Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Saint Misbehavin' - The Wavy Gravy (a/k/a Hugh Romney) documentary

By Jack Brummet, Counterculture Editor

The trailer for this film is intriguing.  My son, Del, his cousin Melanie, and a friend, Sam, went down to Wavy's "clown camp" in Mendocino County, California, for three years running.  One year we were also down there and got to see their show, and even meet Mr. Gravy.  For all his bluster, hot air, and possibility confabulated stories, he has done a lot of good in the world, and I think that half the kids who go to Camp Winnarainbow are poor kids, on full scholarships.  Wavy Gravy is something right in the world. 

"Beginning with Woodstock ‘99, director Michelle Esrick has spent ten years documenting the life of Wavy Gravy.

 "Saint Misbehavin’ journeys from the hills of California to the Himalayan Mountains to reveal the life of this one of a kind servant to humanity. The film blends Wavy’s own words with magical stories from an extraordinary array of fellow travelers both cultural and counter-cultural, revealing the man behind the clown’s grin and the fool’s clothing.

"In Saint Misbehavin’ Wavy is revealed more than the tie-dyed entertainer and ice-cream flavor namesake that often defines him in the popular imagination. Audiences will come to know the activist, the optimist, and the healer who reaches beyond political, economic, and cultural divisions in his commitment to social change and the alleviation of human suffering.
Wavy’s life is his message, serving as deeply needed inspiration that we can change the world and have fun doing it.

"Satirist Paul Krasner describes Wavy as “The illegitimate son of Harpo Marx and Mother Theresa, conceived one starry night on a spiritual whoopie cushion,” to which Wavy has replied, “Some people tell me I’m a saint, I tell them I’m Saint Misbehavin’.”

"Featuring: Wavy Gravy, Jahanara Romney, Jordon Romney, Dr. Larry Brilliant, The Grateful Dead, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, Odetta, Patch Adams, Lisa Law, Buffy Sainte Marie, Denise Kaufman, Tom Law, Steven Ben Israel, The Hog Farm, and more!"


Saint Misbehavin': The Wavy Gravy Movie - Theatrical Trailer from Ripple Effect Films

From the film:



JACKSON BROWNE
“I have known Wavy for over 20 years, but it wasn’t until last year that one of my kids went to his camp. I was really amazed at how powerful this camp was in the lives of these kids…Wavy was connecting with these kids in such a meaningful way and I really looked at him with new eyes because I am used to his joking and his philanthropy but it was brilliant, it was revolutionary stuff, it was about really turning the tides in the lives of people who will be the next to inhabit the corridors of government, and business, and become the artists and the influential people of this century…only a really serious revolutionary would have the vision and the depth and the breadth of character to actually continue to do this all these years and on into the future and so add to the description of clown and Saint….Revolutionary.”
---o0o---

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Also check out Wavy's organization Seva! http://www.seva.org. They have helped restore eyesight to 3 million people in many of the poorest corners of the world through low-cost and free cataract surgeries for the poor. I particularly LOVE their GIFTS OF SERVICE catalog. Check it out online at http://www.seva.org/gifts.