Outward Bound Lessons to Live a Life of Leadership EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online
- Authors: Mark Michaux Brown
- Publish Date: October 15, 2019
- Language: English
- Genre: Self-Improvement, Business Leadership, Motivational Management
- Format: PDF / EPUB
- Size: 10 MB
- Pages: 144
- Price: Free
- ISBN: 1523098309
September 1942
Brooklyn, New York
Deep within me, a sense of dread buzzes and crackles, an
electrical wire threatening to short. I’m trapped by the stage
lights, the performance well in motion. I assure myself that
Charles’s behavior, subtle oddities throughout tonight’s tricks,
falls within reason. It was at his prodding, after all, that a top
New York critic agreed to attend. As a faceless judge in the
shadows, the lone man can render a verdict that could pack
future shows—or trigger a decline.
Even so, what I detect from Charles differs from nerves.
Only with disciplined effort do I resist rushing through the
grand finale. I distribute a padlock to each of the volunteers:
two airmen, a banker type, and a trio of sprightly ladies. With
all the poise and undulating cadence of a showman’s assistant,
I encourage their inspection. My narration flows out, as
programmed as a song on a player piano. On this stage alone,
it’s my fourth performance in two days.
Stewing in a haze of cigarette smoke, aftershave, and floral
perfume, the medium-sized theater could be any one of a
hundred. The attendance is respectable at two-thirds full.
Largely from the “cheap seats” of the balcony, periodic
catcalls remain standard fare, with no help from my galling if
customary outfit. Astoundingly, the sequined halter and
midthigh skirt are rather modest for my role.
Displayed on the prop table are two pairs of handcuffs and a
set of minuscule keys. I’m retrieving them all when Charles
reappears in the right wing of the stage to await my cue. He’s
traded his top hat and tails for a black bathing costume that
hugs his lean build from shoulders to thighs. All in line with
our usual act, save for the object in his grip.
An ax.
I bristle, less from startle than confusion. A stagehand was
supposed to brandish the tool, not Charles. And certainly not
yet.
For a show that blends illusion and danger—from the
magical mending and vanishing of items to mind reading and
death-defying feats—there’s purpose to every step, glance, and
gesture. To timing above all. At the climax of the act, as fears
arise over the escape artist’s ability to elude his bonds, a
harried display of the ax implies need for its imminent use,
amplifying suspense.
It’s hardly to be used as—what? A parading of bravado?
Still, we’ve performed together with such frequency over
three years of touring that my speech hitches only slightly.
“Now…that our ‘committee’ of volunteers from the audience
has keenly inspected the padlocks for authenticity”—I pause,
prompting nods from the lock-bearing group—“death-defying
escapologist Charles Bouchard shall be sealed into the
galvanized-iron milk can, airtight and filled with water to its
very brim.” Grandly I gesture toward the barrel-size container,
just as Charles interjects.
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