He goes simply by Bill when he's not in character, and anyone fortunate or resourceful enough to witness author William Talen wax eloquently about over-consumption and consumerism gone amok in the U-S-of-A will soon realize he has cast a spell that has you cutting up your credit cards in no time flat. Oh, and when he is in character, look out! Donning electric blue preacher's threads (to match his electric blue eyes), his Elvis-like but blonde mane whisks to and fro as he gestures wildly and casts about with a bullhorn, his commanding voice and captivating words invoking the fear of... well... let's put it this way: even Jesus himself would be impressed. Warning of an impending "shopocalypse" and extolling the virtues of a "Life After Shopping" the Rev has conducted exorcisms on cash registers, been arrested on the streets of New York simply for reciting the First Amendment (over and over), has his own traveling 30-person choir, authored several books and even has a documentary movie, "What Would Jesus Buy?" You just gotta check this guy out, if for no other reason than pure entertainment.
[ My first conribution to "E.C.S.T.A.S.Y." — End Consumption, Save The Air & Sea, Y'all! ]
I had the pleasure of meeting Rev. Billy a few years ago, when he was here in DC doing a tour dubbed "Don't Buy Bush's War" - a brainchild of CodePink Women for Peace. The entourage, belting out homemade evangelical hymns at the tops of their lungs, were urging powerful appropriators in the US Congress to stop writing so many bad checks underwriting the dubious US invasion of Iraq. With his exuberant red-robed choir in tow, he turned a few heads in the Rayburn Building cafeteria and in the halls of Dirksen, even causing one young lady brand new at her job to inquire, is this normal behavior on Capitol Hill? Really!
Later that day Rev. Billy & Co. staged a standing ovation performance at Bus Boys and Poets, the popular internet cafe/bookstore/event site at 14th and V, NW. But DC isn't home; the Rev and his lovely wife (and fabulous dancer) Savitra Durkee reside in New York City. Just about every Sunday you can tune into a homegrown radio show. He's often asked to do overseas gigs, and will go just about anywhere he's invited, as long as the message is right.
He's on a new mission these days, fighting the hideous practice of Mountain Top Removal, mostly done in West Virginia these days, invoking MLK and poetry to get the message across:
Have we been to the mountain-top?
Did we do all we could do?
JP Morgan rains down rock
Exploding loans from the Devil came due...
What really got Bill's engines rev'd up to begin with, he says, was the tearing down and rebuilding of the seedy but endearing haunts in Times Square to make room for franchises. It just busted him up to see yet one more swath of perfectly good ma-n-pa enterprises deleted and replaced by the equivalent of McDonald's. Gone forever the brand of gritty culture some people will travel thousands of miles to take part in, and on a national scale, he laments the trend of commercial occupation of the open spaces where people can still gather legally without having to BUY SOMETHING. To the Reverend, Walt Disney was and still is, post-partum, the devil himself, and the Disneyfication of perfectly good real estate across the land is the work of evil forces, forces so evil that it generally takes hordes of angry indignant citizens to fight it back. And some, uh, creativity.
After conducting his m-teenth exorcism of a Starbuck's cash register, protesting the popular coffee shop's buying practices (NOT FAIR TRADE coffee!), the well-caffeined corporate lawyers slammed a permanent "stay away" order on Rev Billy. Go anywhere near a Starbucks, Rev, and it's the slammer! Or so the legend goes, anyway. And, make no mistake, Billy isn't just a legend in his own mind. He has a fiercely loyal group of fans across the world that grows in number each year, and his dance card is almost always full.
Of course, running for political office has helped: Bill Talen waged a unique campaign to secure the humble position of Mayor. Against Bloomberg. You know, of his home town, New York City. Using the platform to try and effect social change, the Rev. had a lot of fun getting all zero-point-eight-percent of the popular vote, a respectable number given the heavy Michael-to-William ratio of the respective $$ coffers.
Before you cast RevBillydotcom (RevBillydotuncom?) aside completely, take a few to check him out, here and there. Here are a few places to start: (uh, other than the obvious, www.revbilly.com )....
A few YouTube clips
The Rev takes on Glenn Beck
Rev's response to being arrested June 29, 2007 for reciting the 1st amendment out in public
Rev. Billy talks about why he's running against Bloomberg
A couple of fun interviews
A revealing interview
Another fun interview