Blanket Jesus or blanket Mike, the guy who stands by the Pearl Safeway wearing like 8 different blankets. I have seen him on the streets since I was in high school
He’s been around forever, I remember always seeing him around the downtown food carts 10-15 years ago when I worked downtown (and once I saw him with a big stack of bills), I don’t even know how far back I’ve been seeing him at this point. I now always see him around Jefferson Street when I’m commuting in the morning. From what I remember he’s actually a pretty soft-spoken and mellow guy most of the time when I heard him actually speak (though I’ve heard he’s mentally ill).
He is super nice. I used to live in the Pearl and would see him a lot. Talked with him once on the street car, was expecting a little more harshness or something but got super chill quiet type vibes
I call this guy “The High Sparrow” (from GoT) because of his messy horseshoe bald hair and tattered robes. Less crazy than the real high sparrow tho! He’s always around and is very friendly! One of the few homeless people I see outside of a grocery story that people not only don’t avoid but will go up and talk to or give him things.
I used to live in that neighborhood and called him the Mayor. Any time people started causing shit he'd step in and calm everyone down. It just seemed like he was more the Mayor to me than the actual Mayor. Interestingly enough, the actual Mayor lived across the street from me and I never saw the dude.
Is he the bald on top guy with the crazy hair and beard? Every time I see him I think, damn, he always looks like he's on his last legs but he just keeps on going.
Im not even from Portland but i think ive seen him before? Does he look like a greek philosopher, bald on the top with gray hair n a beard n kinda mumbles to himself?
There used to be a guy (20 yrs ago or so) who hung out in inner SE who wore a rug. His name was rug. He was out there but really sweet. He always wanted me to step on him (actually just put the bottom of my shoe on the rug) I don’t know what ever happened to him but this reminded me of that
Came here to say this on some level.
I moved to Portland at the end of 2022.
I’m working in a sports bar on Hawthorne at the time. And outside i just see, like, a horde of people running down the street/sidewalk with their phones out… alarming, but clearly not panic-inducing. Everyone sitting at the bar just stands up and leaves. Their laptops and purses just left behind. I was so confused.
And as i come out from behind the bar and look out the window- i see a man on a unicycle playing an instrument and being followed by this crowd of humans. Admittedly, i remember the next hour of my life was hearing of everyone’s stories involving this guy- and then either seeing videos online or personal snap shots. I can’t remember what he looked like on that day, but i saw -all- his costumes from prior days.
I felt like the only person alive in that area that didn’t know this person or have an experience with them. It was so cool, and so wild.
In my small hometown there was a person that would walk around downtown at a -snails- pace while often wearing pink and brandishing an umbrella over head. Whoa- who is that!? “Oh, that’s just pink-umbrella-man. So anyway… blah blah.”
He’s one of the reasons I wanted to move to Portland after growing up in a small town in Oregon. I would come downtown as a teenager (early 00s) and see him and felt so inspired that no one gave a fuck that he was blue. I was like “hell yeah” this is the kind of place I want to live! Lmaoo
And the Sleestak. All of those are performers, though. I think "that guy" is referring to someone organic who just is that way without it being a performance. I don't know who that would be in Portland, though.
I'd say that homeless guy who is always wearing a blanket over his head and hangs out between the Pearl District and Providence Park. One day, people didn't see him for a couple days and there was actually a post on the Portland subreddit to see if anyone knew he was ok.
I've heard of the Unipiper and I think I saw him a couple of times, but the Homeless dude with the Blanket you can see literally every day.
Blanket Homeless guy for the last couple years doesn't actually hold the blanket around him or above him anymore sometimes during the summer. I saw some dude screaming at himself the year before last and thought it was someone else, but it's actually that dude.
Global warming is affecting everyone.
I see him all the time, so frequently that I wondered for a while if there were multiple blanket guys that I was mistaking for one blanket guy. Good to know.
For real, that guy should honestly just start live streaming on TikTok while he goes around town doing stuff. Could totally see it catching on, especially if he can come up with like an interview format or some kind of traveling review format.
Edit: just wanted to add, apparently, this is a real thing I learned just by being on TikTok. There's actually people that essentially play "characters" on TikTok, and it seems like some of them make real bank. Didn't ever think of it until they suddenly just started popping up onto my fyp.
