Reality Rally

Today’s “Up Close and Personal” blog interviewfeatures “Deadeye Dragoon”, a long-time supporter of Reality Rally and performer in Temecula’s famous group “Old Town Temecula Gunfighters” . The group performs 40-minute Wild West skits across Southern California, and in Temecula they can be seen on Saturdays every month (except for November and December) at 4^th and Old Town Front St. (Noon and 2PM), complete with six-shooters, rifles, and shotguns. “Everything that was used back in the Old West,” Deadeye said.

Old Town Temecula Gunfighters have performed in front of live audiences for 27 years.They have presented their skits before judges in Banning, Vista, Yuma, and Jean (Nevada) -- winning second place in Yuma last year. OTTG has also performed at weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, schools, museums, churches, local police fundraising events,and western events in various cities. Some of their 25 active actors can be seen on TV shows such as 'Castle', 'Parks & Recreation' and 'CSI: Cyber', and in films such as 'Western Religion', 'Terminator', and 'Wild Wild West'.

Deadeye and his group have been a part of Reality Rally from the start (since 2011), thinking up creative challenges for each year’s race. At Reality Rally, the gunfighters always start off the race by revealing key clues to participants in fun and unique ways. This sets off the Reality Rally Amazing Race Game and sets the mood for the event in an enormous way. It also continues to make everyone feel they really are in the Wild West. Participants tell Reality Rally all the time that they can’t believe what an awesome town Temecula is and how theGunfightersare the real deal.

To start off the race one year, the skit-members blew up a bank safe using a controlled explosion (don’t worry, one of the team members is a licensed pyrotechnic!) and released a myriad of little balls which contained instructions for the race. Last year they revealed clues through a Back to the Future themed skit. This year Gillian explained to the Mayor of Temecula that she had enlisted the help of none other than “Indiana Jones” to announce the clues for Reality Rally. Suddenly with a crack of a whip and resounding music, Indiana appeared up on the City Hall balcony, then magically next to the crowd. As usual, it was quite a show, as clue bags were tossed off the balcony by the Gunfighters.

The challenges Deadeye and his team create each year for the race are equally exciting.When Race participants get to their Challenge Checkpoint they get immersed in the Gunfighters’ Wild West and the village they set up, with 25 members of their group playing a big part.

“We try to be interesting, too. We change it every year,” said Deadeye. “One year they had to cross a bridge and they did some gold-panning. Another year, they had to build a raft and go up and down the river. They had to recite an incantation over the grave of a cat. They had to recite the incantation then throw the 'dead' cat over the open coffin of a 'bad' person (this 'bad' person had a talking head with a motion sensing device -- the head would yell something if the cat got close enough). This was done to get rid of warts. This year, teams had to blow some darts at these coconuts, they had to shoot some pistols, and they had to send a coded message on real Army phones. They had to say the map coordinates from a map in front of them in the military alphabet. It was fun, it was a challenge for some of them but all of them got it. Directly from the movie, they had to get this idol of this platform, and replace it with a bag of sand, and if you didn’t do it, the whole cave would collapse. What they actually did was take a skull and replace it with a bag of sand, and if they didn’t do it correctly, a bell rings.”

This year the Gunfighters went all out by dressing in Indiana Jones outfits, and one race participant said it felt like a movie set.

Deadeye and his group love participating in Reality Rally and enjoy coming up with new themes each year.

“We’re doing it for Gillian and for Michelle’s Place. We really enjoy doing it. It’s a challenge for us to come up with this stuff. We’re already planning for next year too,” he said.

Gillian loves how the Gunfighters get totally into Reality Rally and make it such fun. Reality Rally and Michelle's Place is truly honored to have them involved, she says.

With a year of planning going towards their next challenge, the Gunfighters are sure to impress yet again in Reality Rally’s 2017 race.

We look forward to seeing what you and the group come up with, Deadeye! Thanks for being a part of Reality Rally every year—it’s what makes the event so special.

- Taryn Murphy