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Art activism, and an edibles story.

Filmed by Maceo · Denver

Two acts back to back at the Channel 5 Carnival talent show in Denver: a comedian from Atlanta with a story about eating edibles past curfew in a Christian household, and then Matter, of the art collective Chiba Kills, who came to sing and ended up explaining eighteen years of activism first.

The comedian knows the room is against him and plays it. “I’m from Atlanta, Georgia, okay? I grew up in the Bible.” The crowd-work is Colorado’s: any pot smokers here? “It’s Colorado! We don’t smoke weed!” The story is the walk home, high, past curfew, to a mother he describes with affection: “she’s a good Christian lady And you know, she’s kind of a little bit ditzy, let’s be honest.”

Then a different register entirely. “My name doesn’t matter. I represent Chiba Kills. We’ve got an art project that has been doing activism for the last 18 years.” What they do is make experiences, like a canvas set up in a park that kids were told they could destroy, to show “that you can change a space within a period of time without having to be afraid of a police officer or a government official.” The next piece is about shade structures and skateparks, and the line the release page quotes: “We don’t need the government to do that. The people can come together and we can do it ourselves.”

He had meant to bring a guitar, could not, and sings anyway, after a dedication to an aunt who used heroin and was the only one who never mocked his long hair: “people can look like they’re total trash and be the most beautiful people on the planet.”

Transcribed from loud stage audio without the voice filter the rest of the archive uses, so the song and the crowd are only partly on the page. Filmed from the floor at the Paramount Theatre by We Them Media.

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Transcript

Transcribed with Whisper from the original audio, so nothing is masked. Names corrected. Published in full, as spoken, so it can be read, searched and quoted. Search every transcript →

0:02I was going to do a little bit of stand-up, oh, this is going to be great, okay, okay. Oh, don’t do it. Don’t do it. Don’t do it.

0:15Oh, man, these are some tough hacks to follow right now. You guys are making me feel terrible. Good. Look, I was going to tell you guys. I’m from Atlanta, Georgia, okay? I grew up in the Bible, but I was going to tell you guys a story.

0:30Do we got any pot smokers out of the crowd? Let’s go! It’s Colorado! We don’t smoke weed! Do we got any pot eaters in the crowd? No, we don’t do that! It’s Colorado! Does anyone eat pot before they can eat pot? No, it’s Colorado!

0:47I was going to tell you guys a couple of times that I ate pot in Atlanta, Georgia in the Bible. They’re here to try to test you I don’t know if you don’t that yet, but I found the test and believe me I’m not too smart, I can’t read too good No shit!

1:03Yeah So I got him, I got him right back this quick But anyway, I was out with a girl and I ate a bunch of pot and I forgot about it And I went home and I was past curfew, okay? So my mother, she’s a good Christian lady And you know, she’s kind of a little bit ditzy, let’s be honest So she’s like, hey man, you’re acting kind of weird, you’re acting kind of weird, why are you acting so weird, and I was, I was really fucked up right after about 8 weeks, and I was like, shit mom, I, I, I think I’m about to get it

1:35Hey, hey, courage is king, hey, don’t listen to them, don’t listen to them Get out of here

1:43Welcome to the stage, man, how you doing?

1:51My name doesn’t matter. I represent Chiba Kills. We’ve got an art project that has been doing activism for the last 18 years. Thank you for coming. I appreciate it. Thank you. I appreciate it. What we do is we create experiences. We create moments. So that way we could, uh, for example, we did a piece out in D-Park called Perseverance and what we did was, we set up a canvas and I went up to the kids with the paint, the canvas and I said you could destroy this canvas, you could do whatever you want, but I’m demonstrating to you that you can change a space within a period of time without having to be afraid

2:30of a police officer or a government official telling me you can’t do that. But we’re gonna do another piece called Perseverance and D-Park, I am facing a lot of shit for it. We’re going to do that piece and the whole point of that piece is that we come together and took down the shade structures and the skateparks We don’t need the government to do that. The people can come together and we can do it ourselves Now, I was going to come up here with the guitar, I misread the information, I couldn’t bring the guitar up So what I’m going to do is I’m going to sing

3:02You’re going to sing? Sing, create an experience, so I don’t know how to describe it, so we’re just going to see how we’re going I’m gonna give you the mic, baby, you think?

3:14My aunt used to do heroin. My aunt was the only one who did not call me gay for having my hair long. So I want to let you know that people can look like they’re total trash and be the most beautiful people on the planet. Now we’re going to sing.

3:49Adeline, you’re so mighty fine and your beauty is divine and it makes me want to cry If I can’t decide if I want to live or die But I know that I will let you fuck me up again I cannot pretend that I don’t know how this ends But I can’t get you out of my head Oh, Adonai, oh, Adonai, Adonai, Adonai, Adonai And I was a seven years old down there in Florida Watching the Bogies take advantage of everything My mom would take advantage of pulled over for something Like running every red light And I’ll tell you something that’s real The only thing you see is what’s going on in your life

5:11Everything else is just moving, the static we’re grooving Thank you so much

5:19Yo! He was like, how long, how long, how long can I go? That’s what he was doing

5:29You need a hand getting up here

5:52I Don’t Lancelon

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