The Merry Pranksters, and The Psychedelic Era

By Ryan H

In the late 1967's, America became aware of a growing movement of young people, based mainly out of California, but soon to be nation-wide, called the "psychedelic movement".  This movement relied on psychedelic drug use, music, and experiences to transcend reality and bring a higher state of consciousness to those who participated. Psychedelic drug use encouraged uniformity, the breaking down of boundaries, the theory that everything is one, the insight of political awareness, empathy with others, and the questioning of authority."The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test" is the story of how this psychedelic movement began with one person, Ken Kesey, and the large following he adopted, the Merry Pranksters.

Kesey was a young, talented novelist who has just published his first book, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", and who is receiving a great deal of fame and fortune. While living in Palo Alto and attending Stanford's creative writing program, Kesey signs up to participate in a drug study sponsored by the CIA. The drug they give him is a new experimental drug called LSD.

Under the influence of LSD, Kesey starts to attract a massive following. They are drawn to the lucid, dreamlike states they can achieve while on the drug, but they are also drawn to Kesey, who is a charismatic leader, and a person who uses these drugs without becoming psycho. They were called the "Merry Pranksters" and began to participate in wild experiments at Kesey's house in the woods of La Honda, California. These experiments they had participated in had drugs, lights and noise, and were all engineered to create a wild psychedelic experience while on LSD. They paint everything in neon "glowing"  colors, which is a huge psychedelic phenomenon, and although they had concerned their community, there was nothing they could do because LSD was as legal as cigarettes at that point.

The Pranksters first ventured into the wider world by taking a road trip east, to New York, for the hopes of publication of Kesey's newest novel. They bought a bus, which they paint in these bright, neon , glowing colors and name it "Furthur."

Back in California, Kesey's profile as a leader of this new cultural movement begins to rise. He befriends the Hell's Angels motorcycle gang, and even leads a retreat of Unitarian church leaders. Some begin to think of him as "the Prophet Kesey" , and indeed, much of what the Pranksters are doing through drugs does resemble a new religious movement.

To get the word out about the new understanding of life that the Pranksters achieve while high on LSD, they start Acid Tests. Acid Tests were huge parties where everyone takes LSD and transcends reality into a states of dreamlike, lucid, and hallucinogenic experiences. The Acid Tests become wildly popular, due to the side effects and feelings of hypersensitivity while on LSD, and Kesey is the leader of the new movement. However, things change majorly when Kesey is arrested for possession of marijuana, and leaves the U.S in hopes of missing jail time that he is facing.

The Pranksters join him, but in this desert land they simply cannot reproduce the feeling of the Acid Tests that took place back in California. Kesey decides to sneak back into the U.S. and plays "hide and seek" with the authorities, appearing on television and giving interviews in the paper, until he is finally caught by the FBI.

When Kesey goes before the judge, he tells him that in California he had envisioned a way of "moving beyond acid", and moving past drugs and creating a natural solace similar to the one brought on by LSD. The judge gives in and lets him out to prepare for this great "Acid Test Graduation". The Graduation was an act to once again transcend the normal human beings sense of time and space, however, without the use of LSD. This Graduation ends up being a total failure, and though Kesey and the Pranksters believe they might have graduated from acid, no one follows along this time.

Kesey eventually does his jail time and settles down in Oregon with his wife and family. The Pranksters disperse, though some come back, and the bus, "Furthur," is permanently parked beside Kesey's small house in the Oregon woods.