THE MERRY BAND OF
PRANKSTERS LOOK FOR A KOOL PLACE #1
Produced, filmed, directed,
edited and staring Ken Kesey and the Merry
Pranksters.
- It was 1964.
Mercury sold a convertible. The Beatles wanted to
hold your hand. Barry Goldwater was running for
president. Hud was the best movie. A group of people
were getting together on the West Coast. Ken Kesey
had just written, "Sometimes A Great Notion." The
publication party was to be in Madhattan the middle
of June. The whole group decided to go. They bought
a bus, painted it, outfitted it with a sound system,
bought movie cameras and tape recorders, their plan:
to film and record everything along the way,
inter-acting with Americans, swilling big jugs of
electric kool aid. When done, they would put out a
feature film of the whole trip. Their fortunes and
careers would be made. It didn't happen. Matching
the film and the sound was too grueling. The whole
thing was arrested. There were fits and starts,
other attempts, but it wasn't until the digital age
that the possibilities smiled and nodded. 35 years
later, we achieve primal success.
This is Episode 1, 'Journey To
The East,' which shows the preparing and
painting in California, the bus
stuck in Arizona's Big Muddy River, the loss of a
Prankster in Houston, Texas, the integration of Lake
Ponchatrain in New Orleans, plus numerous wild
adventures inside the bus, featuring Neal Cassady at
the wheel, rapping and rolling.
56 MINUTES. HI FI
STEREO PLUS: Bonus Stuff at the
end of the tape!
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"NORTH TO MADHATTAN"
THE MERRY BAND OF
PRANKSTERS LOOK FOR A KOOL PLACE #2
"Episode 2 is a little more than an hour, and it's
pretty good. Not beatifically clumsy and surprisingly
inspired like episode 1, but still pretty good. For
one thing it's Cassady's best driving footage-- two
cameras on him and words finally fitted accurately to
his whirring lips. His face is healthy and tight
and his rap righteous, and his spirit is flying.
And his mind? Terrific. Vintage Speed Limit.
But it's more than his mind. His mind is like his
healthy face, and it's more than that. More, even,
than his spirit. It's, aww... wait, I got it! Here's a
sample of what I mean:
In episode 1 when Cassady first comes driving
over the bridge to our place in La Honda, you
hear him before you see him, jabbering over the
exhausted vehicle and the scratchy old radio--
talking us stuff that you can't make out until he
turns off the car and the radio. And as soon as
the song stops you realize it was Love Potion No. 9. A
charming little entrance for Neal at the Wheel--
The 1960's Acid Anthem.
Then in this 2nd episode he resumes this theme,
driving the freeway and slipping into the
subject just as the stuff begins to buzz through
our brains. It's a wonderful frill of words--
"Strict!" he says. "It's strict! Strict, uh, as they
say in 'Arsenic and Old Lace'-- it's
strict-nine...strict-uh-nine...nine... Look!
Sign! ....says it's nine miles to exit nine...
nine... number nine..."
Then he begins singing in that low vaudevillian
voice he used when he wanted to make a profound
pronouncement but didn't want anybody to get real
serious or hung up or brought down-- "And we
mixed up a bottle of-- Love Potion No. 9 doop de
doodle doodle dee...."
Now, I know that isn't exactly gospel. Of
course not. It's just... Cassady behind the
wheel, driving and jerking, spewing words on the
world....
But it makes you think."
--Kesey
Produced, filmed, directed,
edited and staring Ken Kesey and the Merry
Pranksters. This was Kesey's final
project!
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THE ACID TEST, DIRECTORS CUT
Refurbished and reedited by Zane Kesey and Simon
Babbs using state-of-the-art "toys". This dramatic
quality difference is from re-transferring original
film and audio from the Merry Prankster vaults in
Hollywood. Featuring added scenes, new songs, new
interviews, and now synched sound. Featuring the Dead
(Pigpen, Jerry, Bobby, Phil and Bill), Ken and the
Merry Pranksters (Cowboy Neal, Mountain Girl, Babbs,
Hassler, Betsy Flagg, George Walker, Gretchen Fetchin
and of course Owsley, the man behind the stereo and
the electric punch). In this special "Directors Cut"
the Prankster pose as moviemakers, "simply shooting a
party scene". Their planning is interrupted en-route
to the event, to hide the stash, because a patrol car
has spotted Furthur. Pigpen improvises as the
amplifiers around the room find "Power". Naturally you
are treated to plenty of Dead (Warlock) classics and
Prankster craziness. As the night builds, and the
Kool-Aid kicks in, newly crystallized minds melt with
the colors and music. Eventually the Ballroom manager
attempts unplugging this electronic mayhem, but they
can't see to turn anything or anybody "off". This
exiting slice of history is everything Tom Wolfe wrote
about, and more (like Jerry sweeping up after the
show).
