That dude was around back in the mid-80's when I was enjoying my time on campus. For those who don't know, Stoney would set up shop wherever he could (usually Lower Sproul) and do his version of a Lenny Bruce or Bill Hicks commentary -- back then the target was Reagan and the shenanigans in Central America or Apartheid.
The fact that the Cal Sailing team has named this regatta after him actually makes my heart feel a bit more full.
Stoney Burke (born January 17, 1953) is an American street performer and actor based in California. He is the author of the book Weapon: Mouth–Adventures in the Free Speech Zone (2014).
Burke was born in Highland, Michigan, to a home he describes as "unstable." He was adopted at the age of 3 and grew up north of Detroit in the village of Romeo with parents who were active in the civil rights movement. He took the name "Stoney" from the 1962–63 TV series about rodeo rider Stoney Burke, portrayed by Jack Lord.
Performing career
In 1975, Burke moved to Eugene, Oregon, and enrolled as a dance and theater major at the University of Oregon. He moved to the San Francisco Bay area in 1977 to study mime with Leonard Pitt, and soon began performing and commenting on current events. He claims to have "been hassled or arrested so many times practicing my free speech, I would bore you with the truth of it all." In one notable incident, an officer on the campus of UCLA wrote up a police report declaring Burke's mouth a "weapon". This was later used as the title for his 2014 book.
Burke performs political comedy on college campuses, most notably at the University of California, Berkeley, near Sather Gate. Burke routinely engages crowds throughout the day using conservative Republican perspectives as his primary satire subject matter. Burke hosts a TV show called Stoney Speaks on public-access television cable TV. Burke was featured in a Swedish documentary called An American in America. He played a soup kitchen server in the 2001 movie Bartleby and a truck driver in the 2003 movie The Matrix Reloaded. He had a major role playing Lockheed Martin in Craig Baldwin's Mock Up on Mu.
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors in November 2006, passed a resolution that declared November 14, 2007 "Stoney, A Clown Who Rabble Rouses In Defense of Free Speech, Day".
The University of California, Berkeley, sailing team hosts an annual college sailing regatta named in Burke's honor.
Burke has a B.A. from San Francisco State University.
Yep! He was still around during my time during the mid-2000s. He'd often ad lib from newspaper headlines. This was during the W administration so he had plenty of fodder/gaffes to work with. His humor was a nice addition to campus culture.
Is it really named in honor of Stoney?
That dude was around back in the mid-80's when I was enjoying my time on campus. For those who don't know, Stoney would set up shop wherever he could (usually Lower Sproul) and do his version of a Lenny Bruce or Bill Hicks commentary -- back then the target was Reagan and the shenanigans in Central America or Apartheid.
The fact that the Cal Sailing team has named this regatta after him actually makes my heart feel a bit more full.
Whatayaknow, the USC sailing team is real!
Congratulations on your first post John!
From Wikipedia:
Stoney Burke (born January 17, 1953) is an American street performer and actor based in California. He is the author of the book Weapon: Mouth–Adventures in the Free Speech Zone (2014).
Burke was born in Highland, Michigan, to a home he describes as "unstable." He was adopted at the age of 3 and grew up north of Detroit in the village of Romeo with parents who were active in the civil rights movement. He took the name "Stoney" from the 1962–63 TV series about rodeo rider Stoney Burke, portrayed by Jack Lord.
Performing career
In 1975, Burke moved to Eugene, Oregon, and enrolled as a dance and theater major at the University of Oregon. He moved to the San Francisco Bay area in 1977 to study mime with Leonard Pitt, and soon began performing and commenting on current events. He claims to have "been hassled or arrested so many times practicing my free speech, I would bore you with the truth of it all." In one notable incident, an officer on the campus of UCLA wrote up a police report declaring Burke's mouth a "weapon". This was later used as the title for his 2014 book.
Burke performs political comedy on college campuses, most notably at the University of California, Berkeley, near Sather Gate. Burke routinely engages crowds throughout the day using conservative Republican perspectives as his primary satire subject matter. Burke hosts a TV show called Stoney Speaks on public-access television cable TV. Burke was featured in a Swedish documentary called An American in America. He played a soup kitchen server in the 2001 movie Bartleby and a truck driver in the 2003 movie The Matrix Reloaded. He had a major role playing Lockheed Martin in Craig Baldwin's Mock Up on Mu.
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors in November 2006, passed a resolution that declared November 14, 2007 "Stoney, A Clown Who Rabble Rouses In Defense of Free Speech, Day".
The University of California, Berkeley, sailing team hosts an annual college sailing regatta named in Burke's honor.
Burke has a B.A. from San Francisco State University.
Wasn’t Stoney Burke the name of that raspy-voiced dude who drew huge crowds on Sproul in the 70s to listen to his thoughts on current events?!
I remember seeing him in front of Dwinelle in the late 80s/early 90s around lunchtime.
Yep! He was still around during my time during the mid-2000s. He'd often ad lib from newspaper headlines. This was during the W administration so he had plenty of fodder/gaffes to work with. His humor was a nice addition to campus culture.
That’s the guy! I used to listen to him all the time. Hilarious. Go Cal Sailing!!
Congratulations!
Good to hear about a
cal team that is at least little known. Even better would be to hear about their events before they occur. Teams like rugby, gymnastics, etc.
Water polo, swimming, track and field....