Here’s part of the script I’ll be riffing from when I introduce the movie “Magic Trip: Ken Kesey’s Search for a Kool Place” at Lowell Celebrates Kerouac on Sunday October 13th. We might have it streaming live on my YouTube channel if you can’t be there — https://www.youtube.com/@BrianHassettVideos/streams ============================================ This is the original Merry Prankster […]
Magic Trip movie — Introduction and Background
September 29th, 2024 · No Comments · Merry Pranksters, Movies
Tags: Alex Gibney·Alfred & David Maysles·Bob Dylan·Chuck Workman·D.A. Pennebaker·Ethan Hawke·George Walker·Grateful Dead·Jack Kerouac·Ken Kesey·Larry McMurtry·Merry Pranksters·Neal Cassady·Pull My Daisy·Robert Frank·Robert Stone·The Beatles·The Warlocks
Anne Murphy’s “Tripping With A Viper” about Neal Cassady
May 4th, 2024 · 15 Comments · Kerouac and The Beats, Merry Pranksters
. Beat & Prankster fans rejoice! A new firsthand memoir has just been released of life with one of the Mount Rushmores of both the Beat Generation & the Merry Pranksters. That doesn’t happen very often, and there aren’t many options left. Anne Murphy (who later reverted back to her birth name Anne Marie Maxwell) […]
Tags: Acid Tests·Allen Ginsberg·Anne Marie Maxwell·Anne Murphy·Arthur & Kit Knight·Carolyn Cassady·Diane Di Prima·Edie Kerouac·Gavin Arthur·George Walker·Helen Weaver·Hettie Jones·Hunter Thompson·Jack Kerouac·Joyce Johnson·Ken Kesey·La Honda·Lu Anne Henderson·Merry Pranksters·Mountain Girl·Neal Cassady·Spit In The Ocean·The Beat Generation·The Beat Museum·The Grateful Dead·The Trips Festival·Tom Wolfe
The Beats, The Beatles & The Brotherhood
January 31st, 2023 · 3 Comments · Weird Things About Me
The Beats, The Beatles & The Brotherhood . . This month I met a fellow Toronto-area author, John Arnone, who’s just written a book about The Beatles and Canada — Us and Them: Canada, Canadians and The Beatles. In fact, in keeping with our Canadian heritage, we met after a ball hockey game and then […]
Tags: Al Aronowitz·Allen Ginsberg·Bob Dylan·Brion Gysin·Carolyn Cassady·D.A. Pennebaker·George Harrison·Ian Sommerville·International Poetry Incarnation·Jack Kerouac·Joe Strummer·John Arnone·John Lennon·Ken Kesey·Lawrence Ferlinghetti·Maple Leaf Gardens·Paul McCartney·Revival69·Royal Albert Hall·Royston Ellis·The Beatles·William Burroughs
The Play’s The Thing
April 30th, 2021 · 2 Comments · New York City, Real-life Adventure Tales
The Play’s The Thing 113 different Playbills that survived. An approximate history of my life in theater audiences . . . Some of the highlights . . . which you can see the Playbills of in chronological order starting at the top . . . Mousetrap — London — 1972 — the longest running play […]
Tags: Alan Cumming·Alec Baldwin·Amy Wright·Arthur Miller·Bill Irwin·Bob Dylan·Cabaret·David Mamet·Dustin Hoffman·Eddie Izzard·Eric Bogosian·Eugene O'Neill·Gary Cole·Gary Sinise·Green Gold·Hair·Harvey Keitel·James Joyce·James Stewart·John Malkovich·Ken Kesey·La Mama·Laurie Metcalf·Marisa Tomei·Mike Nichols·Minetta Lane Theatre·Mort Sahl·Paul Simon·Radio City Music Hall·Red Roses·Robert De Niro·Robin Williams·Sam Shepard·Shakespeare·Shakespeare's Globe·Steppenwolf·Steve Zahn·Tim Curry·True West·Twyla Tharp·Uta Hagen·Waiting For Godot
Beat Versus Beatnik
March 3rd, 2021 · 29 Comments · Kerouac and The Beats
21st Century Beatniks versus Hieroglyphic Caricatures . There’s long been a debate about the word “beatnik” — originally coined by a sensationalist San Francisco gossip columnist in 1958, playing on the Yiddish suffix “nik” and the first Russian satellite launched in September ’57, colloquially known as “Sputnik.” Jack and Allen & company hated the word […]
