There aren’t very many original Beatniks left on planet earth and as of this writing, Wavy Gravy is one of the last original Beatnik poets standing. But Wavy isn’t just an original Beatnik poet - he's also a improv comedy trailblazer and international comedic activist who’s antics included running a pig for president. This series travels from Wavy’s childhood to the Gaslight Café Beatnik years to San Francisco where the convergence of psychedelic and comedy history collided, steering Wavy to Hollywood where his comedy career soared, propelling him to the famed Acid Tests and the birth of his Hog Farm commune, bringing Wavy to the Woodstock Peace and Music Festival’s stage enshrining him as a global symbol for peace, love and Rock’n’Roll. Wavy’s historic and hilarious adventures include his involvement in countless cultural watershed moments in American history… like the fabrication of snapping for applause, the introduction of granola to hippies and in fact, the actual creation of the ethos of the hippie...
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episode 3: American Prankster 03: Only Love - The Beatnik Poet
Following his blackballed university theater teachers, Hugh Romney moves to New York City in the early 1960’s where he blossoms into a Beatnik poet comedian in Greenwich Village at the Gaslight Café when his career takes off beside chums like Bob Dylan, Peter, Paul & Mary, Tiny Tim and fans like Lenny Bruce and Marlene Dietrich. These formative years include truth-is-stranger-than-fiction stories about the invention of snapping for applause, the Mafia, a wild kangaroo, Wavy’s first marriage and leads to Hugh Romney’s stand-up comedy-poet career opening for his jazz heroes and more. Special guest includes historian Dennis McNally. Part of Pantheon Podcasts.
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