Approx. 55 min.,
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FURTHER ON!
TRUE FACTS ABOUT THE SMITHSONIAN CAPER
In the late 1980's Ken Kesey called his editor about
his upcoming book "The Further Inquiry." He
wanted film of Neal Cassady to be added to the book in
the form of flip pictures (they move as you flip
through the pages of the book). His editor said
that was impossibly expensive but jokingly said that
he would do it if Ken brought Further (the 1939 school
bus decaying in his field) to the American Booksellers
Association Convention in Las Vegas. Ken simply
answered "OK, he will bring Further....He had spotted
another bus for sale the day before and had been
itching to have a new bus lately, as it had been 30
years since the last one died. He bought the
bus, fixed it up and began painting it in wild
colors. The local news happened to come to the
farm and filmed some of the progress of this new
project. That night the news reported that "Ken
Kesey has restored the original 1937 bus and is taking
it to the Smithsonian Institution Museum". Even the
Merry Prankster himself could not have dreamed up such
a perfect prank, soon network television crews,
newspaper and magazine reporters were showing up
asking if they could come along for the ride...Ken
said "SURE...get on the bus" This video chronicles a
new chapter in the legacy of Kesey, the Merry
Pranksters the psychedelic bus, FURTHER. Staring
Ken and the Pranksters with special guests Timothy
Leary, Robert Hunter, Hunter S. Thompson, Bill Walton,
The Grateful Dead, John Barlow, and a cast of
thousands...all caught in the web of the greatest
prank ever.
About 2 hours
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BRAND NEW
KEN KESEY'S TIMEROOM
FEATURING: THE MERRY PRANKSTERS
In 1997 Ken came up with the wildest idea for a
party since the Acid Test. The idea was to
transform a room into a Time-Machine, transporting the
audience from reality to. . . anyplace else. The
Merry Pranksters were enlisted to help pull off this
mind altering feat. The Timeroom itself was
filled with transparent films painted with Day-Glo
space designs, with psychedelic liquid lights
projected onto them. Ken and the Pranksters were
in front sitting around their "Timetable." The
Timetable was equipped with headphones for each of the
Time Navigators (The Merry Pranksters) so that
they could communicate in the moment and spread their
weirdness amongst each other, as well as broadcast it
to the crowd. Multi-media images were being
shown of historic events in time, these images were
mixed in with the camera aimed at our Merry
navigators. The combined video images were then
projected onto a large screen behind the Timetable,
bombarding the audience with chaotic colors and
swirling images both past and present . The
result was fun-filled chaos, with plenty of Prankster
silliness. The video was also recorded as it was
shown, giving a chance for you to see the wildness of
the Timeroom for yourself. The Timeroom
was a huge success, leaving the audience bewildered
and enthralled, but maybe in need of some aspirin by
the end of the night.
Approximate running time 55 minutes.
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STILL KESEY
1986, approx. 99 min. On the road with the Thunder
Machine Band, it's Ken at his best. This electric
video captures the spirit of Ken and brings it to you.
In Still Kesey, Ken reads several selections from his
book Demon Box. The first selection "Now We Know How
Many Holes it Takes to Fill In the Albert Hall",
details Ken's reaction to the death of John Lennon,
recounting three "visitations" that Ken experienced
before and after the assassination. The second
selection entitled Little Tricker the Squirrel Meets
Big Double the Bear is a timeless tale both written
and told to you by Ken. "Tricker" has already become a
classic and the way Ken delivers the story is not to
be missed. For the last 20 minutes or so Ken slips
into his alter-ego "Uncle Sam Bozo" and sings a medley
of his "greatest hits" with the Thunder Machine Band -
a very eclectic group of musicians. The climax of the
musical performance, and the end of the video,
includes some very special musical guests. Still Kesey
is a warm, funny video which is the next best thing to
seeing Ken in person. "It's like that feeling when
you're a kid on a carnival ride." - Washington Post.
"Kesey fascinates his audience with his delivery ...
animated and cagey." - New York Times. "Five thousand
people applauded for five minutes." - Wall Street
Journal.
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TWISTER
A Musical Catastrophe
By Ken Kesey an the Merry Pranksters
In the mid 1990's Ken wrote a play to save the world a
end of the millennium...really! He saw that people
everywhere had grown apathetic and become merely
audiences. What he created was an interactive “ritual
reality”, bringing the Prankster/actors into the
audience and asking the audience onto the stage. He
planned to evoke chaos in order to quell the
natural disasters coming at the end of the millennium.
