I must be very careful about the words I choose to use to describe The Mysterious Omar (also known as Mr. Brooks) as he can be quite sensitive and is easily offended.

     As near as I can tell, Omar Yram Brooks is a púca (pronounced poo-ka).  Naturally, I would expect you to be asking yourself, “What exactly is a “púca?" The following is a pretty good definition, you probably won't believe it … but here it is anyway:

The Púca (Irish for goblin) is a creature of Celtic folklore, notably in Ireland, the West of Scotland, and Wales. Other names for it include, Pooka, Puka, Phouka, Púka, The origin of the name may come from the Scandinavian word for "nature spirit" — pook or puke. It is one of the myriad fairy folk, and, like many fairy folk, is both respected and feared by those who believe in it … According to legend, the púca is a deft shape shifter, capable of assuming a variety of terrifying or pleasing forms, and may appear as a horse, rabbit, goat, goblin, or dog … The púca has the power of human speech, and has been known to give advice and lead people away from harm. Though the púca enjoys confusing and often terrifying humans, it is considered to be benevolent.

     Well, that’s the official definition! (Wik-it-up if you don’t believe me). The most famous púca is of course, Harvey, from the classic Jimmy Stewart film of the same name.  As you may recall, Harvey was a six-foot, three-and-one-half-inch tall rabbit that only Jimmy Stewart’s character could see. Now, in the case of The Mysterious Omar, I honestly do not know if he is a rabbit or not (+6’ or normal size) but I really greatly doubt it.  The aforementioned definition claims púcas are “deft shape shifters”, but I can honestly say that I have never physically seen Mr. Brooks so I do not have any idea what he looks like … or if he even has a look for that matter. I simply sense his presence and hear him. I do not see him.

     I met Mr. Brooks in a local library numerous years ago. Actually, Mr. Brooks introduced himself to me.  It was late spring, a warm day, schools were still in session, which probably explains why the place was mostly empty.  I was in the reference section looking up something which I have since forgotten (news stories about multi-level marketing scams, I think – doesn’t matter), when I heard a voice, as clear as any conversation. A deep, resonant, but not unpleasant voice said, “I like you Mr. Dowd. You amuse me.” 

     Well, as you can imagine, this startled me quite a bit as there wasn’t anybody around and the place was pretty quiet … even for a library!  The only person I was near and could see was at the other end of the room; the librarian no less and she was busy working at her desk.

     After a few curious minutes of looking for a source as well as waiting for another “word” as it were, I became discouraged and tried to simply dismiss the incident … casting the experience off as imagination.  I didn’t hear from Mr. Brooks again for quite some time, so that, I erroneously assumed, was that.

At least that is what I told myself. And yet, the memory of what happened and the name he called me continued to haunt me.

     Besides being startled I was also keenly aware the voice was making a reference to the movie, “Harvey”.  As though by magic, I suddenly remembered Jimmy Stewart had played Mr. Dowd, even though I hadn’t seen the film since I was like 12. It puzzles me to this day how I became suddenly and completely aware the voice was referring to Harvey!

     In short form, this is why I think Mr. Brooks is a púca.  It all sort of fits together in a strange sort of way (that my mind at least somehow understands!). Regardless, there you have a quick summary of my introduction to The Mysterious Omar.  Since then our “relationship” has grown substantially. You could say we’ve come to a pretty good understanding of each other. 

     See, Mr. Brooks assists me invisibly. An invisible friend you could say, (I must point out that he is NOT my assistant. The Mysterious Omar has made it clear to me, and in no uncertain terms, that he serves "no man"). Thanks to his help I am sometimes able to perform what appears to be the impossible.  I say “sometimes” because I can no more control Mr. Brooks than I can control the weather. Taking this comparison one step further, although I can not change the weather, I can at least adapt to it. If it’s raining, I’ll use an umbrella. If it’s sunny and hot, I can wear a t-shirt and shorts.  My relationship with Mr. Brooks is similar. Although I can not change him, or force him to do anything, I can adapt and if I adapt correctly, then sometimes amazing things really happen …

     Mr. Brooks can be a powerful ally as well. There once was a guest at a paranormal session I was conducting and he was, let’s just say, an ardent disbeliever. He spent the entire time making fun, and joking around. He seemed determined to be nothing less than a pest and a nuisance to me and my other guests (I nearly had to ask him to leave). It got so bad that I could only feel relief when the session finally ended and I could go home. But then an odd thing happened. A few hours after the show he called me; apologizing for his earlier behavior.  Of course I accepted his apology, to which he was very grateful and then he immediately proceeded to beg me to come over to his home and make Mr. Brooks go away.  He was sure I had deliberately sent The Mysterious Omar to his house to torment him. I assured him that I had done no such thing (I couldn’t even if I had wanted to), but he would not relent until I fabricated and performed an exorcism over the phone … right then and there! Needless to say, I have not seen or heard back from this man ever since.

But you don’t have to take my word for it. Hire me for a show and I’ll ask The Mysterious Omar to give a demonstration. J

Does Mr. Sparkes actually have telekinetic powers or is he simply getting a little help from his friend,