In 1999 I began documenting the large scale ensemble collaborative producing site-specific installations known as "The Fools Guild". Originally an improvisation team named by former Rennaisance Pleasure Faire director Peg Long "The Fools Guild", the group quickly expanded into a sort of spontaneous collaboration after their move south to West Hollywood where they began to host parties and a stream of regular visitors to the unusually accomodating house on Fountain avenue evolving a system of Kings, Mother Follys and run by a changing grop of devoted springs.
Shortly after thecrowning of the first king Andy Davis, I joined the group and began "stage managing" the parties. My experience and training as a vaudeville style stage manager experienced while on the boards of the Main Stages at Rennaisance Faire eventually translated into my managing Mountebank stage at Agoura and Innyard or "The Georga and Dragon Inn" at Blackpoint in Novato. My stages were also the nighttime sleeping places of "The Boys", and the diverse atmosphere of the backstage areas at that time were invaluable in connecting the many diverse performers and the emergence of a cohesive larger group, here somewhat documented as Kings, Mother Folly's and Springs of the Fools Guild.
The Fools Guild operates on the principle of creating a safe place for people to Play. Rather than suggesting a free-for-all this environment like Burningman or other creative spheres demands that people be unusually sensitive to each other's sensitivities. More than anything else the Fools Guild was developed as a means of expressing mutual affection between a large group of people with strong bonds of friendship. Growing out of the original ensemble of people who created the first Rennaisance Pleasure faire the Fools Guild also enjoys strong roots in the entertainment industry and members living internationally.