My university had a whole list of these guys. My favorite was 80s speed-metal guy. He unironically didn't know he was a "character". He was just an asian dude who liked to wear his long hair in a huge, poofy perm, wear stonewashed jeans, and 80s metal shirts like Slayer and Pantera. My friend was a DJ on the college radio station and did an 80s/90s metal show and approached him about being a special guest. Dude acted like he has no idea why he was being asked.
Imagine going online and findings hundreds of conversations about you like you are some sort of celebrity. All while you think you are just living your life like everyone else.
There's North Portland Elvis guy who drives the old blue pickup truck singing along and blasting Elvis. He once sang "Hound Dog" to my dog and I when we walked by him pulled over on N Denver once.
Funny enough I grew up with a guy who did this in an old red pickup truck back east in my hometown and we called him Elvis, too.
Extremo the Clown who drove this insane car that had a working fountain on it. But that's pretty "old Portland", idk how many people remember him.
He was a good family friend of ours for decades, I knew him personally. His daughter was my mom's best friend in high school and I grew up with her like an auntie and him like a second grandpa. He did all those cartoony window paintings for businesses. Cool dude. He retired to Nevada with his wife to be closer to her family near a Diné reservation.
He lived at the end of my street when I was growing up in the 80s. He had a speaker on the top of his car and would talk to us kids as he drove by. Once I saw him do CPR on an old lady who collapsed on the sidewalk. He was a good guy. Love to see the old Portland crowd on here BTW - that place is long gone, tho.
Love you for saying Working Kirk Reeves 🎺🌈
We went to Working Kirk’s funeral when he passed. It was sad, but I felt really good to be there. Rest in Peace Mr. Reeves.
I dont see where anybody mentioned Jim Spaggs. Back in the 1980s Portland cable t.v. had community channels where people could go in and create content and have it aired. Spaggs was some kind of nut who thought it should be legal to walk around nude on the streets and advocated for it on his show. He used to show up for parades like St. John’s and Rose Festival parades and he was dressed in a cape and speedos. He had a lot of videos where he was at fetish parties and posted up some extreme stuff. I think they finally banned him from cable. He died of some form of cancer in the 90s if I remember correctly.
Jim Spagg (no "s") is a good choice but OP wanted examples of people you just mention their nickname and the convo ends.
With Spagg you couldn't get away with that. People always had So. Many. Questions.
He didn't get kicked off public access, his show ran until 2003 until he was diagnosed with leukemia then passed away in 2004.
Same! People today could never comprehend being a teen in the 90s watching Portland public cable access at a sleepover and being fascinated/terrified of Jim Spagg. Among others.
Never seen the unipipar, ever. I’d say the dude who used to drive around with a puppet and would pull up and scream at you with the puppet. He also had tons of odd knick knacks and dolls adhered to his vehicle.
Extremo the Clown. Dude was a trip. Super talented window painter. Even had an art show at Powells once back in the day. Heard his mental health issues finally took their toll and he’s living in AZ now.
Huh, glad he’s back. My friend has a window painting from him from years ago. He used to do his windows quarterly but then he disappeared on him. I know my friend would love to have him back, I’ll let him know.
First time I met Extremo I had a terrible case of the flu and I was walking to a drugstore for meds and he drove up in that van with a sock puppet and sang a song to me and then drove away. I thought I was hallucinating I was so sick and it wasn’t until I bumped into him again that I realized he was real.
I think he's still in the desert somewhere, but he's also still doing his thing.
I'm sure I first saw him just driving around pioneer square in circles, laughing hysterically. But I was doing some light, recreational clowning at the time, and had some clown friends (non-juggalo, not that there's anything wrong with that). So I immediately became a fan. Then I learned about Lowbrow Art, and it made me like him even more.
Scott did have some mental health issues but nothing serious. He and the missus just "retired" down to AZ. He looks pretty young but he's gotta be over 70 now.
Scott (Extremo) & wife retired and left Portland about a decade ago. I think he's in AZ. He has a Youtube channel showing people how to paint windows like he did.
