idea.

So, I start my research. I go through all of the magic texts I have on magic history and street performing. I'm also researching Shakespeare and re-reading some of his works. After quite a bit of work I ultimately decide to combine my acting background with my passion for magic and create a character based in the Renaissance era.

The research has been fun and interesting to do but it's also been taxing. Now it's time to play. I get to start working on the character, the script and the magic that's going to take place. I love this stage of creation because it stretches your imagination. You get to write and work on ideas and you have a completely blank slate to fill. It can be quite difficult at times, but when you work through the difficulty and hit on a great idea or a funny line that you know is completely your idea…it's an amazing feeling.

Initially I work on it for a couple of weeks before I show it to my small circle of friends to see what they think. When I debut the basic idea my friends are very supportive. They really like the direction this piece is taking. I knew there was something really good there, but they share some ideas and thoughts on what I had created so far that help recharge my batteries and push me forward. I make the decision to further define the character and the script and debut this piece in a local magic competition to see how it will play in front of a real audience and to see what other kinds of suggestions I can get.

Debuting this piece at a magic competition turns out to be a great idea. First off, I take second place. Cool! Second, and much more importantly, a couple of really top-notch magicians take me off to the side and give me some ideas to help improve both the performance and the technical structure of the routine.

So it's back to the drawing board. I decide to change quite a bit. I work on several new ideas, I change around many of the techniques, and I completely embrace the concept. I work for several more months, into 2005, before I decide to debut the new and improved version for my local magic club. It is a huge hit at the magic meeting. And much to my surprise, my friends and mentors don't think I should change a single thing.

At this point I have a lot of time, a nice chuck of money and a ton of creativity invested in this bad boy. I decide to compete in a couple of larger magic competitions. I take first place several times and I realize that's time to go for the big time. I register for two of the biggest international magic competitions held here in America, the International Brotherhood of Magicians' annual competition and the Society of American Magicians' annual competition. I fly to Reno, NV to the IBM's annual convention and work my way through the preliminary round. I'm in the finals and I just have to stay calm and do what I have rehearsed over and over and over again. The tough part about staying calm is you know that you are in front of some of the finest, most well-respected magicians in the world who are there to judge you against the other competitors. I end up having to perform in several different rooms in front of several different crowds and judges. That's both good and bad. It means that you have to be your absolute best every single time you perform. Things go very well and now it's time to wait and see. The awards ceremony takes place in the middle of a show several nights later. In other words, there are several acts that entertain the audience, and then the awards are given, then another act or two finishes out the show. We all go onstage and after some words from the President of the organization I take second place. YES! That's huge! That's second place in a huge field of magicians from all over the world.

At the end of the IBM's convention I make my way to Boston to compete in the SAM's annual convention and competition. At this convention you had to make it through a preliminary screening before you qualified to compete. What that means is when I arrive I'm immediately in the finals. After a terrible day of flying, missing my connecting flight, sleeping (sort of) in an airport, and getting up stupid early to catch my new flight I arrive. When I arrive in Boston I find that the airline has lost my luggage and my hotel doesn't have my reservation. Seriously? Geez! That's the second time during this trip that my equipment didn't make it where it was supposed to be. I finally do get everything worked out and I have just enough time to take a nap before I compete that afternoon.

The competition goes great. I perform in several different rooms, much like the other competition, and have a blast. Now it's back to the waiting. I enjoy the entire convention. Finally the awards ceremony is on us. My name is called from the podium…for second place. Again!?! That's awesome and at the same time irritating. (Somehow the same guy beat me in both Reno and Boston. I wish I had seen what he did. It must have been awesome!) Seriously though, I am thrilled with another win.

Putting my creation to the test under very scrutinizing eyes was an amazing experience. It forced me to work extremely hard and I truly don't think this routine would have become this good without that work. Now it's your turn to enjoy it.



