@maxtemkin Still waiting for a Dance project I care about. Someone needs to do an interpretive dance based on Spelunky or something.

— Andy Baio (@waxpancake) May 1, 2013

Not long afterwards, this appeared.

$1 goal with a 24 hour limit, and a single $1 reward limited to one backer: me. So great. I can't wait to see the finished dance.

It even got the attention of Spelunky creator Derek Yu:

Time to break some Kickstarter records, guys. RT @aeiowu Help save the world. Every little bit counts: kickstarter.com/projects/maxte...

— Derek Yu (@mossmouth) May 1, 2013

With absolutely no prompting, and with no real incentive to back the project, it's up to 71 backers and $132. (Like me, it looks like more than a few people are using this project as an opportunity to fill their Kickstarter pie... The Dance category is almost always the last slice filled.)

Beyond our circle of friends, the reaction from the Internet to Max's project was ridiculous. One indie comics artist called it "Kickstarter Abuse," and people on /r/games said the project was "mocking current industry trends" and "a waste of time, and a shallow effort to hold a mirror up to society."

The early days of Kickstarter were filled with crazy, tiny experimental projects like these. After all, Kickstarter CEO Perry Chen's only successful project was six backers giving him $19 to videochat with him on a flight and buy drinks for random passengers. These are the roots of Kickstarter's international success.

Playful experimentation is never abuse. It's the best thing for a healthy, creative community.

May 6: The performance was released exclusively to me last night, and I was deep in the middle of plans to sell DVDs, when some jerks named tUNNELcREW leaked it online. First, as a camcorder leak and then the screener copy.

Since I clearly won't be making a dime off this project, I decided to release the high-quality performance on YouTube. Enjoy.