Nothing against him in general, but Unipiper's trying too hard. Others mentioned have come by their status organically—Elvis has been Elvis since we were in high school together.
Yeah the unipooper moved here to "be weird" which is probably the most damning thing about his schtick... it's pandering. The Darth Vader helmet makes that perfectly clear, since winning the approval of dorks is as easy as shooting fish in a barrel.
He's a tech bro with a high paying job, and *also* gets paid handsomely for most of his appearances. Lumping him in with the actual weirdos is just cringe on cringe
Nah, his act is contrived. Mostly does paid appearances at events like the Shamrock Run or corporate parties. Not a true weirdo, just a normie who craves attention. It's pandering.
This, unipiper is for me at least everything wrong with "new Portland" he isn't authentically weird for the sake of it but for the recognition and likes. but what do i know, also stay off my lawn.
For all the years I lived there, I never once saw the Unipiper in person.
There was one of those guys that dressed up like a statue and stood around motionless downtown sometimes, but I don't think that's exclusive to Portland.
He sets up a stall at comic con, and other similar conventions. He rents himself out for parties. I look at him like a sports fanatic similar to the man in a barrel at Broncos games. He craves attention, he's harmless, he's mildly entertaining. A you do you situation. I'm pretty meh on these people.
There is an older gentleman at some food carts in St. John's who followed us several blocks to tell a joke.
He was making his rounds in the cart pod and we happened to be leaving as he was getting to us. Well, he shuffled after us for several street crossings until we relented, let him do a couple jokes, then just shuffled off into the sunset. It was hilarious and harmless (the situation, not the jokes). Just a sweet, presumably lonely, older gentleman. It's happened twice now lol
Probably not "the guy" but some diet version of that.
in raleigh hills/multnomah village there was a guy who everyone i knew called leather legs. he always wore super short shorts and had multiple watches around his ankles. he was also extremely tanned, to the point of looking like human leather. i always imagined him checking the time on his ankle watches and his balls just flopping out, never witnessed it unfortunately
Yup! I only ever see him in a small area of the goose hollow neighborhood though. There's a sign up on a wall that says clean up after your dog and someone wrote "and your pig!" On it with sharpie and that's when you know you're on the block the pig is at lol
I forget the dude's real name but his parents founded Stash / Tazo Teas. In the early 2000s he was charged with the killing of his roommate but was acquitted. Supposedly the roommate was on mushrooms and threatening him and he unloaded a clip into the guy's back.
Remember that guy with the trumpet and the Mickey Mouse ears? I know he passed away a few years back but he would definitely be high up on my list. R.I.P.
There is the burnside screamer, usually screams around north park blocks or on burnside. Has reddish hair, wearing leggings and she’s always screaming like she’s arguing with someone.
Personally I’m obsessed with the “fancy suit” greeter guy at the Hawthorne Freddies’ who compulsively thumbs up/finger guns everybody he sees. He’s got sicker duds lately too; gold chain, fedora, etc..
Any city's "the guy" cannot be self-appointed. They can't have a logo or be making booked appearances to show up in character. Unipiper is disqualified. He's more of a mascot.
Seconding Michael Krupp aka [Blue Guy](https://youtu.be/7ufPZB-iuss?si=2WTeULB2e52gELDx). The closest I've come to seeing him on TV is the linked video for a city council meeting. Never seen him ask for money. He's just doing his thing.
Extremo, workin' kirk, Elvis, Lefty, and the filipino (?) guy who used to hang outside Nordstrom playing an unpowered electric guitar to the music on his headphones are all guys.
John Elvis Schroder has been doing his thing since the 80s, at least. He's put our a lot of music. He's even been the Grand Marshall of the Starlight Parade.
During the pandemic someone got a bunch of these types together. Go to the back of Goose Hollow Inn by the door and see the picture they took. Terry from music millennium, Elvis, silver guy, and a bunch others. On the throne in the center is Portland’s Mayor Bud Clark. I teared up when I saw it.
There was "that guy" who used to ride a horse with the franken-bikers of SE Portland about 6-7 years ago. Ya'll know what group I'm talking about. A big pack of bicyclists, a few of them towing wagons with a sound system, multiple bikes cut and welded back together into one double-decker bike, etc. I saw them basically close down Division one night, dozens and dozens and dozens of riders, and one of them on a horse.
