Ivan Stang (born Douglass St. Clair Smith; August 21, 1953) is an American writer, filmmaker and broadcaster, best known as the author and publisher of the first screed of the

Church of the SubGenius The Church of the SubGenius is a parody religion that satirizes better-known belief systems. It teaches a complex philosophy that focuses on J. R. "Bob" Dobbs, purportedly a salesman from the 1950s, who is revered as a prophet by the Church. SubGen ...

. He is credited with founding the Church with friend Philo Drummond in 1979, though Stang himself denied this and claimed the organization was founded in 1953 by J. R. "Bob" Dobbs. Born in Washington, D.C., and raised in

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

, he attended the St. Mark's School of Texas. Since the publication of the first SubGenius pamphlet in 1980, Stang has embarked on a worldwide crusade (spanning at least three continents) to promote the Church. In May 2006 he finished writing, editing and designing a new SubGenius book for Thunder's Mouth Press, ''The SubGenius Psychlopaedia of Slack: The Bobliographon.'' He has appeared on several national radio and television shows, including ''

The Jon Stewart Show ''The Jon Stewart Show'' is a late night talk show that was hosted by comedian Jon Stewart. The program premiered on MTV in 1993 as a 30-minute daily offering and became one of the network's more popular shows. Through a series of events that ...

'' on MTV. Stang is an instructor on the faculty of the Maybe Logic Academy. Both he and J.R. "Bob" Dobbs appear as characters in

John Shirley John Shirley (born February 10, 1953) is an American writer, primarily of horror, fantasy, science fiction, noir fiction, westerns, and songwriting. He has also written one historical novel, a western about Wyatt Earp, ''Wyatt in Wichita'', and ...

's science fiction novel ''Kamus of Kadizar: The Black Hole of Carcosa''.

SubGenius Foundation

Stang also founded the business entity of the Church, the SubGenius Foundation. The SubGenius Foundation was located in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, for most of its existence, though Stang relocated to

Cleveland Heights, Ohio Cleveland Heights is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. The population was 45,312 at the 2020 census. One of Cleveland's historic streetcar suburbs, it was founded as a village in 1903 and a city in 1921. History The area that is ...

in 1999. The SubGenius Foundation was based there from 1999 to 2017, and the syndicated show '' The Hour of Slack'' is produced partially at WCSB at

Cleveland State University Cleveland State University (CSU) is a public research university in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was established in 1964 and opened for classes in 1965 after acquiring the entirety of Fenn College, a private school that had been in oper ...

. His "Rants" are a regular feature at the

Starwood Festival The Starwood Festival is a seven-day New Age Modern paganism, neopagan and world music festival. It takes place every July in the United States. The Starwood Festival is a camping event which holds workshops on a variety of subjects. There are ...

and WinterStar Symposium, both produced by the

Association for Consciousness Exploration Association may refer to: *Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal *Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry *Voluntary associatio ...

(ACE). The Church has collaborated with ACE on a number of projects, including CDs, DVDs and the Rant 'n Rave events in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

. He was awarded Best Crack-Pot Preacher by the ''

Cleveland Scene The ''Cleveland Scene'' is an alternative weekly newspaper based in Cleveland, Ohio. The newspaper includes highlights of Cleveland-area arts, music, dining, and films, as well as classified advertising. The first edition of the newspaper was pu ...

'' in 2000. Stang continues to promote the Church, and he is a prominent member of Cleveland's underground pop culture scene. In 2017 the Foundation and Stang moved to

Glen Rose, Texas Glen Rose is a city in and the county seat of Somervell County, Texas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 2,659. History 19th century The area was first settled in 1849 by Charles Barnard, who opened a trading post ...

''High Weirdness by Mail''

In 1988, Stang compiled a book called '' High Weirdness by Mail — A Directory of the Fringe: Crackpots, Kooks & True Visionaries''. The book examined many non-mainstream or marginal cultural movements of the period, as well as providing contact information for those wishing to interact directly with people involved in these movements.

Filmmaking

Stang is a "filmmaker" and an "editor". In addition to creating several

stop-motion Stop-motion (also known as stop frame animation) is an animation, animated filmmaking and special effects technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appe ...

short films with such titles as ''Reproduction Cycle Among Unicellular Life Forms Under the Rocks of Mars'' and ''Let's Visit the World of the Future,'' he also edited the 1989 feature-length VHS video spoof-documentary ''Arise!'' for the Church of the SubGenius, as well as providing narration and commentary for the 1999 documentary ''Grass.'' Commercial jobs have included a 60-second "Art Break" animated short for MTV, animation in a

Devo Devo is an American new wave band from Akron, Ohio, formed in 1973. Their classic line-up consisted of two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs ( Mark and Bob) and the Casales (Gerald and Bob), along with Alan Myers. The band had a No. 14 ...

music video, as well as writing and editing the feature-length documentaries ''China Run'' and ''The Cu-Chi Tunnels''.

Bibliography

* 1983 – '' The Book of the SubGenius'' (

McGraw-Hill McGraw Hill is an American education science company that provides educational content, software, and services for students and educators across various levels—from K-12 to higher education and professional settings. They produce textbooks, ...

) / Reprinted 1987 (

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...

/ Fireside) * 1988 – ''

High Weirdness by Mail ''High Weirdness By Mail – A Directory of the Fringe: Crackpots, Kooks & True Visionaries'', by Ivan Stang () is a 1988 book dedicated to an examination of "weird culture" by actually putting the reader in touch with it by mail. The book is d ...

