American Prankster By cover art

American Prankster

By: Rainbow Valentine
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  • Summary

  • 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. American Prankster is a chronological deep dive with Wavy, unfolding never-before-heard stories about his life that even he had forgotten until interviews with Rainbow Valentine from Disorganized Crime: Smuggler’s Daughter, retrieved them. Stories about Wavy’s psychedelic shenanigans with countless icons like: Lenny Bruce, Groucho Marx, BB King, Janis Joplin, Tiny Tim, Del Close, Ken Kesey, Neal Cassady, Margo St. James, Thelonius Monk, Bob Dylan, Ram Dass, Albert Einstein, Peter, Paul & Mary, Marlene Dietrich, Severin Darden, Joan Baez, Martha Graham, Alice Cooper, David Crosby, Jackson Brown, Abbie Hoffman, Bob Weir, Mama Cass, John Coltrane, Grace Slick, Jerry Garcia, Paul Krassner, Bill Graham, Tim Harden, Robin Williams, Viola Spolin, Pink Floyd and many more. Guests on this series include members of the Hog Farm, the Merry Pranksters, Grateful Dead Family, KMPX, The Committee, the Family Dog, the Medicine Ball Caravan, the Yippies and other counter culture institutions. Produced by Rainbow Valentine Studios, American Prankster is a proud part of Pantheon Podcasts www.rainbowvalentine.com
    Copyright 2022 All rights reserved.
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Episodes
  • American Prankster: The Trailer

    American Prankster: The Trailer
    Mar 31 2022
    American Prankster is a deep dive with the iconic Wavy Gravy, unfolding his fascinating,historic and hilarious lifestory as an original Beatnik, comedy pioneer, hippie icon and pioneering activist who uses humor as a weapon.   Sharing stories that even he’d forgotten with producer/host, Rainbow Valentine, of Disorganized Crime: Smuggler’s Daughter, Wavy gets down to the very nit of the grit and reminds us what it means to be human. From Ben and Jerry’s ice cream to Woodstock to the Acid Tests and running a pig for president, Wavy Gravy is an essential part of American counter culture history and more.  You will hear stories of his childhood, teen, army, college and beatnik years with Bob Dylan, Tiny Tim, Martha Graham plus tales of his comedy life with Lenny Bruce, Del Close, Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters and his friendships with music icons like Janis Joplin, Jerry Garcia, Mama Cass, Joan C. Baez and more!  Wavy shares absurdist yarns from his lifelong activism using humor as a weapon, along with pals, Abbie Hoffman, Jackson Browne, the Yippies and traveling roadshows of hippies. Plus how psychedelic globetrotting led to the SEVA Foundation and Camp Winnarainbow.  Wavy’s 8+ decades of embodying American Pranksterism, inspiring millions down the tie-dye colored path of life and spreading his ethos of Basic Human Needs, is a fundamental part of American, comedy, activist, music, food and global history. Plus he’s hilarious and a born storyteller. "When you get to the very bottom of the human soul, when the nit is slamming into the grit and you are sinking but you reach down to help someone else, that is when everyone gets high and you don't even need LSD to do that...and that's when I passed the acid test." – Wavy Gravy, American Prankster "He's like our Rabbi..." - Trixie Garcia American Prankster is a proud part of Pantheon Podcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    6 mins
  • American Prankster 01: More Than an Ice Cream

    American Prankster 01: More Than an Ice Cream
    Apr 1 2022
    Who is Wavy Gravy? Episode 1 introduces listeners to the hippie icon who introduced hippies to granola and provides an overview of his inspiring, historic and hilarious life using humor as a weapon to change the world for the better. Wavy Gravy, best known from the Woodstock Peace & Music Festival in 1969 and as a Ben and Jerry’s ice cream flavor, is an original Beatnik poet from NYC’s Gaslight Café, an improv comedy trailblazer and a pioneering activist, along with being an iconic figure who helped form the ethos of the counter culture. More Than an Ice Cream is for the Wavy novice, friend and fan, sharing highlights from Wavy’s life, including Beatnik history, why police called Wavy “Too Weird To Arrest”, how he became an Acid Test shaman, ice cream flavor and the Rock’n’Roll origin of his name. Part of Pantheon Podcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    50 mins
  • American Prankster 02: Baby Wavy the Bebop Boy

    American Prankster 02: Baby Wavy the Bebop Boy
    Apr 8 2022
    Episode 2 dives into Wavy’s childhood, youth and teen years with stories of his parents, brothers, childhood BFF & neighbor, Albert Einstein. Wavy tells us about his obsession with bebop, jazz, radio comedy and how they influenced his life. Plus, Wavy’s Army stint, where his earliest outside-the-box-behavior, thinking and public pranksterism emerged and he gets into his college years, when he encountered marijuana, Martha Graham, improvisation and started beatnik jazz & poetry shows on the East Coast. Ep 2: Baby Wavy the Bebop Boy, includes Dr. Larry Brilliant & historian, Dennis McNally. Part of Pantheon Podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    57 mins
Art Entertainment & Performing Arts World Social Sciences
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Profile Image for Lisa M. Laird

So Much Fun!

Thank you Rainbow Valentine for brilliantly weaving together so many wonderful stories of Wavy‘s incredibly remarkable life this far. There’s Gravy in my ear and it brings me joy!!

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