Spencer Williams has followed a common thread. From documentary, to haunted corn mazes, to boutique immersive experiences for only 1 to 3 guests. The desire to watch a story, a world, a new perspective unfold brought him to the front edge of immersive entertainment.

Creating Walk the Night Immersive, Spencer has developed Tales by Candlelight, The Guest and the Host, and a number of other productions in collaboration with world renowned Bluebarn theatre.

As part of the first cohort of immersive creators, Spencer has helped give legs to the immersive revolution; he, like many others, found a home on the front lines of this changing landscape and decided to stay.

Selected Links from episode:

• Magic realism
• Neal Gaiman
• One Hundred Years of Solitude
• Titus Andronicus
• The Tempest
• Sleep No More
• Gabriel Garcia Marquez
• Tom Robbins
• Blue Barn Theatre
• Joseph Campbel:
  • “If we fix on the old, we get stuck. When we hang onto any form, we are in danger of putrefaction.”
• No proscenium
• Walk the Night Imemrsive’s augmentary material
• The Guest and the Host
• Tales by Candlelight
• San Francisco secret society (Latitude society)
• Speakeasy Society
• Cloak and Dagger LA
• Red Flags

Show Notes:

• Favorite fictional world [2:12]
• Spencer’s path to immersion [5:05]
• Shakespeare mixed with Texas Chainsaw Massacre [7:16]
• Ask of the audience & boiling enlightenment [9:34]
• World renowned theatre in Nebraska [13:00]
• 10 million dollar theatre facility?? [17:50]
• 1st Public Announcement: Bluebarn changes [18:20]
• Experiential vs. Immersive [19:45]
• From group to 1 on 1 (what is a 1 on 1?) [25:00]
• How the human mind understands story [28:50]
• Talking like stars and echoes [29:35]
• Open world vs. set paths (Sandbox vs. Tracks) [31:10]
• Why Names are so important [32:10]
• Words as tools and set pieces [35:00]
• Onboarding- new levels to the game [37:22]
• The beauty of Mario [41:45]