'' (

/ Fireside) * 1990 – ''Three-Fisted Tales of "Bob"'' (

/ Fireside) * 1994 – ''Revelation X: The "Bob" Apocryphon – Hidden Teachings and Deuterocanonical Texts of J. R. "Bob" Dobbs'' (

/ Fireside), with illustrations by St. Joe Riley et al., * 2006 – ''The SubGenius Psychlopaedia of Slack: The Bobliographon'' (

Avalon Avalon () is an island featured in the Arthurian legend. It first appeared in Geoffrey of Monmouth's 1136 ''Historia Regum Britanniae'' as a place of magic where King Arthur's sword Excalibur was made and later where Arthur was taken to recove ...

Thunder's Mouth Press Perseus Books Group was an American publishing company founded in year 1996 by investor Frank Pearl. Perseus acquired the trade publishing division of Addison-Wesley (including the Merloyd Lawrence imprint) in 1997. In 2005, Perseus acquired ...

), with illustrations by St. Joe Riley et al.,

Discography

Partial discography includes: * ''Starwood Slack!'' (recorded rant on cassette) (

ACE An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or a club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the ...

) * ''Invisible College Drop-Outs'' (recorded rant on cassette) (ACE) * ''The Stupid Rant'' (recorded rant on cassette) (ACE) * ''High Weirdness By Mail'' (recorded rant on cassette) (ACE) * ''Rev. Stang Live at Starwood'' (recorded rant on CD + music) (ACE) * ''I Was A Cultist For The A.T.F.'' (radio drama starring Stang) * ''The Once and Future Legend'' (panel discussion on cassette with Ariana Lightningstorm,

Patricia Monaghan Patricia Monaghan (February 15, 1946, – November 11, 2012) was a poet, a writer, a spiritual activist, and an influential figure in the contemporary women's spirituality movement. Monaghan wrote over 20 books on a range of topics including Go ...

Jeff Rosenbaum Jeff is a masculine name, often a short form (hypocorism) of the English given name Jefferson or Jeffrey, which comes from a medieval variant of Geoffrey. Music * DJ Jazzy Jeff, American DJ/turntablist record producer Jeffrey Allen Townes * ...

Robert Shea Robert Joseph Shea (February 14, 1933 – March 10, 1994) was an American novelist and former journalist best known as co-author with Robert Anton Wilson of the science fantasy trilogy '' Illuminatus!'' It became a cult success and was later turn ...

and

Robert Anton Wilson Robert Anton Wilson (born Robert Edward Wilson; January 18, 1932 – January 11, 2007) was an American writer, futurist, psychologist, and self-described agnostic mystic. Recognized within Discordianism as an Episkopos, pope and saint, Wilson ...

) (ACE) * ''What IS the Conspiracy, Anyway?'' (panel discussion on cassette with

Anodea Judith Anodea Judith (born Judith Ann Mull, December 1, 1952, Elyria, OhioGuiley, Rosemary Ellen, (1999) ''The Encyclopedia Of Witches and Witchcraft''. Facts on File; 2nd edition p.180) is an American author, therapist, and public speaker on the chakra ...

and

) (ACE)

Filmography

Partial filmography includes: * 1969 – ''The Wad and the Worm'' (Director, writer, animator) * 1973 – ''Let's Visit the World of the Future'' (Director, writer, & actor) * 1978 – ''Reproduction Cycle Among Unicellular Life Forms Under the Rocks of Mars'' (Director, writer, & narrator) * 1979 – ''Mono'' (Director & writer) * 1987 – ''China Run'' (Video editor) * 1989 – ''Arise!: The SubGenius Video'' (Island Records) (Director, writer, & appears as self) * 1990 – ''The Cu Chi Tunnels'' (Video & script editor) * 1992 – ''Arise!: The SubGenius Video'' (Polygram Records) ASIN 6302311616 (Director, writer, & appears as self) * 1992 – ''Church of the Subgenius: Sect? Satire? Or Satanism?'' (Appears as self) * 1999 – ''Grass'' (Narrator & does commentary) * 2000 – ''Duelin' Firemen!'' (Actor) * 2003 – ''Maybe Logic: The Lives and Ideas of

'' (Appears as self) * 2008 – ''God's Cartoonist: The Comic Crusade of

Jack Chick Jack Thomas Chick (April 13, 1924 – October 23, 2016) was an American cartoonist and publisher, best known for his fundamentalist Christian "Chick tracts". He expressed his perspective on a variety of issues through sequential-art moralit ...

'' (Appears as self)IMDb.com entry on Douglass Smith
/ref>

References

* Beale, Scot
"SubGenius Reunion on Puzzling Evidence"
(November 27, 2005) * Gilboa, Nett

interview with Rev. Stang * Gill, Michael (2005)

''Cleveland Free Times'' (July 7, 2005) Feature article includes Ivan Stang discussing Starwood * Hermes, Wil
"Slack Is Back"
''City Pages'' (January 31, 1996) * Krassner, Paul (2005)
"Life Among the Neopagans"
in ''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is a progressive American monthly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper ...

'', August 24, 2005 (web only). * Niesel, Jef
"Slack Is Back: Quit Your Job! Make Waste! The Church of the SubGenius Has Come to Town!"
''Cleveland Scene'' (April 6, 2000)

External links

The Church of the SubGenius

Dogma Free America podcast interview with Ivan Stang
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stang, Ivan 1953 births American founders Church of the SubGenius Living people Writers from Cleveland Writers from Fort Worth, Texas St. Mark's School (Texas) alumni American SubGenii American male writers American critics of religions People from Glen Rose, Texas Founders of new religious movements