Stop me if you’ve heard this before: A priest, a street cop and a drunken Irish vampire walk into a church … Never mind, I’m just going to stop myself.

For this week’s Trading expedition, I decided to join the theater world to hang out with NIU’s very own Minds Eye Theater.

Minds Eye Theater is a worldwide phenomenon that caught on within the NIU community about six years ago. It is a live-action role-playing game which serves a few purposes, one being confusing the hell out of this reporter.

From 8 to 11:30 p.m. every Tuesday at United Campus Ministries, a group of 30-50 students and community members hang out in a 1920s Chicago setting and pretend they are various characters of the era. Characters range from a lonely mortal to a street thug named Spider who doubles as a vampire. The students play their characters the entire night and act out the scenes their storyteller directors want them to. It’s pretty much a cross between “Whose Line is It Anyway?” and an Anne Rice novel.

“The game is more of an interactive story,” junior Orion Metzger said.

To be a part of this group, one must master all there is to know about the game. I tried my best, and this is what I remembered after my two hour stay.

At all times, you need to be in character. If you must break character, don’t forget to put your hand over your heart so the other characters know you are not an Irish street cop with super human strength, but merely a plain Chris Strupp. Other rules were explained, but picking up on them would take me two weeks.

Never once did I imagine there would be a room filled with pretend vampires playing a game of cribbage while the new hit from Betty Boop played on the phonograph. Then again, I never thought my roommate would become such a ladies’ man.

Minds Eye Theater accepts anyone who wants to be involved. The group helps you get out of reality by having you play a character, and that in turn could help you gain some self-confidence in your everyday life.

“This is my chance once a week to get out of the house and be with others because it is a great creative outlet,” said member Jason Buchstaber, who plays a street cop.

For those who come to join the game and don’t want to participate, the group has a way to allow you to watch the game unfold without being noticed: You can create a character and obfuscate yourself. That’s right, I said it: OBFUSCATE.

Your character can obfuscate itself on five different levels. Level One: You can hide in the shadows. Level Two: You can walk around unseen. Level Three: You can change to look like anyone (Mission Impossible rip-off, methinks). Level Four: You can disappear while others watch. Level Five: You let others disappear with you.

If you do choose to obfuscate yourself, remember to cross your arms over your chest and put the level of obfuscation on your fingers.

Don’t get this group confused with the card-playing game Magic: The Gathering or even with Dungeons & Dragons. The group has nothing to do with either of those genres. It is more like watching the movie “Underworld,” but having it acted out in front of you.

Everyone in the group can be comfortable in their surroundings and get away with most anything as a character of the 1920s. Next week, maybe I’ll become a cake-eater with telepathic attributes because that would be the cat’s pajamas.

Columns reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily that of the Northern Star staff.