Tags: Abbie Hoffman·Al Hinkle·Albert Grossman·Allen Ginsberg·Anne Waldman·Barack Obama·beatniks·Bob Denver·Bob Dylan·Brad Pitt·City Lights Books·Daniel Yaryan·David Meltzer·Diane Di Prima·Dobie Gillis·Donovan·Ed Sanders·Elvis Mitchell·Gordon Ball·Helen Weaver·hippies·Howl·Jack Hirschman·Jack Kerouac·Jack Micheline·Janis Joplin·Jeopardy·Jerry Garcia·Jerry Kamstra·John Phillips·Jonah Raskin·Ken Kesey·Lawrence Ferlinghetti·Linda Breen·Maynard G. Krebs·Merry Pranksters·Naropa·Neal Cassady·Quentin Tarantino·Robert Shelton·Route 66·ruth weiss·S.A. Griffin·The Beat Generation·The Beat Museum·Vesuvio's·William Burroughs
En-Cora-gement: Give The Kids The Vote – by Dale Topham
January 31st, 2021 · 7 Comments · Blissfully Ravaged in Democracy, Politics
Here’s a beautiful inspiring story about proactively engaging young people in democracy. And I mean young people under 18! It’s a story about generosity and generations, empowerment and inclusion, doing the right thing, and putting your good where it will do the most (as Ken Kesey used to advise). It’s told by a fellow Canadian […]
Tags: Dale Topham·Green Party·Justin Trudeau·Ken Kesey·Lester B. Pearson·Merry Pranksters·Pierre Trudeau
Brian Hassett – Adventures in Print
January 26th, 2020 · 21 Comments · Blissfully Ravaged in Democracy, Kerouac and The Beats, Politics, Real-life Adventure Tales, Weird Things About Me
40 YEARS IN PRINT . A CHRONOLOGY OF THE PUBLISHED REAL-LIFE ADVENTURE TALES . . 1977 – May — writing a song with Guess Who founder Chad Allen – not in print as of yet, but it is on my website here. 1980 – April — John Anderson in San Diego – Blissfully Ravaged in […]
Tags: Barack Obama·Beat Shindig·Bernie Sanders·Big Sur·Bill Clinton·Blissfully Ravaged in Democracy·Carolyn Cassady·Gary Hart·George Walker·Grateful Dead·How The Beats Begat The Pranksters·Howard Dean and Al Franken·Jack Kerouac·Ken Kesey·On The Road·Paul Tsongas·Phil Lesh·The Hitchhiker's Guide to Jack Kerouac·Walter Salles·Woodstock
Kerouac in Provincetown
December 4th, 2019 · 37 Comments · Kerouac and The Beats
How History Could Have Been Different Kerouac’s and Otherwise . It was a quiet day in Facelandia when my Beat / Deadhead friend Steve Silberman posted: “Social media is amazing sometimes. In response to my posting a Cape Cod Times article about Kerouac’s time there, a woman posted a previously unseen photo of […]
Tags: Allen Ginsberg·Big Sur·Bill Cannastra·Bixby Canyon·Blues & Haikus·Burt Goldblatt·Cape Cod·Carolyn Cassady·Dharma Bums·Ed White·Frankie Edie Kerouac Parker·Fred DeWitt·Fred McDarrah·Gerald Nicosia·Greenwich Village·Hazel Hawthorne·Heart Beat movie·Helen Parker·Hettie Jones·Inka Leisma·Jack Kerouac·Jacky Gibson·Jan Kerouac·Jerry Bauer·Jerry Ciminio·Jerry Seinfeld·Joan Haverty·John Clellon Holmes·John Dos Passos·Joyce Johnson·Ken Kesey·Larry David·Lawrence Ferlinghetti·Lew Welch·Liza Williams·Lucien Carr·Merry Pranksters·Mount Hozomeen·Nancy Ufford·Neal Cassady·On The Road·Peaked Hill Bar·Provincetown·Ramblin' Jack Elliott·Robert Frank·Sara Yokley·Saving Provincetown shacks·Thalassa shack·The Subterraneans·The Town and The City·Visions of Cody·Walter Salles·William Burroughs
Ode to Neal
October 31st, 2019 · 14 Comments · Kerouac and The Beats
. Neal Cassady — by Carolyn Cassady (courtesy of the Cassady fam) . From Dean Moriarty . . . to Dead immortality, The street-kid who read . . . was a legend in bed, But more than the lays . . . he inspired a blaze In the hearths of the writers . . . […]
Tags: Allen Ginsberg·Bob Dylan·Carolyn Cassady·Grateful Dead·Jack Kerouac·Jerry Garcia·Ken Kesey·Merry Pranksters·Neal Cassady
Paul Krassner 1932 – 2019
July 22nd, 2019 · 9 Comments · Hitchhiker's Guide to Jack Kerouac, Merry Pranksters, Real-life Adventure Tales
. Here’s the chapter on the now late great Paul Krassner from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Jack Kerouac about the time I met him and a buncha his croanies at the big Kerouac summit in 1982. I sent him this chapter when I was finishing up the book and he gave it his thumbs-up. . ch. 23 […]