Imagine the jumpsuit-wearing Elvis of 1976, perverted by celebrity and riddled with drug addition. Add an intelligent punk sensibility and a ragingly overactive Id, so much so that he’s often naked, filthy, pissing onstage and rubbing up against audience members. America’s new King has surfaced in San Francisco, and his name is eXtreme Elvis.

For the past three years, eXtreme Elvis has been steadily gaining infamy, fans and plenty of media coverage. But behind all of the shock and comparisons to gg Allin is a mix of radical social commentary, improvisational comedy and rock and roll spectacle. Experience eXtreme Elvis and be transformed.

STRANGEco: You're known to urinate onstage, get naked, accost audience members, break bottles over people's heads, get unruly with chickens... what's so extreme about all this?

eXtreme Elvis: Oh, that's not the "extreme" part of the show. That's just the silly shock stuff that gets people in the door and excites the media. The "extreme" part of the show is our efforts at getting physically, psychologically and emotionally intimate onstage. Every show is a potential nervous breakdown, or a life-altering breakthrough waiting to happen. You just never know which.

What do you think about other extreme monikers, like extreme sports, bungee jumping, etc? What about XBox?

You know, on a Google search of "extreme" I come up as number 29 of 14,000,000 results. Those other eXtreme guys are poseurs. I even beat out Extreme Doritos!

Introduce your band to us: do they rock? Are they chosen for their instrumental proficiency or maybe prowess in other areas?

My band does indeed rock. Billy (guitar) and Erich (bass) have been playing together since before their testicles descended. They're from this obscure rural coastal community called Half Moon Bay. As long as I keep supplying them with moonshine and compliant farm animals, they keep playing that sweet, sweet rock & roll. Ann is my backup singer and I've known her for about 13 years. She's a classically trained singer and a fearless performer. Evan (guitar) and Warren (drums) are both new to the band, but are ace musicians. Neither flinches when the piss and psychodrama are unleashed.

The links page on your website is dedicated entirely to Antonin Artaud. Can you explain "The Theater of Cruelty" and how it applies to your show?

Artaud is just a high-falutin' excuse to throw poop and break stuff. He's French though, so hopefully if I keep those links on my site, some art student will think I'm deep and want to sleep with me.

Can it apply to action figures?

I think that as children, we've all had our own little "theater of cruelty" going with action figures. I used to make Hammerhead do terrible things to Greedo. And don't even ask where I stuck my Stretch Armstrong.

You recently played in Memphis, Tennessee, the main hotbed of Elvis fundamentalism. How did that go?

It went beautifully. There are some folks in Memphis who have been following my show since the beginning and helped us out when we came to town. They also escorted us to Graceland. It was a lovely time. We even had a prayer over E's grave. Later we played this nightclub, the Hi Tone Cafe, which used to be Elvis' karate studio. The audience was mostly jaded indie-rock kids and other scenester types. There were no diehard Elvis traditionalists in the place. Either Memphis doesn't hate me or we just flew under the radar. The folks there loved us and have asked us back!

If you've been praying at Elvis's grave, you must be a god fearin' man. Yes?

I wouldn't say that. But I am an Elvis-fearin' man. I want to do him proud.

What about all the backlash? There must be plenty of offended Elvis lovers out there. Has Chuck D ever threatened to kick your ass? What about Nicholas Cage? Would you find that cool?

Damn, that would be cool! No, the only folks that have threatened to kick my ass are nobodies. I mean, I even had my life threatened by the co-owner of the Viper Room. But, it wasn't the famous one (Johnny Depp). I don't know why Chuck D. would hate me. In fact, most Elvis haters think I'm on their side until they see the show. Then they understand that I love Elvis. My show is about the healing powers of rock & roll.

What's up with Michael Jackson these days? I hate to gossip and all, but I know you're tight with Lisa Marie and I'm sure she's got the goods.

I'm not tight with Lisa Marie, you idiots. And I don't have anything to say about Michael Jackson that you couldn't read in the checkout aisle.

Do you choose your venues or do your venues choose you?

A little of both. Some venues pride themselves on booking the kind of show that others are afraid or unwilling to host. Those are great places for me to play. Usually venues contact me these days, but I will do an occasional cold call and 50% of the time, they check out the website and pull the plug.

How about highlights— any memorable performances you'd like to share, or venues you'd like to berate?

Well, the Viper Room in Hollywood is no longer on my Christmas card list. On the other hand, there are many venues that have been wonderful and have given me the freedom I need to do my show. Let's hear it for Kimo's and The Hemlock Tavern in San Francisco. The Garage in Los Angeles, Double Down Saloon in Vegas, The Hi Tone in Memphis and The Wreck Room in Ft. Worth. These are just a few.

Is there an Ice Capades version of the show in the works? And while we're on the subject, what do you think of pro figure skater Elvis Stojko?

I'm sorry, but I don't follow pro figure skating. Can we keep the topics on my Neanderthal, hetero wavelength?

Sure. What do you think of NY Times reviewer Elvis Mitchell?

Who can be bothered to read The New York Times? I do think Roger Ebert's got a good head on his shoulders, but what's with the lip? Actually I like to read Wesley Morris from the Boston Globe and that guy Charles Taylor on Salon.com. Taylor was one of the only critics to see through that piece of shit Amelie. Right on Chuck!

The other Elvis really got his message out when he started with the whole movie star thing. Do you have a favorite Elvis movie?

Funny, I thought Elvis’s career was ruined by asinine movies. Well, the most enjoyable ones to me are Viva Las Vegas and Clambake. I also love Change of Habit, where Elvis plays an inner-city doctor putting the moves on a nun played by Mary Tyler Moore. We once did a double feature show at the Werepad in San Francisco, where we screened that movie and then played a set with me dressed as a doctor and the backup singers dressed as nuns. They ended up losing the habits and having a lesbian orgy onstage.

When will eXtreme Elvis be branching out into film and television?

I have a couple of things in the works, including a biopic to be directed by Paul (Magnolia) Thomas Anderson. Apparently Phillip Seymour Hoffman is gonna play me. It should be good, if PT can keep the fucking camera still once in awhile.

What about the eXtreme Elvis bio-terrorism alert? Do you believe you're a threat to homeland security?

Not right now. But it's clear from Patriot Act 2: Electric Boogaloo, that pretty soon anybody could be snatched by the Feds in the dead of night. Just to be safe, I have instituted a Bio Terror Alert System at my own performances. The chart is color-coded and indicates the audience's risk of suffering a bio-terror attack by yours truly. The chart goes from light yellow to dark brown. Lately, we've been on "elevated" or dark yellow status, but that could change at any moment, so audience members are invited to bring plastic sheeting and duct tape to create a protective bubble around themselves.

As I told the audience at a recent performance, my shows aren't that much different from Gallagher, except you could go home with Hepatitis C.

When you die, do we get to look forward to ghostly eXtreme Elvis sightings at mid-western bus stations and Motel Sixes, or could we one day find ourselves in the shower reaching for the soap and suddenly feel your manly presence and hear you singing "You Were Always on my Mind"?

If my career keeps taking off, you know, if I keep landing these big interviews with action figure websites, I hope to be staying in a better class of hotel when I'm "dead". Embassy Suites at least. Anything where the lamps aren't nailed down and the bedspreads have been given a once over with a sponge, ya know?

www.extremeelvis.com

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------