David Zancai

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David Zancai
David Zancai posing as Zanta
Born May 7, 1968
Occupation Busker

David Zancai (born May 7, 1968[1][2][3]) is a street entertainer from Toronto, Ontario, in Canada. Zancai is known for his character Zanta: a modified Santa Claus that travels the streets of downtown Toronto doing pushups and shouting "yes yes yes" and "Merry Christmas".[3] His costume consists of nothing but shorts, boots, and a red-and-white Santa hat, even during Toronto's harsh winters. He claims to perform this routine every day of the year except Christmas Day, and estimates he does 2,000 to 3,000 pushups per day.[2] Zanta receives mixed responses to his Zanta character, and has been banned from several public areas around Toronto, including the Toronto Transit Commission.

Contents

[edit] Zanta

[edit] Background

A high school drop-out, Zancai formerly worked as a contractor before suffering a work-related injury in 2000 in which he fell a distance of 25 feet before landing on his back.[1][4][2][5] Zancai spent 23 days in a coma and 17 days on life support as a result of the injury, and he continues to receive a monthly disability cheque from the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board .[1] Zancai initiated a strenuous self-rehabilitation program in response to his injuries.[2] He developed a routine of doing pushups, working up to the point of performing thousands of pushups each day, attaining the physique of an amateur body builder.[5][4] As a result of the injury, Zancai still suffers occasional loss of feeling in some parts of his body despite the fact that he has restored mobility in his limbs. [4]

[edit] Origins of Zanta

There are conflicting accounts of the origins of Zanta. A father of four, Zancai has stated that "Zanta" originated when his daughter was taken out of his custody. When he appeared for a December 31 2004 custody hearing he wore the Santa hat for her amusement, since he had missed her for Christmas.[1][5] At the hearing the judge requested that the hat be removed and, when Zancai refused, suggested a mental-competancy test be undertaken.[5] When Zancai lost the hearing, he told his daughter that he would wear the Santa hat until she was returned to him.[1]

In other accounts of the origin, Zancai has stated that Zanta originated from a desire to be famous. He has cited the Jerry Springer Show as inspiration for the character, particularly as a means of gaining publicity.[2] He has stated a desire to do pushups "anywhere where someone would look," in his quest for notoriety.[1] To that end, Zancai has been successful, becoming Toronto's most recognizable street character by November 2005.[5]

Zancai has stated that he is neither bipolar nor psychotic; he claims he is merely in character.

[edit] Future of Zanta

Zancai has stated he intends to run for election as Toronto Mayor in 2010. Zancai has reportedly started campaigning at high schools, universities and colleges across the city. His stated goal is to get young people voting for him and to help the "poor working-class people".[1]

[edit] Media appearances

[edit] Citytv Toronto

For his first appearance as Zanta, Zancai showed up behind the street window of the CHUM-City Building and began performing.[2][5] As a result of Citytv using streetscapes as backdrop to live news programming, Zancai was frequently seen in the background of the morning news and entertainment program Breakfast Television. Reportedly aggravated by Zancai's presence, CHUM filed a number of complaints which resulted in Zancai being banned from the the area of the building.[5] He violated this order, and as a result police banned him from the area south of College St. to King St., and from Yonge over to Spadina Ave.[5]

Since that time, Zancai has made appearances on Breakfast Television and claims to have a verbal agreement allowing him to make regular appearances on the television series Speakers' Corner.[2]

[edit] Documentaries

Zancai has been the subject of two amateur documentary films. In October 2005, graphic artists Muckney Tipping and Pietro Gagliano filmed Zancai describing his life events and motivation to become known world-wide.[4] In 2006, students at Humber College created a similar documentary.[6]