A Cool Idea

I thought it might be interesting to share the background and my thought process in creating some of the magic and illusions I have created. I'm planning on releasing several videos and blogs that are coordinated. In other words, you'll be able to watch the performance of the magic routine and then be able to read the blog that explains what I was thinking while I was creating, working on and performing that specific piece (or vice versa). I think it could be interesting. We'll see. Subscribe to my blog and you'll know the moment a new video and corresponding blog is released.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

My Adventures with Houdini’s Underwater Torture Cell

It's 7 a.m. October 31, 2002. That's right. It's Halloween, the exact day, 76 years later, that Harry Houdini died. I've been up for about two and a half hours heating water and storing it in huge water coolers/heaters so I can take the hot water with me to Opry Mills Mall. I've convinced the mall's marketing team to allow Opry Mills to be the host for The Houdini Challenge, a brainstorm I had to help push me into the local Nashville spotlight and land me squarely on the entertainment map. I've arrived at the venue and I'm greeting my team of close friends who have helped me prepare over the last few weeks.

The current challenge is out of my hands. I've given the electric chain hoist to the team of engineers the mall employs to rig it to a huge beam well over our heads and get it electricity. I'm here this early because the mall's management team wants to see me actually perform this beast before a huge crowd gathers later in the evening. I guess they want to make sure I'm not going to drown in front of news cameras shooting the event live. And what's funny is that I want to make sure I'm not going to drown performing this thing too. The catch is…I've never actually performed the Water Torture Cell from beginning to end. Don't get me wrong, I've rehearsed it in segments, but none of my crew or I have ever fully performed it. Let's just say the tension is high. Perhaps I should explain just how I got into this predicament…

A couple of weeks before, I'm brainstorming on how to really get my name on the map with agencies, event planners, etc. when I realize that the anniversary of Houdini's death is coming up. I knew this could be a great opportunity to capitalize on a huge potential news story. I come up with the idea to stage an event in a high traffic public space. The idea of the event, The Houdini Challenge, is to take several pieces of magic and escapes that Houdini actually performed and recreate them for a modern audience. I knew the key to making this a larger than life news story was to perform Houdini's Underwater Torture Cell and I knew just where to get one. So, I call up my former employer and friend Illusionist Brett Daniels and I tell him what I am planning. He likes the idea and is kind enough (read that as extremely kind, generous and gracious) to allow me to borrow the Torture Cell that he performed in his show Magic and Beyond. Several days later I make my way to Mississippi to the warehouse where it is being stored and I transport it back to Nashville.

So I store the Cell in my parent's garage for the next several weeks and I attempt to rehearse it as best as I could. Now let me set the record straight. I'm not an idiot. I know better than to try to do something dangerous like this without the proper amount of expertise and rehearsal. The problem was that there was no venue to actually set the entire thing up with the chain hoist 20 feet overheard and rehearse it. I was counting on the knowledge that I had acquired from being one of Brett's backstage technicians for several years and having performed this with him. I knew exactly what had to happen and exactly when it had to happen at all times. I just had to make sure my team understood that information as well.

So we start the rehearsal process. One evening, after my guys get off work, we all get together in my parents garage and fill the Cell up with water. I get inside it and immediately realize two things. Number One is that the water needs to be somewhat warm to do this stunt effectively. Apparently cold water makes it harder to get a good breath of air so you can hold your breath. Go figure! Number Two is that it's really tight in here. I've never been claustrophobic in my life, but this thing is a tight fit! Unfortunately we're on a time table here and I don't have a lot of time to freak out. So I do my best to get comfortable and we push forward.

The rehearsal process is going well. I'm diving into the cell from the top and learning how to hold my breath comfortably upside down. Trust me there is a right way and a wrong way to do this. I learned the wrong way right as my dad came home one day. So I dive in head first as my dad pulls up and I get a huge nose full of water and start to choke. I have to quickly get out of the cell. I'm trying to get some air so I can stop choking while my crew and now my dad watch. Up to this point I had convinced my parents that I had it completely under control and this little incident is not helping my argument. My dad does not seem amused and questions whether or not I should even be attempting this. So I shrug it off and re-convince him that what happened was both a fluke and a learning experience.

