Tapestry Productions, of which Wavy Gravy is a director, produces music events for various charities. They sent out a message today for Wavy’s 90th birthday:
Wavy was born Hugh Romney in East Greenbush, NY, and grew up in Princeton, NJ. Albert Einstein took him for walks when he was a child. “The guy had a twinkle in his eye and a weird odor to him,” Wavy says. After high school and a volunteer stint in the army, Wavy attended Boston University and studied theater on the G.I. Bill. In the late 50’s some of his teachers were blacklisted and went to New York City and Wavy went with them. While in New York, Wavy became a beatnik and read poetry in Greenwich Village. "After a while, I was reading fewer and fewer poems and just improvising, saying weird things - head rifts, political commentary and bizarreness”. As a result, Wavy became a stand-up comic and toured the country, opening for performers like John Coltrane and Thelonius Monk. While doing stand-up, Wavy met comedian Lenny Bruce, who he says had “a great intuitive genius.” Bruce took an interest in Wavy’s career and managed him for a little while.
In the early 60’s, Wavy moved to LA and fell in with folk hero Neal Cassidy, singer Tiny Tim and writer Ken Kesey, he also met his wife Jahanara, then known as Bonnie Jean. He was part of the Electric Kool-Aid Acid Tests and the cultural beginnings of what came to be known as the counter culture movement. In 1965, the Merry Pranksters drove a school bus full of friends to his L.A. cabin and consequently, they received an eviction notice, and moved to a mountain-top pig farm where they got free rent in trade for tending the hogs. Hence, the Hog Farm Commune was born. "We later converted a fleet of school buses and, with a 400-pound pet pig named Pigasus, toured the country for seven years. As Wavy puts it: “We were a light show, a rock band, a painting, a poem, an anti-war rally, and an anthem for freedom and change.”
The Hog Farm was the security, or “Please Force,” at Woodstock, where Wavy also emceed, “What we have in mind is breakfast in bed for 400,000”! The Hog Farm was a consistent presence at antiwar demonstrations during the late 1960’s and early 70’s. “During the Vietnam war protests, we acted as the go-between with the riot police and the protestors,” says Wavy, who was beaten several times and ended up with multiple serious back injuries. “This was before I dressed up as a clown. Police don’t like being photographed beating up a clown.”
Wavy has worked with thousands of children over the years, bringing joy and laughter to the kids at Oakland Children’s Hospital and Cancer Research Institute in San Francisco. He co-founded the legendary Camp Winnarainbow with his wife Jah, now in its 50th year, where kids learn circus and performing arts, community values, humor & techniques for survival in the 21st century. Wavy is a co-founder of Seva Foundation, an international organization dedicated to relieving human suffering, through the eradication and prevention of blindness. Seva has restored sight for more than ten million people.
