WE MAKE HOME IN THE UNKNOWN
Multi Cult is a routine ritual variety show. Come to Multi Cult to feel your feelings and move towards healing. Hear the music, watch the sermon, touch the altar, play and celebrate with others doing the same!
Upcoming shows are online, from 12-1pm PT / 1-2pm MT / 2-3pm CT / 3-4pm ET.
Check back soon or sign up for the Multi Cult newsletter to receive invitations to upcoming shows.
a brief history of Multi Cult
The first Multi Cult appeared on June 8, 2017 at the Silent Movie Theater in Los Angeles, California. Featuring a lineup of six special guests, a sermon by Lyra Hill, organ music by Tyson Thurston and an interactive altar and live video feed tended by Jason Ogawa, the intention of our initial show was ‘to strengthen hearts and minds.’ To cast our first circle, Sing Happy Socks the clown ran around the edge of the room three times. Our theme was CREATION.
From 2018-2019, Multi Cult continued at the Lyric Hyperion with many more guest performers and dual themes: LOVE & WORK, LOGIC & MAGIC, FUN & EVIL, PRISON & VISION, BODY & POWER, HOPE & FAITH. MC Sir Lyra, Musical Director Tyson Thurston and Altar Keeper Jason Ogawa were joined by Spörk, Dmitry Zotman and Enoch Ma providing behind-the-scenes support and Mak McClindon offering ASL interpretation. We passed glow sticks, bells, salt, fuzzy keychains, other objects and energies around the audience. We wrote holiday cards to incarcerated comrades. We built a human pyramid. We named our beloved dead. The intention of Multi Cult changed: ‘to make home in the unknown.’
On February 9, 2020, Multi Cult 11: TIME & SPACE unfolded at Art Share LA. Soon after, the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 a global pandemic and the following events were cancelled.
In April 2020, Lyra Hill began hosting Multi Cult Virtual Ritual (MCVR) online. Every Sunday for the rest of the year we met with a single theme and one special guest. We gathered from across the globe and stretched out our arms to cast a circle around the zoom grid. Tyson played music and Lyra delivered a sermon. Congregants brought items for show and tell and joined in silly, experimental game play. After 33 MCVRs, the routine paused when Lyra left Los Angeles to wander for a while.
MCVR returned in the fall of 2022 as a monthly ceremony with new segments: ten minutes of group improvisation followed by ten minutes of emotional integration. Narin Dickerson joined the team as the Video Wizard, adding psychedelic visual effects to our online gathering space. Tyson retired as Musical Director, and Spörk stepped into the role of Assistant Director. At a relaxed pace, our team continues to meet, evolve the form, and collaborate using consensus process on the future of shows, both in-person and online.
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