On further reflection, I think The Dating Show to Save the World was the best thing that could have happened to Vibecamp.
There was already plenty of dating-themed content. Besides, it’s a group of mostly young people meeting up in the summertime. It was bound to happen.
Isn’t this the group that came up with “Twitter is a dating app”?
But the fact that people were coming with expectations around dating — or trying to avoid dating, or being hit on, etc. — meant it was extremely right for satire. And subverting those expectations is a powerful medicine.
Yeah, it was edgy and had lots of dark themes. As everyone probably knows, I think that we could use more of that in this scene.
The quokka energy is bait for cult leaders. We’re lucky we got some with a sense of humor.
I was not invited to the secret magic ritual where they summoned an alien, too squicked out by the lovebot questionnaire to make it to the secret puzzle. But a certain sorcerer of great renown was there, and I trust his judgment.
I did catch the lesser banishing ritual of the pentagram during the show. If anybody has a right to be freaked out by that, I do: I was inducted into a cult led by Thelemites at a young age. I immediately warded myself. But it was ultimately innocuous.
There were a lot of powerful archetypal elements in the show. The central shamanic performances of and succeeded at transforming the consciousness of the audience, which is the metric of a good ritual.
The musical psychopomps of Intrusive Thoughts and kept us on an emotional rollercoaster and left us with psychically charged jingles to carry forth what we have learned.
The powerful clowning of I think and was it too? Anyway, they reflected ourselves back to us in the most twisted of funhouse mirrors and gave permission to laugh, weep, scream, and fondle our genitals (metaphorically).
And let it not be said that we were guided on a journey to nowhere! The excellent writing and structural choices by were part of the long tradition of alchemical mythopoetic storytelling, which has its roots in the ancients and its branches in our future.
Personally, I think it is good to understand the magic that you participate in, so I enjoyed Bashu’s exposition here. But if you’d rather preserve the mystery, you’ve been warned. Cosmic spoilers below.
The host is Dionysus the Greek god of revelry, and (in this context) chaos. The producer who keeps telling him off and forcing him to stick to the script is Apollo, the Greek god of the sun, representing order here.. They are incarnate in this form because...
— bashu, thanks (@bashu_thanks) June 19, 2023
Anyway, the whole thing was a ride, and I’m glad I took the trip. I would have enjoyed Vibecamp fine if it were just a combination unconference and party in the woods; that’s cool enough. But the show really brought it to the next level and gave me hope for what it could become.
And I have enjoyed seeing everyone’s reflections on it as well! Whether you liked it or not. If there’s one common principle among the many TPOTs that co-create the vibe, it’s that we can talk about things that other cultures push under the rug. Communal reflection can only help.
If you thought it was just some play, or if you thought it was some wicked ritual, that’s fine. I hope it encourages you to bring your vibe nonetheless.
But if you’re like me, impressed and grateful, let’s admit what we’re all thinking:
How are we going to top this next year?
Crucial shamanic performance also from sorry I couldn’t find your handle earlier.