The Scary Guy

The Scary Guy

The Scary Guy
Background information
Born (1953-12-29) December 29, 1953
Origin New Hope, Minnesota, United States
Occupation(s) Professional speaker, artist, tattoo artist, comedian, entertainer, singer
Website thescaryguy.com

The Scary Guy (born December 29, 1953) is a United Kingdom-based American/British motivational speaker who campaigns worldwide to eliminate hate, violence, prejudice, and bullying in schools and corporations. In addition to being a tattoo shop owner,[1] comic, entertainer, inspirational speaker, and performance artist, The Scary Guy has pierced nose, eyebrows, and ears and covers over 85 percent of his body with tattoos.[2]

Early life

The Scary Guy was born on December 29, 1953, as Earl Kenneth Kaufmann, to his father, Carroll August Kaufmann, and his mother Constance Joan Buckingham. Growing up in New Hope, Minnesota, United States, The Scary Guy graduated in 1972 from Cooper Senior High School[2] and excelled as a voice major at Macalester College, in Saint Paul.[3]

Tattoos

The Scary Guy got his first tattoo at the age of 30[4] and now has tattoos that cover an estimated 85% of his body. Over the years, his collection has grown as an artistic reflection of his life and experiences. They are what he calls, modern tribalism and reflect events he has experienced from humorous to stressful. One of these is a tattoo of a man called "Yuppiecide", a representation of his former self. Scary Guy's other tattoos represent his love of art and others are chosen simply because The Scary Guy was a computer salesman at one point in his life and they looked "cool".[5]

Program

The Scary Guy’s program to eliminate hate, violence, and prejudice includes his “seven day and seven night challenge.” A seemingly simple challenge, Scary asks audience members of every age to use positive words and refrain from insulting people for seven whole days - a surprisingly difficult task. His simple yet surprisingly effective questions force audience members to look inside themselves and consider this; "if people call you names and use negative/bad words towards you it is their problem and not yours as they created their negative words". What lies at the heart of The Scary Guy's teachings is one simple message; that everything that comes from a person is a direct reflection of that person and their behavior.

Alongside the serious nature of his worldwide mission, The Scary Guy uses humour when delivering presentations. Scary uses humour for one strict purpose, to make people laugh, and to show that caring for those around you is one of the best ways to eliminate hate in our world.[6]

What does he do?

In contrast to other “anti-bullying” philosophies that attempt to separate out the victim and the bully, Scary believes that “everybody is involved at some level in producing, receiving or watching negative energy occur in the form of words and actions.” In his program, the underlying behaviors for the negative energy are identified and he teaches people to not live as victims of what they see and hear from others “without becoming negative or using anger, hate or violence to achieve that.” He believes that people have the power to create change in their own world through taking full responsibility for all of their own behavior in the form of words and actions as energy.[7]

Bibliography

Videos

Films

See also

References

  1. ↑ "The Frighteners - The Scary Guy". Big Tattoo Planet. August 22, 2011. Retrieved April 2012. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  2. 1 2 Windrow, John (September 1, 1998). "The Scary Guy brings a message of the spirit". Star Tribune. p. 1E.
  3. ↑ Associated Press (September 11, 2000) Wisconsin State Journal Scary Guy: Don't judge me or anyone by our appearance; His message to kids: Prejudice is the country's no. 1 social disease. Section: Local/Wisconsin; Page 2C.
  4. ↑ azcentral.com (Jan. 13, 2007) “Scary Guy’s Words Resonate” Obtained July, 2011
  5. ↑ The New York Times (March 1, 1998) “Questions For; The Scary Guy” Obtained July, 2011
  6. ↑ Hermantown Star (May. 2011) Obtained July, 2011
  7. ↑ The Amboy News (July. 2013) " Obtained July 2013
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