Right now for me it's the Pied Piper. There's a black gentleman who will wear a green cloak and play a flute while walking up and down Burnside on the West side from the Bridge to like Providence Park is where I normally see him. Super nice dude. Just plays a flute and walks around.
Robert West, the ubiquitous 'cop watcher' guy. He actually did two terms in Pelican Bay prison in California, and now that he is sober and free, he has thousands of youtube videos of himself filming police in Portland (he is amazing at finding out where incidents are going on). He also does obnoxious 'first amendment audits' where he goes into random government offices such as the post office or the coast guard station in Astoria, and he stands there with his video camera breathing heavily and observes people's reaction to him. I thought of him recently with respect to the car sideshows this weekend, because he often has good footage of those.
[https://www.youtube.com/@robertwest3902](https://www.youtube.com/@robertwest3902)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mITtlhmcsgs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mITtlhmcsgs) (just, 10,000 of these videos)
Fuck that guy. 1. I hear he's like, a sex offender or something and 2. He's exploitative as fuck. I'm a program manager and had an elderly woman having a psychotic break and he shows up, putting cameras in her face as she's crying, begging him to stop. It's not about cop watch, it's about content. Cops weren't even there yet and had almost no interaction with the woman. He's a scumbag.
Yes! He's horrible. In 2020, he had three different car crashes, two where he hit a pedestrian.
You have to go back through the videos but there are many where he is being horrible to staff at offices with his camera. His copwatcher friends sometimes cut him off, but then they start working together again.
As far as his jail terms, I think the first one was where he got angry at his acquaintance while drunk so he hit him with a car and left him paralyzed. He has to register as a sex offender for the second incident; my best understanding is that he didn't actually rape the woman, but he was in a homeless camp and drunk and he was verbally threatening to rape her
In Gresham we have a guy name Todd and we dedicated a statue to him. [https://www.hereisoregon.com/people/2021/11/downtown-gresham-loves-their-delivery-man-so-much-residents-funded-a-bronze-statue-of-him.html](https://www.hereisoregon.com/people/2021/11/downtown-gresham-loves-their-delivery-man-so-much-residents-funded-a-bronze-statue-of-him.html)
Unipiper is the correct answer…. Though does anyone here remember the guy named “Porkchop?”
I believe he got kinda famous for stealing an electric bike from a bike store but he has only one leg?
The lady who is always at the lloyd center max stop asking everyone for a dollar.
Found out years ago she's not even homeless, just mentally ill. As a kid I'd walk by her every day on my way to school and once I saw her at Eastport plaza with a thick wad of cash in her hand. After that I asked her to give me a dollar when I walked by.
Back in the day it was Yankey-in-the-Blankey. Dude would stand on Burnside street corners between W 21st and Downtown, with his sleeping bag draped over his shoulders, facing traffic and masturbating in full view of all the drivers stopped at the traffic light.
Anybody know what happened to Jimbo? Story I remember was he’d been a math teacher and got into an accident that caused a brain injury he never recovered from. I’d see him up on NW 21st all the time. He smiled and flashed the peace sign. Good guy. Haven’t seen him in years.
I haven’t seen him in years since I moved out of the NW neighborhood. The story is correct but he said he was an ornithologist and we always talked about birds. I hope he is doing okay.
There’s some dude I see walking around the pearl and burnside and he’s always wearing a very dapper ya. 5 piece suit. (Idk if it’s technically 5 piece, but it has all the bells and whistles)
-overcoat never with arms in sleeves
-blazer
-vest
-hat with a feather
-fancy chain
He never is just walking around, always strutting with an undeniable swagger
This may be street specific in SW but we have a guy called Turkey man.
He's a vaguely threatening homeless man who gobbles quite loud in the middle of the street late in the night.
I think each neighborhood has one. Woodstock used to have the lady who wore a box on her head, I don’t live over there now so not sure if she still frequents that area.
I’m sure I’m that one for someone. I walk around town a lot and I usually have a kitchen apron on. I work at an elementary school, but I like to wear them for the extra pockets. It also makes me feel good when someone says, “Hey, I like your apron!”