[edit] Other appearances

Zancai in his Zanta persona
Zancai in his Zanta persona

[edit] Reception

In 2005, Zancai was banned from the downtown core of Toronto following a number of complaints filed by CHUM, owner of CityTV. [5] Zancai's continued desire for fame and exposure resulted in at least one arrest on mischief charges.[5] Zanta has claimed that on August 19, 2006, he was banned from the Exhibition Place grounds, in particular the Canadian National Exhibition, after performing in the Farm, Food and Fun building. His arrest on September 11, 2006 was captured by an amateur videographer.[12] On November 17, 2006, 680 News radio reported Zancai had been banned by the Toronto Transit Commission from the city's buses, subways, and subway stations.[3] Zancai is presently no longer allowed at the Toronto Street Festival, the Taste of the Danforth, the St. Patrick's Day Parade or the Santa Claus Parade.[3] He has also been banned from Old York Lane between Cumberland Street and Yorkville Avenue in Yorkville, College Park and Yonge-Dundas Square.[3]

In August 2006, Zancai received a provincial probation order stating that he is "not permitted on any TTC property or vehicle other than surface routes" for two years.[1] Unofficially, Zancai's access to surface routes has also been suspended, with most bus drivers across the city refusing him access.[1] Zancai is in the process of fighting the ban, with attorney Paul Druxerman handling his case pro-bono.[1] TTC Chairman Adam Giambrone acknowledges there is no specific TTC bylaw against doing push-ups on TTC property, but has defended the ban by stating that such behaviour may pose a "serious safety hazard".[1]

Zancai's act has received both support and condemnation from the people of Toronto. Zancai's supporters have attended his court hearings and created fan sites on the Internet, commonly calling for the Toronto police to lift the ban and stop ticketing him.[1] Adam Vaughan, a former City-TV reporter and councillor for Trinity-Spadina, has stated that Zancai is "a much-loved character when you don't have to do work around him," but he is nonetheless "probably a public nuisance", and that some people understandably take issue with his behaviour.[1] In an interview with the National Post, Vaughan stated:

Just because you have a right to freedom of speech doesn't mean you have a right to an audience. And when you impose yourself in a public space consistently and without much regard for whether other people can enjoy that public space, boundaries are broached.[1]

On the contrary, Zancai's lawyer has stated that Zancai is "entitled to be as strange as he wants to be," and has defended his right to make use of public spaces for doing pushups.[1]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Israel, Samantha. "The Zanta Clause", The National Post, 2007-02-17. Retrieved on 2007-03-13.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g McLaren, Leah. "Who is that capped man? Meet Zanta Ho Ho.", The Globe and Mail, 2005-04-30, p. M1. Retrieved on 2006-12-06.
  3. ^ a b c d e Israel, Samantha. "Zanta, the 'living legend,' banned from TTC for 2 years: Won't put up with push-ups", The National Post, 2006-11-17, p. A14. Retrieved on 2006-12-06.
  4. ^ a b c d Muckney Tipping, Pietro Gagliano. Zanta - The Movie [Quicktime]. Toronto: ROBOTOmedia.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Burnett, Thane. "Zanta's claws pulled by a court", The Toronto Sun, 2005-11-07. Retrieved on 2006-12-06.
  6. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5y0rKae92gI
  7. ^ Storms, Patricia (2005-11-06). Seen in the Village 3. BookLust. Retrieved on 2006-12-06.
  8. ^ Molar Radio (2005-12-22). Toronto's Molar Radio #36: The Zanta Interview!. Retrieved on 2006-12-06.
  9. ^ Gerson, Jen. "So close to the stars, yet so far away; Tiny Penelope transfixes crowd Going with the Flow nets no result", The Toronto Star, 2006-09-12, p. C3.
  10. ^ Mandel, Michele (2006-09-10). In search of Brangelina in T.O.. Jam! Showbiz. The Toronto Sun. Retrieved on 2006-12-06.
  11. ^ http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=zanta&search=Search videos
  12. ^ An amateur videographer caught footage of Zancai's arrest

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Persondata
NAME David Zancai
ALTERNATIVE NAMES David; Zanta, Toronto Zanta
SHORT DESCRIPTION Canidian performance artist and actor
DATE OF BIRTH May 7, 1968
PLACE OF BIRTH Canada
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../d/a/v/David_Zancai_76f9.html"