I draw the nightmares I see inside my head; build sets so I can play on them, and props so I can play with them. I choreograph fights and know how to swash that buckle. I make live things dead and the dead things come alive. I started working with F/X Makeup when I was 11 and was inspired by Tom Savini and Dick Smith. From staging stigmata in church on Sunday to slitting my wrists in Wal-Mart, I finally found a place to pursue my talents with less legal ramification. In 1989, I found my home with Gas Light Players first as cast member in their Terror Show: “Carnival Macabre.” There I learned the ins & outs of all things stagecraft both in front of and behind that red velvet theater curtain. It was there that I was taught hauntrepreneurship in the style of Dr. Blood, Drew Edward Hunter, and began to practice his unique style of haunted attraction and showmanship that he pioneered here in Shreveport in that very same theater setting. I honed my makeup techniques, learned prop making, costume design and construction, set design/building, and gained a solid foundation in the world of haunted attractions and a love of the stage and theater. In 1997, I joined the performance company of Four Winds Renaissance Festival in Troup, Texas as an Actor, Weapon’s Master & Fight Director, and jumped headfirst into the world of guerilla theater, period costuming and improvisational acting. By 2000, I had moved on to bigger & better projects, working with “The Dungeon” at Scarborough Faire and “The Chateau du Macabre” Haunted Attraction located Plantersville, Texas where I served as their makeup supervisor, set advisor and stunt coordinator. I joined the Texas Renaissance Festival Performance Company in 2001 as an Actor/Combatant and Cannonier. By 2002 I had taken on the roll of group leader as Captain of the Yeoman of the Guard and Fight Choreographer in their Creative Combat Team as well as designed and created the garb for my Yeomen Unit. Back home in Shreveport in 2005 I started teaching stage combat workshops out of the Fairfield Avenue School of Fencing with an exhibition coinciding with the Bossier Regal Cinema’s opening night for the movie “The Legend of Zorro.” In 2006, I joined the Gilbert & Sullivan Society’s production of “Princess Ida” and went on to work with them in their productions of “Sweethearts” and “The Fantasticks” building sets, making props and serving as fight choreographer. I also coordinated a renaissance festival-style promo for “Yeoman of the Guard” that entertained patrons during a fundraiser at the Strand during a touring production of “The Pirates of Penzance.” At East Bank Theater, I worked with The Company in their productions of “The Outsiders” and “Everyday Heroes,” serving as Fight Director/Choreographer & Improvisational Coach. I joined the cast of the Shreveport Opera’s productions of “Manon Lescaut” and “La Boheme” as an actor/combatant. Meanwhile, I championed my home theater, Gas Light Players in its resurrection production of Tim Kelly’s “Murder in the Magnolias” both in the role of producer and on the stage. Gentleman Death’s Shocktale became my latest passion in 2008, which is the current incarnation of Gas Light Player’s Terror Show. I became Gentleman Death, Shocktale’s icon character, both on the midway and inside the maze, promoting the theater, its haunt, and scaring patrons combining all of my skills gleaned over the years. My work with Gas Light Players Gentleman Death’s Shocktale Show is featured in the book by Bonnye Stuart, “Louisiana Curiosities: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities and Other Offbeat Stuff” which made its debut in November, 2012. In 2012, Gentleman Death (myself) was asked to Horror-Host “Phenom Film Festival” and a new Shocktale tradition of Horror-Hosting began. I later had the honor of working with Drew Edward Hunter in the Artspace exhibition, “Doctor Blood’s Library Macabre: A Vision of Literary Fright” with my contribution to the installation centered around Stephen King’s “IT” featuring the meeting between the characters “Georgie” and “Pennywise.” Several of my graphite sketch pieces recently were featured in the March, 2016 “Uncensored” show that took place St. Patrick’s Day in the Shreveport Common staple, “Minicine.” Round 2 of Shocktale came in the form of a creative place-making venture in conjunction with Faith Farms and the “Terra-Plex” attraction complex which will ultimately give me a place to make the nightmares in my head come to life on paper. There, I make props to play with, build sets to play on , have fights to choreograph, and the means to make live things dead and dead things come alive.