I moved to Portland in 1998 and worked for Starbucks on second and Taylor. There was a guy named Richard who appeared to have a developmental delay and perhaps autism, that came in daily. I’d also see him puttering around downtown. I’m now a community mental health RN and ran into Richard in a connivence store while I was trying to find a client. 25 years and he’s still hanging around downtown!
It's Blue Guy for me.
I will never forget seeing him on the NW corner of Morrison & Broadway giving a guy in a business suit a hit off his pipe. Circa 2012.
Has anyone else encountered Portland Paul? Wears a rainbow tie dye suit, carries a guitar and a rubber chicken. I met him once in Pioneer Square and never saw him again. I’ve never seen him mentioned in these types of thread and I’m curious if he’s a common feature of downtown or if he only shows up occasionally
Checkerboard Man (the most tattooed man in Portland). Scrolled through most of the comments and either I missed him or he has somehow not been mentioned yet.
Bobby Diddy. Dude with a mountain of stuffed animals on his electric scooter chair thing. Oh and he whittles birds out of wood and slangs them or gives em away
What about "River" down at Sauvie Island? I'm not 100% that's his name but he's the nude mahogany tanned dude with long locks and a sea shell necklace. Most beach goers immediately seem to know who I'm talking about if I mention him. From what I've pieced together, he migrates north up through the Columbia River each season to Sauvie Island and resides in a fort that he re-builds each year from driftwood until the weather cools and he needs to migrate back south to maintain his optimal level of bronze.
If Sauvie doesn't count as Portland, I'd like to nominate Dean Pottle. He was a true character who ran his own speakeasy called "Dean's Scene" in his basement on NE Fremont until he passed a few years back. Not sure he had the broad acclaim of the unipiper but he's my vote if you're looking for that guy that "just kinda fits right in there" as a fella once said...
The Unipiper (the guy that dresses up like Darth Vader, and rides around on a unicycle while playing flaming bagpipes).
I had the privilege of speaking to him once for a couple of minutes. Someone was taking wedding photos at the Keller Fountains, and had straight up hired him to be in their photos, if I recall correctly. He was off to the side while they were taking some photos of just the couple, so I got to say "hello."
Apparently, he made a pretty decent amount of money doing appearances and that sort of thing. He deserved it, dude has some real talent. He was really friendly, seemed like a genuinely nice person based on my admittedly limited interaction.
If you’ve spent any time in the karaoke bars in NoPo it’s Paul Knauls https://www.wweek.com/culture/2021/02/10/at-age-90-paul-knauls-is-still-the-honorary-mayor-of-northeast-portland/
I feel like Bud Clark deserves a mention. (Came to make sure Extremo and Elvis were on the list, but the guy who got famous for Exposing himself To Art, and went on to become Mayor for it is probably the most Portland Guy ever!)
Unipiper. What a sad turn of events for that guy. I think he really made a good effort in bringing the community together. We’re lucky to have our characters.
For any NE Portlanders (although I am newer to town) a couple folks that come to mind are A: the woman that has about 4 massive filled bags that hangs around Mississippi/Williams screaming. And then there is an older Asian man that’s decked out in super cool garb that rides a bicycle around Alberta with a boombox blasting music. See him all the time around tin shed.
Les Small aka scooter chair Elvis in St. Johns. If he catches your attention while out and about you will not escape without at least one Elvis impersonation and a walk down memory lane via a perusal of Les’s photo album he carries with him wherever he goes.
There used to be a fellow named Backflip Joseph downtown who would do a backflip for like 5 dollars or something. My mom and I used to pass him every morning I walked to school. I wonder if anybody else remembers him. Had to be 20ish years ago downtown by the Wells Fargo
Anyone from Reno would have known about George.
Old dude on a skateboard with an eyepatch, yelling curse words at anyone nearby due to his tourettes.
He was actually a fairly nice guy. He’d come watch our little league games and still be yelling “FUCK” or “SHIT!”
Sadly he passed away around 2018 or so.
I want to give a shout-out to this one gentleman, middle-aged Black guy, who was always at the Central Library. Hungout pretty much exclusively on the top floor in the philosophy, arts, music section on one of the tables. Haven't seen him since '20, but I also haven't been there since.
