Episodes
Step inside the psychedelic mind of original Beatnik-Hippie Icon-Comedy Pioneer and Pioneering Activist Wavy Gravy as Producer Rainbow Valentine continues bringing curated Wavy to your ears with non-chronological stories of Wavy’s rainbow chompers, the origin of his ektar and Jell-O with the High Times magazine founder. Plus Wavy breaks down the Architecture of Comedy, gushes about Gilda Radner, SNL, Mr. Rogers and gets into his Simpsons moment of glory. Also, find out what Beatniks drank for...
Published 12/09/22
Published 12/09/22
After the death of his comedy manager, Lenny Bruce in 1966, standup comedian, Hugh Romney, retreats to the Hopi Indian Reservation where he discovers the master plan of the universe…leading to Wavy Gravy’s lifelong obsession with labyrinths…. In our final episode Wavy gets into the projects he’s most proud of, unpacking the origin stories of his legacies: Camp Winnarainbow, Seva and planet Earth. Plus, Mutant Sponges, Harvey Milk, the Grateful Dead, the history of the Answering Machine and...
Published 07/15/22
Running the first black and white candidate for president, Pigasus, was merely Wavy’s first foray into national politics… in this episode we get into Wavy’s theatrical, activist extravaganzas, criss-crossing the country promoting Nobody for President, challenging the status quo with the belief Nobody should run the country because Nobody should have that much Power and Nobody Keeps All Campaign Promises…. Plus Wavy and the Hog Farm redefine family with the birth of over a dozen hippie kids,...
Published 06/17/22
After playing Canterbury with Pink Floyd, Wavy and the Hog Farm adventure in psychedelic buses across Europe through the Middle East to the Himalayas, having countless adventures and providing basic human needs along the way as they endeavor to deliver emergency supplies to hurricane victims in Bangladesh. Stories of golf in Pakistan, hashish in Afghanistan, Turkish prisons, Salvador Dali, Nepalese monks and an uncommon cruise over the Khyber Pass. Guests include Hog Farmers, Jahanarah...
Published 05/27/22
After playing Canterbury with Pink Floyd, Wavy and the Hog Farm adventure in psychedelic buses across Europe through the Middle East to the Himalayas, having countless adventures and providing basic human needs along the way as they endeavor to deliver emergency supplies to hurricane victims in Bangladesh. Stories of golf in Pakistan, hashish in Afghanistan, Turkish prisons, Salvador Dali, Nepalese monks and an uncommon cruise over the Khyber Pass. Guests include Hog Farmers, Jahanarah...
Published 05/27/22
This episode unfolds Wavy’s pivot from Hollywood Beatnik Comedian to Rock’n’Roll Humanitarian Hippie Clown, providing basic human needs at festivals, saving the planet and more. We dig into the Texas Pop Fest ’69, Altamont and the Medicine Ball Caravan documentary, which aimed to recreate Woodstock in rural towns across America before depositing Wavy and friends in Europe, setting the stage for their international hippie bus caravan to the Himalayas. Wavy shares stories of his relationships...
Published 05/20/22
This episode unfolds Wavy’s pivot from Hollywood Beatnik Comedian to Rock’n’Roll Humanitarian Hippie Clown, providing basic human needs at festivals, saving the planet and more. We dig into the Texas Pop Fest ’69, Altamont and the Medicine Ball Caravan documentary, which aimed to recreate Woodstock in rural towns across America before depositing Wavy and friends in Europe, setting the stage for their international hippie bus caravan to the Himalayas. Wavy shares stories of his relationships...
Published 05/20/22
Why do hippies eat granola and wear tie dye? Because of the Woodstock Peace and Music Festival in 1969, when Hugh Romney became a global symbol for Peace, Love and Rock’n’Roll! After Wavy and the Hog Farm commune are hired to work at the iconic music festival, American’s opinions of hippies shift, along with the ethos of festival-partying. Diving into Woodstock’s unicorn moments, this episode unfolds why Woodstock was a unicorn and how Wavy and the Hog Farm commune were instrumental in the...
