Stoney Burke (born January 17, 1953) is an American street performer and actor based in California. He is the author of the book ''Weapon: Mouth–Adventures in the Free Speech Zone'' (2014).

Biography

Burke was born in Highland, Michigan, to a home he describes as "unstable." He was adopted at the age of 3 and grew up north of

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

in the village of Romeo with parents who were active in the civil rights movement. He took the name "Stoney" from the 1962–63 TV series about rodeo rider '' Stoney Burke'', portrayed by

Jack Lord John Joseph Patrick Ryan (December 30, 1920 – January 21, 1998), best known by his stage name, Jack Lord, was an American television, film and Broadway actor, director and producer. He starred as Steve McGarrett in the CBS television progr ...

Performing career

In 1975, Burke moved to

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie River (Oregon), McKenzie and Willamette River, Willamette rivers, ...

, and enrolled as a dance and theater major at the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

. He moved to the San Francisco Bay area in 1977 to study mime with Leonard Pitt, and soon began performing and commenting on current events. He claims to have "been hassled or arrested so many times practicing my free speech, I would bore you with the truth of it all." In one notable incident, an officer on the campus of UCLA wrote up a police report declaring Burke's mouth a "weapon". This was later used as the title for his 2014 book.Kilduff, Paul (February 2015)
"Mouth as Weapon"
''The East Bay Monthly''. Retrieved May 7, 2024. Burke performs political comedy on college campuses, most notably at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, near

Sather Gate Sather Gate is a prominent landmark separating Sproul Plaza from the bridge over Strawberry Creek, leading to the center of the University of California, Berkeley campus. The gate was donated by Jane K. Sather, a benefactor of the university, in ...

. Burke routinely engages crowds throughout the day using conservative Republican perspectives as his primary satire subject matter. Burke hosts a TV show called ''Stoney Speaks'' on

public-access television Public-access television (sometimes called community-access television) is traditionally a form of non-commercial mass media where the general public can create content television programming which is Narrowcasting, narrowcast through cable tele ...

cable TV Cable television is a system of delivering television broadcast programming, programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This ...

. Burke was featured in a Swedish documentary called ''An American in America''. He played a soup kitchen server in the 2001 movie ''

Bartleby "Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street" is a short story by American writer Herman Melville, first serialized anonymously in two parts in the November and December 1853 issues of ''Putnam's Magazine'' and reprinted with minor textual ...

'' and a truck driver in the 2003 movie ''

The Matrix Reloaded ''The Matrix Reloaded'' is a 2003 American science fiction action film written and directed by the Wachowskis. It is the sequel to ''The Matrix'' (1999) and the second installment in the ''Matrix'' film series. The film stars Keanu Reeves, L ...

''. He had a major role playing Lockheed Martin in

Craig Baldwin Craig Baldwin (born 1952) is an American experimental filmmaker. He uses found footage (appropriation), found footage from the fringes of popular consciousness as well as images from the mass media to undermine and transform the traditional doc ...

's '' Mock Up on Mu''. The

San Francisco Board of Supervisors The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is the board of supervisors, legislative body within the government of San Francisco, government of the San Francisco, City and County of San Francisco in the U.S. state of California. Government and polit ...

in November 2006, passed a resolution that declared November 14, 2007 "Stoney, A Clown Who Rabble Rouses In Defense of Free Speech, Day". The University of California, Berkeley, sailing team hosts an annual college sailing regatta named in Burke's honor. Burke has a B.A. from

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It was established in 1899 as the San Francisco State Normal School and is ...

References

External links

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Stoney Speaks
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burke, Stoney American street performers American male comedians 21st-century American comedians Living people People from the San Francisco Bay Area University of California, Berkeley people San Francisco State University alumni People from Highland, Oakland County, Michigan Male actors from Eugene, Oregon 1953 births Comedians from Michigan Comedians from Oregon

Biography

Performing career

See also

References

External links