A Game of Telephone, Purdue University, 2023
Systems, Technical Direction and Environmental Design Lead
A Game of Telephone was launched as an immersive lobby experience thematically linked to and launched alongside Purdue Department of Theatre’s production of Mr. Burns: A Post-Electric Play. It is a pair of telephone booths that task users with playing a game “telephone” with the future; the telephone will relay a story and, after completing the game elements of the experience, the user will attempt to tell the same story back. Every week or so, the collected stories become the initial prompt. The booths will travel for future events using new prompts and game elements.
Naughty or Nice at Memphis Escape Rooms, 2019
Shop Manager, Prop Designer, Carpenter, Electrician
Memphis Escape Rooms’ holiday pop up shortly followed the launch of H.E.R.O.E.S. This room’s shorter timeline necessitated my taking a backseat in designing the overall room layout to focus on designing, building, and wiring the individual elements, which had numerous automated elements triggered by customer interaction, including a toy train triggered by a puzzle and an ending sequence that consisted of music and snowfall.
H.E.R.O.E.S. at Memphis Escape Rooms, 2019
Shop Manager, Project Manager, Designer, Carpenter, Electrician
As of fall 2021, H.E.R.O.E.S. is still probably the largest project I have undertaken. I took an approximate groundplan from the owners/producers and designed, built, and wired almost all of the elements of the room. For much of this project I was the sole carpenter and electrician as I interviewed candidates to grow our production team. Also new to me for this project was the Maslow CNC I built and modified for the new Memphis Escape Rooms shop.
Magician’s Code at Memphis Escape Rooms, 2018
Management, Design, Carpentry, Electrical, Painting
Magician’s Code was, at the time of its creation, Memphis Escape Rooms’ most scenically detailed and immersive experience. It was also my first time doing significant prop and electrical design for escape room puzzles. I built a table on which a box magically appears when covered by a magician’s cloak, a potion mixing bench with a bubbling cauldron, and an altar that, when 8 gems are collected, illuminates and unlocks other puzzles.
Escape Room Renovations, 2017-2018
Design, Carpentry, Painting, Props
During my first several months at Memphis Escape Rooms, I gave input on design for and helped with the renovation of several of MER’s original experiences. This involved the use of lots of interesting construction techniques, including extensive cutting and joining of aluminum channel for LED tape, integrating a computer tower and home surveillance system into a puzzle, and a massive newspaper decoupage that was made to be durable enough to withstand over 2 hundred hands touching it every day.