Published 05/13/22
Why do hippies eat granola and wear tie dye? Because of the Woodstock Peace and Music Festival in 1969, when Hugh Romney became a global symbol for Peace, Love and Rock’n’Roll! After Wavy and the Hog Farm commune are hired to work at the iconic music festival, American’s opinions of hippies shift, along with the ethos of festival-partying. Diving into Woodstock’s unicorn moments, this episode unfolds why Woodstock was a unicorn and how Wavy and the Hog Farm commune were instrumental in the...
Published 05/13/22
40 psychedelic houseguests in Hugh and Bonnie Jean’s 1 bedroom apartment leads to eviction, propelling Wavy and the Merry Pranksters to a literal hog farm as they morph from Beatniks into a new subculture the media calls “Hippies”. Starting with Hugh and Bonnie Jean’s 1966 wedding and honeymoon, Wavy unfolds origin stories of the Hog Farm commune and their groundbreaking theatrical parties, which attract attention from the media, movie stars and murderers. Hollywood windfall launches The Hog...
Published 05/06/22
40 psychedelic houseguests in Hugh and Bonnie Jean’s 1 bedroom apartment leads to eviction, propelling Wavy and the Merry Pranksters to a literal hog farm as they morph from Beatniks into a new subculture the media calls “Hippies”. Starting with Hugh and Bonnie Jean’s 1966 wedding and honeymoon, Wavy unfolds origin stories of the Hog Farm commune and their groundbreaking theatrical parties, which attract attention from the media, movie stars and murderers. Hollywood windfall launches The Hog...
Published 05/06/22
Hollywood and Psychedelic history collide when comedian Hugh Romney, moves to LA where Lenny Bruce becomes his manager, improv icon Del Close becomes his roommate and writer-LSD-enthusiast Ken Kesey, becomes his fan! Wavy tells stories of Lenny’s tragic demise plus theatrical psychedelic shows and shenanigans with Del introducing history’s early laser light displays. Find out why The Byrds were involved in Hugh’s courtship of his lifelong love, Bonnie Jean aka Jahanarah and how the infamous...
Published 04/29/22
Hollywood and Psychedelic history collide when comedian Hugh Romney, moves to LA where Lenny Bruce becomes his manager, improv icon Del Close becomes his roommate and writer-LSD-enthusiast Ken Kesey, becomes his fan! Wavy tells stories of Lenny’s tragic demise plus theatrical psychedelic shows and shenanigans with Del introducing history’s early laser light displays. Find out why The Byrds were involved in Hugh’s courtship of his lifelong love, Bonnie Jean aka Jahanarah and how the infamous...
Published 04/29/22
Comedy and psychedelic history converge in 1964 when Hugh Romney moves to San Francisco to join The Committee Improv Theater in North Beach, where Wavy’s performance meat suit precluded Lady Gaga’s by 45 years. In this episode we unpack Wavy’s best friend and biggest influence, John Brent, a little-known comedy genius who’s feet John Belushi literally kissed and Wavy shares psychedelic stories from the transformative mid 60’s when the SF’s North Beach neighborhood birthed the world-famous...
Published 04/22/22
Comedy and psychedelic history converge in 1964 when Hugh Romney moves to San Francisco to join The Committee Improv Theater in North Beach, where Wavy’s performance meat suit precluded Lady Gaga’s by 45 years. In this episode we unpack Wavy’s best friend and biggest influence, John Brent, a little-known comedy genius who’s feet John Belushi literally kissed and Wavy shares psychedelic stories from the transformative mid 60’s when the SF’s North Beach neighborhood birthed the world-famous...
Published 04/22/22
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...
Published 04/15/22
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...
Published 04/15/22
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...
Published 04/08/22
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...
Published 04/08/22
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...
Published 04/01/22
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...
Published 04/01/22
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...
Published 03/31/22
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...
Published 03/31/22