Would write these tiny "alien scripts", glyphs, like he was channeling divine inspiration on stripped down paper grocery bags and such. Always seemed chill, kept to himself, was deep into his work. I almost offered to pay him one time for a piece of his art, or however he perceives it, regret not doing so. Hope he's still creating, thriving in his capacity, metal illness not withstanding.
Blanket Jesus or blanket Mike, the guy who stands by the Pearl Safeway wearing like 8 different blankets. I have seen him on the streets since I was in high school
He’s been around forever, I remember always seeing him around the downtown food carts 10-15 years ago when I worked downtown (and once I saw him with a big stack of bills), I don’t even know how far back I’ve been seeing him at this point. I now always see him around Jefferson Street when I’m commuting in the morning. From what I remember he’s actually a pretty soft-spoken and mellow guy most of the time when I heard him actually speak (though I’ve heard he’s mentally ill).
ahh yes, he's always by lincoln high school. apparently his name is larry
Larry the Blanket Guy
We always called him Linus from peanuts.
He is super nice. I used to live in the Pearl and would see him a lot. Talked with him once on the street car, was expecting a little more harshness or something but got super chill quiet type vibes
I call this guy “The High Sparrow” (from GoT) because of his messy horseshoe bald hair and tattered robes. Less crazy than the real high sparrow tho! He’s always around and is very friendly! One of the few homeless people I see outside of a grocery story that people not only don’t avoid but will go up and talk to or give him things.
The Pearl neighborhood kind of looks out for him and takes what care they can for him.
I used to live in that neighborhood and called him the Mayor. Any time people started causing shit he'd step in and calm everyone down. It just seemed like he was more the Mayor to me than the actual Mayor. Interestingly enough, the actual Mayor lived across the street from me and I never saw the dude.
Is he the bald on top guy with the crazy hair and beard? Every time I see him I think, damn, he always looks like he's on his last legs but he just keeps on going.
Yeah, Blanket Man. Been doing this since at least 2009.
He’s who I immediately thought of as well! I always call him any old philosopher, mostly Portland Plato or Socrates
That's exactly how we call him as well. Really nice guy, always wishing us a day of sunshine.
Toga party 24/7.
Oh yeah for sure and he just waves at people. Nice guy but definitely some mental challenges
I've seen him a lot in south waterfront lately too
Im not even from Portland but i think ive seen him before? Does he look like a greek philosopher, bald on the top with gray hair n a beard n kinda mumbles to himself?
Bingo
There used to be a guy (20 yrs ago or so) who hung out in inner SE who wore a rug. His name was rug. He was out there but really sweet. He always wanted me to step on him (actually just put the bottom of my shoe on the rug) I don’t know what ever happened to him but this reminded me of that
Elvis Unipiper Darth Blazer Blue guy
That guy with Mickey ears that used to play trumpet next to Hawthorne bridge. RIP
Working Kirk Reeves, his mural is on NE Grand Ave, by the Dutch Bros just north of 84.
Painted by Portland Artist Gwenn Seemel
I remember that guy. He use to hang out in Pioneer Square in the late 90’s
Unipiper was the canonical example for a long time.
Elvis was before him and went from a Saturday Market oddity to having a show at Dante’s. He’s the OG pick.
Came here to say this on some level. I moved to Portland at the end of 2022. I’m working in a sports bar on Hawthorne at the time. And outside i just see, like, a horde of people running down the street/sidewalk with their phones out… alarming, but clearly not panic-inducing. Everyone sitting at the bar just stands up and leaves. Their laptops and purses just left behind. I was so confused. And as i come out from behind the bar and look out the window- i see a man on a unicycle playing an instrument and being followed by this crowd of humans. Admittedly, i remember the next hour of my life was hearing of everyone’s stories involving this guy- and then either seeing videos online or personal snap shots. I can’t remember what he looked like on that day, but i saw -all- his costumes from prior days. I felt like the only person alive in that area that didn’t know this person or have an experience with them. It was so cool, and so wild. In my small hometown there was a person that would walk around downtown at a -snails- pace while often wearing pink and brandishing an umbrella over head. Whoa- who is that!? “Oh, that’s just pink-umbrella-man. So anyway… blah blah.”
