A Conceptual Reality TV Show."The Alternative Herbst"

The FAQ.

What is Fusion CIty?

Fusion City is a monthly program at the Edinburgh Castle, 950 Geary, every second Monday of the month, 8 pm. It is upstairs in an intimate theater space with tables and chairs. These tables have candles on them, providing a gracefully elegant touch. Atmosphere and aesthetics are fundamental. Fusion City is reality TV so real, we refuse the camera.  Yes, we admit that Fusion City is a conceptual TV show. We begin with Dr.G and the band. Our hostess recites a poem with the band. Dr. G provides musical punctuation throughout the evening, providing that senior faculty patriarchal subtext we call civilization. Then our panelists appear, staggering from the shadows like shipwreck survivors, and discuss aspects that are related to the theme. Often, they just spontaneously say politically incorrect things or become so involved in their version of reality that they render themselves incoherent. There is a ten-minute break during which people do what they do at breaks. Urination and the exchange of contraband are plausible speculations about this time period. It’s a fluid punctuation, no one actually “times” the break. When the band and diva start, the show resumes with more music, poems and audience Q & A. Paper is provided on the candlelit tables for spontaneous questions to be offered from the protective darkness where the audience sits comfortably and can assault panelists with questions of any kind. Often, in response to inappropriately personal questions, panelists find themselves revealing and confessing to behaviors that ordinarily might put them in mental hospitals or prison.

When's the Next Show?

May 8, 2006: 8PM Northern California Book Awards Show

Why is it called the “alternative” Herbst?

The Herbst is the formal Arts and Lecture Series, held in a large auditorium, featuring people you’ve already seen telling you what you already know. Fusion City is more informal and much more fun. In fact, Fusion City is entirely improvisational. Guests do not receive questions in advance. They often don’t even get driving instructions. Of course, alcohol is available downstairs. The hostess of Fusion City, who is a certified medicinal marijuana user, often takes a hit during the show, particularly when she feels bored or that, despite being the hostess, she is not receiving enough attention.

Who goes to Fusion City?

Fusion City is designed for intellectuals---- readers, MFA students, writers, artists, gays, feminists, revolutionaries, the chic and sophisticated, and people with affection for the spontaneous, the unexpected and experimental. That bit of Merry Prankster Magic Bus sort of thing, without being retro. While Fusion City is still coalescing and our precise demographic is uncertain, we know for an absolute fact that journalists, free-lance writers, criminals, rock stars, the marginally employed, activists, psychiatrists, waitresses, professors, venture capitalists, directors, dilettantes, the emotionally destitute, critics, healers, astrologers, scientists and clerics are at the candlelit tables.

Why is Fusion City called a “destination venue”?

Fusion City is a destination venue because it is more adventuresome than a movie and less expensive and complicated than theater or opera. There are no advance tickets to purchase, no scheduling or seating problems. Of course, Fusion City contains the elements of performance art and theater and the hostess is a diva, but the informality and interactive audience participation give Fusion City that rare quality the true intellectual recognizes and craves---namely an experience. Unlike a traditional rock show, talking to your friends is actually possible without that awkward screaming in short hand directly into their ear. And, because there is NO GLASS separating the audience from the show, because the show is completely real, a sense of expectation and excitement is continuous.

Would Fusion City be a good place to go on a date?

Fusion City is the perfect date spot. Numerous famous and cosmopolitan people who have been everywhere and seen everything have rated us Best Date Night. We regret that they have requested their names be withheld. We don’t know why Sean Penn, David Bowie, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, two members of Coldplay, Mary Gaitskill, Patti Smith, Gavin Newsom, Dave Eggers, Paul and Jane Bowles, Barry Bonds and Bono do not want it known to the public that they have attended Fusion City, but we respect their desire to not be used as publicity.

Consider Fusion City as a date or e-contact environment. You are safely in a public setting, secure that violence of any kind will be unlikely. Sitting at comfortable candlelit tables, you and your date can actually talk to one another without the distraction of music so loud communication is impossible. You can comment in real time together, an activity prohibited in a movie or theater, but encouraged at Fusion City. You can become simultaneously engaged, enraged or enthralled as Fusion City unfolds before you. Your own dialogue with your date and/or friends as Fusion City unravels before your shocked eyes gives you a chance to get to know each other, through intellectual engagement and participation. Think of the kinetic informational exchange. You can access much about the IQ and sensibility of your date by their response to the events on stage. In fact, after a single Fusion City experience, you will naturally learn more about your potential sex partner then possible at more conventional venues. The possibility of “meeting” someone at a venue as unique as Fusion City is obvious. You have a shared experience, the bond is already there, fermenting, intoxicating on a subatomic level.

Would Fusion City be “a night out” for the Baby Boomer set?

That’s an excellent observation. Yes, for the middle aged, Fusion City is ideal. The aging among us like to sit. They still have the capacity for intellectual stimulation, but lack the stamina required by ordinary arts and music festivals. And, for those with long-term partners, Fusion City is a comfortable, reliable, lively and extraordinarily affordable  “night out” from the atrocity of normal family life.

Are there rules for admittance?

Despite the nasty rumors circulating wildly, there are no age, sex, gender, race, creed or religious requirements of any kind. No IQ or other standard tests are required for Fusion City admittance, no identification or passport checks. There is no dress code. Come as you are and leave enlightened, purified and redeemed.

Is there a way to join Fusion City?

Fusion City welcomes your feedback, suggestions, ideas and contributions. We are actively recruiting crew at all levels. No experience is necessary to be part of the Fusion City crew.

Do MFA and writing students get in free?

Yes.