Swami X
Swami X was an American boardwalk performer and stand-up comedian. Active from the 1970s to 1985, he performed in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Berkeley, and New York. He was known for bawdy sexual humor and political invective.[1][2]
Swami X's act was a monologue mixing pithy sociopolitical observations with poetry, sarcasm and humor, which typically included blasphemy, profanity, and attacking "sacred cows"—producing "pleased shock and delighted outrage" in observers.[2] His notable lines include:
- "Sex is not the answer. Sex is the question. 'Yes' is the answer."[3]
- "How do we know Jesus Christ was Jewish? Because he went into His Father's business."[2]
- "If I had known I would live this long, I would have taken better care of myself".
- "You are what you eat. If that's true, then I'm a nymphomaniac".
He was known for appearing on the Venice Boardwalk, at the UCLA and U.C. Berkeley campuses, in San Francisco, and at Washington Park in New York City. He retired in 1985.[1] In 2009 the mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa, presented him with an official proclamation.[4]
Swami X appears as a character in Roger L. Simon's mystery novel, The Straight Man[5] and is referenced in Pat Hartman's volume of Venice vignettes, Call Someplace Paradise.[6]
Harry W. "Swami X" Heard died on August 29, 2015 at the home of former Los Angeles City Councilman Bill Rosendahl. He was 89, two and a half months before his 90th birthday. Heard was born in Philadelphia in mid-November of 1925.[7] [8]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Further reading
- Jeffrey Stanton, Venice California: 'Coney Island of the Pacific' (2005), page 273
- Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- Sweet William, 'X Swami X, The Sidewalk Comic', Los Angeles Times, Calendar Section, p. 170 (Dec. 23, 1979).
External links
- Archive of blog postings by Swami X on the Free Venice Beachhead blog
- Video of Los Angeles Mayor Villaraigosa presenting Swami X with official proclamation and recounting his experiences with Swami X at UCLA in the early 1970s
- Excerpts Video of SWAMI X Performing on the Venice Beach Boardwalk 1981, taken from "STREET LIFE" the documentary film by Mark S Shepherd
- Brief article and recent photos of Swami X with quotations
