Magic trip and Ken Kesey’s acid test videos

27 Feb

Back when acid was mostly known as an experimental drug examined for its exotic effects on consciousness and its potential therapeutic value, Ken Kesey was among the first who came up with the idea of using it to party and explore reality intuitively. After publishing his masterpiece “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”, which he wrote on acid, inspired by the acid experiences he had in CIA LSD experiments, Kesey assembled a group of intrepid freakstes around him. Otherwise known as the merry pranksters, this merry group of psychonauts initiated the famous 1960’s acid tests, which were basically the first acid parties. All the while, they shot an experimental psychedelic film, while on acid. But the group couldn’t get its mind around how to edit the film, which was to be edited from hundreds of hours of fragmentary materials. Only in 2011 was it finally released as part of a film called “Magic Trip” about Kesey and his group, and if you have anything more than a fleeting interesting psychedelics I suggest you check it out soon to get better acquainted with Kesey and his group. Above the trailer to the magic trip video. Below, an animation accompanying a conversation with Jerry Garcia from the Grateful Dead, reminiscing about the acid tests. And finally, the acid test graduation film.