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Last week Marvin Sandhurst '13 saved lives when he helped Providence Fire Department Ranger Unit #3 maintain calm during an evacuation from a burning house. Sandhurst, who emerged with from building with only what he called "a severe burn from a girl who didn't enjoy my pickup line," took it upon himself to assuage the panic of the guests at the house party by yelling "movie theatre."
Leah Randon '12, who was also at the party, recounted how "out of nowhere Marvin put on these 3-D glasses, which he had stolen when he saw Avatar, to block out the light of the flames and in a sonorous baritone yelled 'movie theatre!' I really calmed down after that. The idea of stadium seating and hot buttery popcorn just put me in a good place, you know?"
"It was almost like something Pavlovian," remarked Chris Fredericks '11. "I heard 'movie theatre' and I calmed down completely. My voice resumed its normal timbre, and I made my way to the nearest exit door, which was not the same one through which I entered."
Fire Chief Donald Samuelson was impressed with the performance. "We had a guy standing outside the building with a megaphone, but he wasn't nearly as effective as this Marvin fellow. We might have to start taking this guy out on calls with us. Some of the boys have always wanted to do an acapella version of the Gladiator theme on the way to the fires-gets them pumped up you know."
When asked what inspired him to take such an unprecedented step, Sandhurst asked a question in return: "Have you ever seen your life flash before your eyes? I didn't think so. All I saw was me seeing the Lion King in theatres for the fifth time, going with my parents to see Titanic for the second time, and feeling up Cindy Chanston during Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. What else could I have yelled?"
Parties across campus have been sure to put Sandhurst on the top of the guest list. "Even if there's no fire, he'll keep any situation from getting out of hand. I'm thinking he'd even make a great bouncer if we needed one for those larger events," said Randon.
Fire departments across the country have been calling Sandhurst in the hopes of coaxing him out to give lectures on crowd control and maintaining a sense of calm in difficult situations. "I might start up a nice little consulting business on the side, who knows," he remarked. "I was thinking Fireside Chats Inc."
Different movie theatres have been approaching Sandhurst with the idea of using him as an advertising venue. He won't divulge any details about any of the possible deals, but he did say that "there's a good possibility of my retiring early if I can work my way into the New York club circuit. We'll see what happens."