For a task as important as this he needed some big
names...so the play is set in the land of OZ. Ken
is the Wizard and he conjures up unwilling characters
from log ago....Dorothy, the Tinman, Scarecow,
Glenda...and soon they are confronted with unearthly
characters such as Elvis, Legba and Frankenstein. The
wizard leads the Dorothy along, learning new lessons
with each character until the play unravels with
bickering and battles as the chaos starts. Soon
the disgusted cast demand that Kesey come down from his
cloud and confront them. I won’t give away the surprise
ending, that sends the whole building into a rock-n-roll
party with Jambay providing the tunes and the audience
becoming Merry Pranksters. This play was very
important to Ken, as he poured his soul into it, taking
it on tour, editing this video, even creating a club
(L.O.S.T. Legion Of The Sufficiently Twisted) with
secret handshake and ID cards. This video is now being
offered again for a limited time, because Ken would want
it that way! 2 hours 10 min.
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LITTLE TRICKER THE SQUIRREL
MEETS BIG DOUBLE THE BEAR
By Ken Kesey
In a swallowtail suit Ken reads aloud in his woods from
his children's story, while a full blown orchestra backs
him up, and characters seem to come to life from his
powerful voice Little Tricker must think quickly when
the double-hungry bear "comes kabooming through the
Bottom like a freight druv by the Devil himself, or at
least his next hottest hollerer" Big Double the
Bear comes down from the high ridges one fine fall
morning, terrorizing the creatures of Topple's Bottom
until Tricker defeats him through courage and
cunning.The squirrel concocts a scheme that not only
outwits the bear but forever puts an end to his
rampages. This tall tale from the Ozarks serves as a
fine vehicle for Kesey, proving ample enough for his
quirky vision and his freewheeling use of language--his
dialogue crackles, his forceful images and metaphors
tumble one after another in an inexorable rush. The
characters are reminiscent of those in the Brer Rabbit
stories, but this story
is Kesey's own, told in a vigorous, colorful style that
demon-strates how much new life can be breathed into old
stories with rich and vital language. His style brings
each character into sharp focus as Tricker shrewdly
calculates, a simple rough-hewn bully with far more
brawn than brains.
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The Sea Lion
A story of the Sea Cliff People
by Ken Kesey
This is a very intimate evening with Ken reading to
grandchildren by candlelight. It is the first time
anyone has heard this story...and (as he says) "it is
a thousand years old". Upstairs in his log barn
that looks very much like a longhouse in the low
light, Ken tells his new tale. The Sea
Lion. It is a Northwest Indian story about young
Eemook, the Sea Cliff Tribe's crippled spoonmaker.
Lowly Eemook was nearly cast into the sea at birth
because his mother has died, but was spared by the
chief. The misshapen boy achieves manhood by piercing
the veil of enchantment laid upon his tribe by an evil
and powerful spirit. Kesey paints vivid portraits with
his words: revealing Eemook as lively and courageous;
fiercely jealous Chief Gawgawnee; Shoola, his
daughter, whose friendship with Eemook defies her
father's command; and Um-Lalagic, the boy's adoptive
grandmother, who makes shadow dances to soothe
children and sees truth clearly. Kesey's text is
rhythmic and powerful with sinewy strength in the
narrative. Although this tale is told in the tradition
of the Northwest Indians rather than coming from their
lore, it weaves a powerful spell that leads readers to
a magical sense of time and place.
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THE POETIC HOOHAW
In the mid 70's Ken and the Pranksters produced a
poetry festival unlike any other. It was held in
springtime on the University of Oregon campus "Mid-day
to mid-nite, bring a blanket, a buddy, and a bongo".
This highlight videwo includes the poet party at the
Kesy Farm. This video has come back out of the vaults
due to popular demand.
Featuring
William Burroughs,
Anne Waldman,
Allen Ginsberg,
Peter Orlovsky,
Gregory Corso,
Ken Kesey,
Ed Edmo,
Paul Krassner,
Wavy Gravy,
Mr. Spoon,
Rahsaan Roland Kirk,
Flying Karamatzov Brothers,
Ken Babbs,
Bob Kaufman,
Jack Micheline,
Mimes, Jazz, Comedians, Kids, dogs,
and Amazing Feats.
1 hour 5 min.
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FREE DVD......(yes free)
If you order over $50 dollars worth of
DVDs from key-z.com, you may ask for this FREE
DVD "FURTHUR, KEN KESEY'S AMERICAN DREAMS". We
now also have FURTHURMORE, the sequel
documentary. To order just add this item onto
the order form as Item
#DVDfree, with a description of of which
one you want.
This is the best documentary ever
done on Ken Kesey period... that should be all you
need to know!
Item #DVDfree
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