Swami X

Swami X (also known as Ex-Swami X or X Swami X) is the stage name of an anonymous psychedelic hippie comedian who frequented Venice Beach and the campuses of UCLA and UC Berkeley from the late 1960s through the mid-1970s.

Description

He usually appeared in his characteristic costume of sandals, dirty bell-bottom blue jeans, an Indian shirt and tie-dyed bandana do-rag, with long, graying hair and a bushy gray beard. Generally unannounced, he would casually stroll into the venue, usually accompanied by a far younger female companion, and wander over to his usual spot.^[1] There he would stand, greeting passers-by and chat with anyone who chanced to stop, until a crowd began to form. He would then launch into his customary monologue.

His schtick was a zany combination of political satire, potty humor, clever double entendres, sexual ribaldry (far too bawdy to be characterized by innuendo), and local or campus in-jokes. Repartee and audience participation were part of his act. Anyone could yell out a question, asking the Swami's opinion on current events or political situations. His response invariably would turn the subject back to sex.

Nothing about Swami X can be taken seriously. In his own words, says the Swami X, "this is not an act, this is real life. I am a fucking nut". As with most buskers and street performers, little of Swami X's oeuvre was recorded, but sample clips do exist.^[2][3][4]

Among his more memorable comments are:

"They say you are what you eat. If that's true, then I'm a nymphomaniac."

"Nixon says he wants peace with honor. Peace?? All I want is a piece of ass!!"

"Spigothead Agnew" (the then Vice President).

"If you're in bed with a nymphomaniac and a cop bangs on your door and says "open the door right now", you don't say, "Just a minute, officer, I'll be right there." You say "Get lost, motherfucker! Come back next Tuesday!"

After mentioning something of value, such as a new automobile, he might then say "I'd trade it right now for an orgasm in 20 minutes"

The most often quoted line attributed to Swami X is :

"Sex is not the answer. Sex is the question. "Yes" is the answer."^[5][6]

The "Sex is not the answer" bit has been quoted in numerous compendia of pithy observations and sex jokes, usually with a reference to "Swami X" as if his identity were self-evident.

Rich Mann captured him in the 1970s as follows: "Looking to the heavens, [Swami X] says, 'You promised me Paradise, and I was sent back to Venice?'"^[7] Another observation by Pat Hartman, who espyed him on a Sunday morning in Venice: "Swami X and his lady (in her leopard skin bikini and bellydancer's fancy waist-encircling jewelry) sat on the steps of Billy's Boarding House playing chess. I saw 15 kites that branched off from various points on one main string."^[8]

Swami X celebrated his 80th birthday at the end of 2005, and still lives in Venice, California.^[9]

Venues

He was often found on college campuses up and down the West Coast of the United States, such as on the Kerckhoff Hall lawn next to Bruin Walk on the UCLA campus, or on the sidewalk of Bancroft Avenue near Sproul Plaza at UC Berkeley,^[10] but Swami X's usual venue was his home of Venice, California, where he was affectionately known as the "Mad MC from the Brooks Avenue Lawn".^[11] He was (and still is) a fixture on the beat or hippie scene at Venice Beach, and the many references to him in published works about the Venice Beach scene in the 1970s and 1980s are a testimony to his general notoriety and ubiquity in West Los Angeles, California. He was also performed in Texas and Greenwich Village, New York.

See also

• Busking
• List of well-known busking locations

Notes

References

• Pat Hartman, Call Someplace Paradise (Xlibris Corporation 2000), ISBN 0-7388-2005-9, review
• Jeffrey Stanton, Venice California: 'Coney Island of the Pacific' (2005), page 273 (available at http://naid.ucla.edu/venice/articles/bookstore.html)
• Patricia J. Campbell, Passing the Hat - Street Performers in America, 1981, Delacorte Press, New York, ISBN-13: 9780440068242 & ISBN-13: 9780385287715, OCLC: 7461199
• The Spirit of Venice, CA, an Audio CD published by Priority Records (March 10 1992), ASIN: B00000E7DU (contains an audio version of a spoken word performance by Swami X)[2]

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