An quick update about the Dinner Tour

Just got the RV fixed – problems with the hydraulic clutch – fun stuff. Recently had dinner in South Central LA, a very good experience. Lining up a few more dinners in the LA area and trying to drum up some cash for this project. Thought of selling advertising space on the RV? That would be really weird though – imagine a huge picture of a piece of beef jerky on the Sunrader?

I’ll get this worked out somehow.

Moving on… I recently received an e-mail from John asking about my intentions with the Dinner Tour. Below is our correspondence, outlining exactly where the tour is:

The e-mail from John:

Marc,

When I invited you to dinner, I was under the impression your goal was to promote conversation between strangers and perhaps write about it. I thought it artful and a promotion of the need for human interaction. It seems you are turning this into a commercial enterprise. Which is it?
John

My response:

Hi John,

That’s a good question.

The Dinner Tour project is indeed about the importance of conversation between strangers and connecting with one another; that will never change. Before the Dinner Tour I was working on many different projects that dealt with finding the absurdity and humor in banal activities at the same time encompassing community building, conversation, and a “free economy.” The “skits” that I’ve been working on recently are an extension of my earlier work and I’d like to start incorporating them more into the dinner tour. It’s these good-natured jinks, my personality, and non sequitur nature that are the building blocks of all of my work and part of the force behind the tour. I never intend nor desire to use malicious humor directed at any of my dinner hosts, collaborators, or audience – I’m really only making fun of myself and some of the things we do as a collective.

Currently, I’m in LA trying to find some creative ways to fund this project without sacrificing its integrity and genuineness. It definitely has become a much larger project than I had expected and in turn a longer more expensive project to complete; but I am prepared to devout all of my time and energy to make it GO.

The dinner tour is still funded through the sale of my possessions, credit debt, donations, and the sale of merchandise, which is not nearly enough to take on this massive project. I have no grants, no trust fund, and no benefactors. It is a DIY project and that will always be the spirit and drive. If I am to do a TV show or book, that would be to support the project financially and provide a better living for myself and my family.

There really is no glamour living out of an RV. It’s the love of this project and the people involved that keep me going; it’s people’s life stories and communities that will forever be the backbone of the Dinner Tour. Once that is lost, you’re right, it will become a commercial enterprise that mimes every other bit of consumerism that surrounds us and attempts to take advantage of us.

Thanks for your question!

All the best,
Marc