Ultimately the rehearsals get us as prepared as we can possibly be. And I made sure to spend some time with my crew explaining their exact jobs and what they had to do when it got time for the real deal. A couple of days before the Houdini Challenge I call Brett and ask him for any advice he can give me. He proceeds to tell me about numerous precautions that I had never thought of. It was obvious that he had performed this thing many, many times as he offered me several important safety tips that would hopefully make me even safer. I glean as much information from Brett as possible and set my focus on the task at hand.

So, we're back to Halloween morning and the engineers have rigged the chain hoist in place. Now I just have to convince everyone, and I mean everyone that this thing is going to work. My team and I huddle up and go over the last minute details. All of a sudden, it's go time! The guys lock my ankles in to the stocks and raise me about fifteen feet in the air. I'm dangling upside down as they move the Upside Down (as Houdini liked to call it) into place right below me. They lower me so my head is barely above the water and stop. I take several huge gulps of air and the guys lower me into the Cell. I'm locked in the cell by my ankles, upside down, trying to escape. After several minutes I emerge triumphant! The first full rehearsal is a massive success! All the mall people are duly impressed and we're given the thumbs up.

I'm on cloud nine. My preparation and slightly calculated gamble has paid off and we have a huge show to prepare for. The hours fly by and all of a sudden a massive crowd has started to gather. The mall is packed. Several local news stations show up with cameras. I coordinate with James Lewis from our NBC affiliate to stage the escape so it can be broadcast live during the six o'clock news coverage. The minutes tick away and now everything and everyone is ready. It's time!



Getting the Trailer Stuck in a Parking Garage

So here's a funny story. (Well, it's funny now. It wasn't that funny at the time.) The date was Thursday, March 27th, 2008. My crew and I were performing a show at The University of North Carolina in Charlotte. We arrived in the afternoon, towing our trailer full of illusions and show props, and squeezed our way onto the upper deck of a parking structure so we could load our equipment directly into the venue. I set off to perform some strolling magic, to help draw a crowd for the show, while Scott set everything up.

When show time arrived, we had a good sized, fun-loving group. The show went great and we enjoyed meeting lots of excited folks afterwards. Next, we packed the show up and loaded it all back in the trailer. We said our goodbyes and started down the ramp to exit the parking structure. Right as I settled in and started looking forward to a nice dinner, I heard my tour manager Scott (who was driving, by the way) say, "Man this is going to be tight." Right as he said that I felt the truck and the trailer go up onto the curb. Then Scott stopped completely. Not good.

We got out of the truck to see just how close we were to making it out of there when we realized that the trailer was sort of cock-eyed and wasn't going to make it. Somehow we had to back it up and straighten it out. Scott got back in the truck and started to back it up when the trailer started turning the other way. Now this was really not good. So I had him try to straighten it out again. As we tried to fix the problem, the trailer was getting more and more lodged into the exit of the parking structure. Pretty soon its wheel well was scrapping against the concrete wall on one side and the other side of the trailer was about three inches from backing into the guard house that separated the entrance from the exit of the parking structure. We were officially stuck!

To make matters worse, suddenly the low fuel light in the truck turns on. Now please understand this, I have traveled all over the place and dealt with all kinds of crazy problems, but as Scott and I stood looking at the trailer I realized there was no way out of there. Somehow we had lodged this trailer in there and it wasn't coming out. I turned to Scott and said, "The only way out of here is if we get an engineer to figure this out." Scott had no solution either. Fantastic! It was getting late, I was hungry and we had no idea how to get this trailer out of there.

When we had completely lost all hope, the girls went to an on-campus call box and called the police. I was so looking forward to trying to explain this! A few minutes later two officers showed up with perplexed looks on their faces. It was priceless. One of the guys looks at me and says, "You guys ARE stuck." No kidding.

The only idea we all had was to unlatch the trailer from the truck and attempt to manually straighten it out. I was a little worried it would roll down the incline and crush us all, but the cop didn't think it would move. So that's what we did. We unlatched the trailer and the bigger of the two officers and I muscled the trailer about 30 degrees to line it back up with the exit. Suddenly, we were home free! I couldn't believe it. We hitched the trailer back up to the truck and Scott pulled it forward. Wow! What an adventure. We thanked the officers and headed to a restaurant. Food never tasted so good!