Betathon
“Save Betalevel!”*
Sunday, January 25
7:30pm
Free
Betalevel is coming to an end on January 31st. So we’re hosting a telethon to save it!*
Save Betalevel?
Consider that EPA guy in Ghostbusters.
He found some weird nerds storing a bunch of weird ghosts in their weird basement and tried to do right by society by shutting it all down. He’s portrayed as the heel, even a villain. But really, should you be hoarding a bunch of ghosts in your basement? And when you think about it, wasn’t it way more interesting to unleash all those weird ghosts onto the world instead keeping them stuffed into a containment grid? Making the world strange wasn’t Walter Peck’s intent — he was just a bureaucrat seeking normalcy. Nevertheless, his act of shutting it all down was an uncorking. A release.
Yes, okay, the walls of the 53rd precinct were bleeding.
But consider — maybe the walls of the 53rd precinct should be bleeding?
It is now time for us to release this place to new inhabitants, naive and unaware of what lurks in its bones. It’ll be fun for them! And it is time for us to shut off the containment grid, releasing all these weird basement ghosts out into the world.
And it is time for you to save them. To savor them. To keep that experience you had of some impossible combination of sound, sight, and smell deep in your meat. Recognize it when it crosses your path again. Treat it well.
Save Betalevel.
Hosted by Betalevel emeritus: Colin Dickey
And featuring readings, music, performances, and more by Betalevel members, friends, and family, including:
Amina Cain
Carmina Escobar
Elizabeth Harper
Frank Montesonti
Asher Hartman & Jacqueline Wright
Carole Kim
Alan Nakagawa
Roxanne Steinberg & Zenji
Beck+Col
Menghe Jing
Pauline Lay & Paul Carter
Mike Shroffel
Michele Yu
Sean Deyoe
The Janitor
…plus many special guests!
*Some things you should know:
1. First of all, we won’t be saving Betalevel. This is a done deal. There’s no saving it. There’s no coming up with a pile of cash that we put in a suitcase and hand to a guy in a limousine to save Betalevel. That won’t be happening. Get your head out of the clouds. The fact that we’ve managed to exist somehow outside capitalism’s cruel logic, in our own little bubble, for this long is indeed a minor miracle.
2. Second, we haven’t quite managed to hook our international satellite broadcasting situation back up again post-pandemic, so this will be a live event. Not a telethon; it’s a Betathon. Operators will be standing by to take your in-person calls with donations.
3. Third, any money we manage to raise will actually be donated to local L.A.-based immigrants rights organizations, because fuck ICE.
Some organizations that could use your money:
1. CHIRLA
2. NDLON
