It's been 15 years, but 'Pogo Dave' never tires of nonsensical act
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Dave Clayman, otherwise known as 'Pogo Dave' in Rhode Island, has now been entertaining drivers along Mineral Spring Avenue for the past 15 years with his wild antics. Clayman stops here to fill his new bubble machine last Thursday.
NORTH PROVIDENCE - At certain times, Dave Clayman travels Mineral Spring Avenue faster than the cars - or maybe it's just the motorists dawdling for Dave. Fifteen years after Rhode Island staple "Pogo Dave" and his antics began delighting commuter audiences along the main thoroughfare connecting North Providence and neighboring Pawtucket, the man who says he "just wants to lighten up the mood around here" has no plans to stop.
Clayman, who only reluctantly gives his real name instead of his more recognizable moniker, began bopping down busy Mineral Spring on a pogo stick in his late 20s. His outrageous outfits and wild antics quickly became a hit with passing motorists and pedestrians alike.
Last Thursday Clayman showed off an elaborate new bubble machine he has purchased and rigged up to an old sled he salvaged from the trash. Thousands of bubbles enveloped Mineral Spring Avenue as Clayman flexed the muscles of his recognizable Captain America outfit - one of many costumes he wears - and waved back to those passing by.
"I feel like a superhero when I wear this," said Clayman.
Clayman says his act is nothing special, he's just a normal guy trying to have fun and make the world a better place, even if that just means brightening someone's day as he or she waits in frustration for another red light.
"I just got tired of going to the gym," Clayman told The Breeze as he lugged his sled down Mineral Spring Avenue at rush hour.
Nowadays Clayman gets his workout on pogo sticks, tiny bikes, and whatever other contraptions he can devise, but his performances aren't limited to the ones he puts on a few times a week in his hometown of North Providence. He'll take his pogo stick and get crowds of children jumping along at the state's beaches or head to the big cities of Boston or New York for some lively street entertainment.
A visit to www.pogodave.com reveals that Clayman has made much of his life about supporting "the ongoing pursuit of pure nonsense" and "extravagant foolishness," whether that means bouncing along on his pogo stick or posting a YouTube video of himself running around in a clown outfit.
Clayman, now in his 40s, tells the tale of how he was running an estate cleanout/recycling and trash removal business in 1994 when he got his start as an amateur entertainer. He was giving a pitch to a customer who was "on the fence" about hiring him to remove a pile of debris in her yard and he had to think quickly about getting the woman over the fence.
"With nothing to lose and business to gain, I grabbed an old rusty pogo stick out of the pile of trash, you know the kind with tassels hanging out of the handles, (and) I started jumping and twirling around," writes Clayman on his site.
"Then the unthinkable happened," according to Clayman - the pogo stick punched a hole through the woman's driveway, but she was so overcome with laughing at his act that he got the job anyway.
"From then on I have been building one-of-a-kind pogo sticks. I use them for one primary purpose, to make people laugh." says Clayman. "The way I figure it, the world makes me laugh, so I try to make it laugh."
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