Prankster History Project

Ken Kesey biographical sketch Kesey and Further, 1999. Kesey trading card Stewart Brand and the Trips festival Pranksters 1999 photo Kesey, Faye and original Further, 1999 photo 1 Kesey, Faye and original Further, 1999 photo 2 Allen Ginsberg, 1967 photo 1 Allen Ginsberg, 1967 photo 2 Kesey poster from sixties Neil Cassady, 1967 Great Wavy Gravy photo Kesey toothy grin photo, 1967 Message from Happy, Kesey's dog Kesey at Bryant Street Breakdown with Kesey, 1977 Gene Anthony Kesey portrait Roy Sebern and friends at La Honda in 1965/66. Paul Foster, RIP

Welcome to the Prankster Page. The first time I met Kesey I asked him how someone became a Prankster and he looked at me as if I was the most stupid bastard he'd ever met! It probably wasn't the smartest question, but I was trying to get at how and why there seemed to be The Pranksters (with a capital 'P', a set of white overalls, and an official I.D. card) and then pranksters (with a small 'p') who were only partially on the bus or just running alongside. Was Pranksterdom bestowed, assigned, assumed, recognized or earned? Wolfe gives us a Merry cast of Pranksters in The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, most of whom -- the big 'P' Pranksters at least -- seem to be on board for the long haul. Many of these people are still active members of the Prankster family and they still participate in projects together, the most recent of which involved them touring the U.K. in Further II to Search for Merlin. This page hopes to record the stories of lots of small 'p' pranksters and gather information and pictures about the big 'P's'. Click here to shed your load, or on a link to the left to share the burden of others. Added a couple more photos: One is courtesy of Kesey from his personal collection and it shows Prankster Roy Sebern and friends at La Honda in 1965/6. Roy was responsible for much of the original artwork on Further, and it was he that gave the bus its name. This photo is displayed with the kind permission of Kesey himself. I also added a Gene Anthony portrait of Kesey from, I think 1966/67. Click here to see this photo or visit Gene Anthony's website to view more of his work. Many thanks Gene. Sad news from Pranksterland. Sandy Lehman-Haupt, died of a heart attack on October 28, 2001. I never got chance to meet Sandy, but was looking forward to doing so one day. Maybe another time... Here's a photo of Sandy leaping into the Great Beyond: Jim Furnish has sent us a great breakdown story about an encounter with Kesey back in 1977. Thanks Jim Hey, Kesey's dog, Happy has sent us a letter. Click on the link in the menu to the left. A friend of mine is making a television documentary about Del Close, the world-famous comedy director who trained John Belushi, Dan Akroyd and Bill Murray, Mike Meyers, and Chris Farley, to name just a few. What's that got to do with this site you ask? Well, Del lived with Wavy Gravy back in the day and probably had something to do with the LA acid tests. Anyone know more? Here's a picture to jog memories..... Page URL: http://pranksterweb.org/pranks.htm © Copyright 2001, Rick Dodgson Webmaster: Rick Dodgson Revised: July/22/2001

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