You should n’t have to be rich to throw a spontaneous backyard pic nighttime , host a twenty-four hour period of games with chest of drawers - high Connect Four and oversized Jenga , or roll firmly at the campground with your solar USB courser , laser - like headlight , and Gallic pressing .
That ’s the thinking behind Joymode , a company that loanword stuff out to Angelenos who pay $ 99 per year for a rank ( plus additional low - cost add - ons ) for down - upkeep playfulness . You break up the “ experience ” – that ’s the tailored package you ’ll borrow to do something specific – from the website or their iOS app .
Then they deliver , and you use it for the weekend , yield far less than you would if you had to buy and hive away it .
Dustin Downing/Thrillist
“ It ’s this whimsey of being able-bodied to do more and own less . We can cater you with everything you do n’t need or do n’t demand to own to have fun with your friend and family line , ” Joymode father and CEO Joe Fernandez said at his Downtown Los Angeles warehouse on a late Thursday afternoon .
His previous troupe , Klout , was also a subject area in how people connect . But instead of mapping out how societal media railroad tie translate to influence , Fernandez ’s current speculation keeps an armoury ofno - they - didn’tawesomeness on loan to help you make memories .
Nearby , two staffers were pick out Zea mays everta machines , along with returns of other whimsy – cotton candy machine , outsized board games – coming back from Joymode ’s thrash Labor Day weekend .
Dustin Downing/Thrillist
This ever - grow storehouse of calibrated craziness is in the South Park vicinity – that ’s Staples Center - ish – with a exclusive J on the nondescript door of what Fernandez thinks was once a raver outer space . ( The black light - optimized ceiling , pink floor , floating stairs & railing leading to a DJ platform , dungeon - like cut up wood doorway , and cluster of au naturel , torso - only mannequins clued him in when they took over the distance a class ago . )
You surround the bell and are greet by a handsome young fellow who was n’t expecting you , but is smiling in any case , and leads you , without name - check you or in any way sizing you up , to the equally pose - back chief operating officer , whose previous venture was in social medium analytics . That make him just about as much a modern - day Wonka for millenials as can be .
They do n’t only surrender the goods a saucy single might take over to take to a beach political party or weekend barbecue cray - cray . Massive crews ( and , yes , families ) are a bountiful part of the extremity groundwork , often booking the backyard movie night parcel , which includes a motion-picture show filmdom , projector , folding tabular array , another table for the goodies , bon vivant Zea mays everta kernels , pic theater - style popcorn Lord , cotton confect machine , mantle , inflatable couch , low lawn chair , blanket , and a portable flack perdition . Boom : political party .
Dustin Downing/Thrillist
Even casting director Stacey Snow affect her industry friends with her alfresco screenings at her Highland Park home . “ When I have [ movie ] party , people are like , ‘ What?‘They’re just trip out . ” She also have the Pool Party experience delivered to take on weekend in Palm Springs , and adds on the blow cone Creator to dissimilar orders , because everyone loves C. P. Snow cones .
Of course , for boozy element , there ’s a rentable stock-still margarita Lord you’re able to project in . If your cocktail predilection are a little more upmarket , there ’s a separate package , the Crafty Cocktails experience , to make a right Moscow mule , copper mug and all . And if you have no idea how to pour anything but beer from a bottleful , do n’t fear – every experience has a GIF for steering on gathering or use , sink in your inbox .
They ’ve also got beer niff , complete with red Solo loving cup – which is not to be confused with Bear Pong , an oversized version of the original that goes with the Giant Games assembling .
Dustin Downing/Thrillist
They ’re adding raw experience all the clip ground on customer demand . So far the most outlandish enquiry – the one flat " No " to this daylight – was for a Ferrari ( which , let ’s be honest , you may charter at many other place in Ithiel Town , and which costs right smart more than $ 99 a year ) . One client desire her frank to have his own agility form – so now that is available . Someone else wanted a sous vide for a cooking experiment , so that ’s extend too .
Santa Monica occupant Kyle Taylor , 30 , has done an yearly trip with high school friend for four years direct , all outdoorsy . He ’d done curt backpack trips , but want to go bigger without induce to babble his friends into shelling out for equipment they would n’t touch for the other 50 weeks of the class . His asking became the Backpacking Essentials experience , one he used to roam Utah ’s Zion National Park in April , with his entire LA gang on the trail . “ It ’s a great elbow room to get booster concerned in try out something with you , ” Taylor said . Next he ’ll try their virtual realness Oculus Rift experience .
Some add - ons contain a fee – like $ 5 to $ 15 each for an extra miniature in addition to those let in in the Pool Party experience , take into account mass to book spare or mix in some unrelated bits . If you want to bring a bubble motorcar camping , go for it . “ you could customize ” beyond a typical package , Fernandez said . But he estimates that take up as a fellow member , even with some add - on fee , still works out to a deep price reduction . “ [ The fee for each rental is ] more or less five to eight percent of retail cost of the hooey . So , like , 1,000 dollars of camping gear for $ 50 to $ 75 . "
Naomi Tirronen
" We desire the maths to be really sluttish , like ‘ If I do n’t think I ’m go to use this 15 to 20 time , do I really want to buy this ? ’ ”
Owen Gee , 30 , a branding specialist whose South Park loft is blocks from Joymode , uses his membership to do thing that are n’t unremarkably a part of true urban life , like spontaneous pool party . “ Giant float doughnuts , pizzas , frosting cream cones . It was a blast . It became an case rather than a pond party . [ Without Joymode ] I do n’t think I would ever have done that . ”
Shockingly , Fernandez ’s own home base is actuallynota massive repository of colorful , impractical tchotchke . He is anti - reposition , and has been since live in a pocket-size New York apartment from 2005 to 2007 , where he made a accord with his then - girlfriend , now wife . They decided that whenever they bought anything , they ’d get rid of something .
He like choosing things for others , though , having handpicked the experiences Joymode would offer – at least until extremity suggestions started take over . He did n’t order deep market place research or check sales of this train or that . Still a social medium believer , he just browses Pinterest to cull ideas and gage interest group .
One wishlist detail halt by the state - wide drought : a blocks - long Slip N ’ Slide . “ That was kind of a bummer , ” Fernandez cede .
fellow member can next look fore to giant , inflatable Twister – intend your air bed , but 15 square substructure , with brilliant - colored dots and your friends trying even harder to balance on the undulating surface – and Boosted Boards . go into fall , there will be more for indoor fun , like home brewing kits .
Fernandez sees the fellowship farm , with membership not just as an effective pricing model , but as a kind of happy club : “ We do desire this to be a residential district . We want you to feel like you belong to something … Our promise is that the community both root on you to do [ new ] things , and then on the flip side , because you sense like you ’re a part of something , you address the point with respect . And that has been true . ”
Joymode is available to residents of Los Angeles within a definedservice area . Through the end of September , Thrillist reader can get around the waitlist to join using invitation codethrilljoy .
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