Pink Man (real name Michael Maxfield) is a local celebrity from the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

. He can be seen riding his unicycle around the cities of

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...

, Oakland and

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. He gets his name from the

shocking pink Pink colors are usually light or desaturated shades of reds, roses, and magentas which are created on computer and television screens using the RGB color model and in printing with the CMYK color model. As such, it is an arbitrary classificati ...

unitard A unitard is a skintight, one-piece garment with long legs and sometimes long sleeves, usually stopping at the wrists and ankles. It differs from a leotard which does not have long legs. The leotard is also usually considered a more feminine cloth ...

and cape he wears while he performs impromptu unicycle tricks in public places—spinning, engaging in sudden stops, riding down the street at high speeds, and carrying people on his back. Maxfield was born and grew up in

Leominster, Massachusetts Leominster ( ) is a city in Worcester County, Massachusetts, Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the second-largest city in Worcester County, with a population of 43,782 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Leominster i ...

, where he discovered the unicycle at age 13. He moved to

at age 19, and then to

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

. While in Oregon, he started performing on his unicycle under the name Jester Max. When he moved back to Leominster years later, he found himself spending hours dancing on his unicycle, and pedalling around town, garnering a front page story in the ''

Worcester Telegram The ''Telegram & Gazette'' (and ''Sunday Telegram'') is the only daily newspaper of Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the c ...

''. He moved back to Oregon, where he sought out a new unicycle persona; on a whim, he purchased a pink Lycra unitard costume from a dancewear catalog. The new outfit proved extremely popular, and an onlooker at the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

campus dubbed him "pink man." Pink Man has performed in Oregon, Los Angeles, Houston, the San Francisco Bay Area, New Jersey, New York, the Pacific Northwest, Jacksonville, Vancouver, Paris, Tokyo, and Germany. His Tokyo and Paris trips were sponsored by computer-game designer Will Wright, who calls Pink Man "the only real superhero I know.".

Media

In 2002, Pink Man performed on his unicycle in a play titled "I Wheel, the Pink Man Show" which ran at the Live Oak Theater in Berkeley, California. In 2005, he appeared in the documentary film '' Following Sean''. In May 2009, he was seen on his unicycle amusing passers-by on the streets of central London. In 2006, Pink Man was the subject of an article in local alt weekly

Folio Weekly ''Folio Weekly'' is an alternative weekly newspaper published in Jacksonville, Florida. It covers topics such as politics, lifestyle, and entertainment. It is the largest and most influential alternative paper in Northeast Florida and is distribut ...

titled "Pinky and the Brain." In it, Maxfield discusses events that led him to lead a nomadic lifestyle, including accusations of molestation and the subsequent dissolution of his marriage. , there is a documentary film about Pink Man in production. In 2012, Pink Man was also mentioned briefly in a short video by

Lev Yilmaz Levni Yilmaz (born 1973) is an American independent film maker, artist and publisher, best known for his "Tales of Mere Existence" animated comic series. He is based in San Francisco. Early life Yilmaz was born in Boston, Massachusetts to parents ...

entitled "Coffee Shop Customers" which appears as part of his

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

series "Tales Of Mere Existence." Pink Man also makes a brief appearance in the 2012 film The Sessions, set in Berkeley..

References

External links

Archive of Pink Man's former official websiteSFist interview with Michael Maxfield Gritty in Pink by Ashley Harrell SF Weekly Wednesday, 28 January 2009:
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pink Man 1961 births Living people People from Leominster, Massachusetts Unicyclists American performance artists Artists from Massachusetts American street performers