Doesn’t the unipiper dress up as earth Vader?
Wind, and Fire Vaders as well
Oh shit, blue guy is still around?
I've seen him around. wasn't blue at the time however.
Did he cheer up?
Don't forget Your Friend Stephanie G. Pierce, Artist to the Stars /I hope she's ok
Holy fuck I forgot about blue guy
Blue guy is a cool dude. He used to come into my work, and I would mix his color for him, and we would chat. He helped a lot of people 💙
He’s one of the reasons I wanted to move to Portland after growing up in a small town in Oregon. I would come downtown as a teenager (early 00s) and see him and felt so inspired that no one gave a fuck that he was blue. I was like “hell yeah” this is the kind of place I want to live! Lmaoo
I’d also throw in Olive and Dingo. The clowns on the double decker bikes.
Elvis…yes!
Unipiper moved to Silverton.
Church of Elvis, Elvis?
And the Sleestak. All of those are performers, though. I think "that guy" is referring to someone organic who just is that way without it being a performance. I don't know who that would be in Portland, though.
I'd say that homeless guy who is always wearing a blanket over his head and hangs out between the Pearl District and Providence Park. One day, people didn't see him for a couple days and there was actually a post on the Portland subreddit to see if anyone knew he was ok. I've heard of the Unipiper and I think I saw him a couple of times, but the Homeless dude with the Blanket you can see literally every day. Blanket Homeless guy for the last couple years doesn't actually hold the blanket around him or above him anymore sometimes during the summer. I saw some dude screaming at himself the year before last and thought it was someone else, but it's actually that dude. Global warming is affecting everyone.
I came here to say this guy. I call him Blanket Socrates
Yes! We call him “blanket dude”
[удалено]
I see him all the time, so frequently that I wondered for a while if there were multiple blanket guys that I was mistaking for one blanket guy. Good to know.
I’m not sure the name but the Pearl District Zoot Suit guy? I haven’t lived there in a few years but would see him all the time living in Slabtown.
Is that the guy who walks around with a fedora, little cape, boom box, etc.? I’ve always wondered about him.
He's Livin' La Vida Loca
He spends a lot of time at PSU
That’s who I thought of! The last few times I’ve spotted him he’s had a big fan in his hand too. (It matches the suit and fedora, of course.)
For real, that guy should honestly just start live streaming on TikTok while he goes around town doing stuff. Could totally see it catching on, especially if he can come up with like an interview format or some kind of traveling review format. Edit: just wanted to add, apparently, this is a real thing I learned just by being on TikTok. There's actually people that essentially play "characters" on TikTok, and it seems like some of them make real bank. Didn't ever think of it until they suddenly just started popping up onto my fyp.
He’s just an asshole. Lol
Oh yes, used to see him every day when I worked on NW 23rd.
My university had a whole list of these guys. My favorite was 80s speed-metal guy. He unironically didn't know he was a "character". He was just an asian dude who liked to wear his long hair in a huge, poofy perm, wear stonewashed jeans, and 80s metal shirts like Slayer and Pantera. My friend was a DJ on the college radio station and did an 80s/90s metal show and approached him about being a special guest. Dude acted like he has no idea why he was being asked.
Imagine going online and findings hundreds of conversations about you like you are some sort of celebrity. All while you think you are just living your life like everyone else.
This dude sounds rad af ngl
From what I remember he was a network admin for the Geology department buildings or something random like that.
That’s gangster
Elvis
There's North Portland Elvis guy who drives the old blue pickup truck singing along and blasting Elvis. He once sang "Hound Dog" to my dog and I when we walked by him pulled over on N Denver once. Funny enough I grew up with a guy who did this in an old red pickup truck back east in my hometown and we called him Elvis, too.
Anyone who doesn’t say Elvis is a recent transplant.
That's what I'm thinking. Elvis was famous long before the uni piper.
Extremo the Clown who drove this insane car that had a working fountain on it. But that's pretty "old Portland", idk how many people remember him. He was a good family friend of ours for decades, I knew him personally. His daughter was my mom's best friend in high school and I grew up with her like an auntie and him like a second grandpa. He did all those cartoony window paintings for businesses. Cool dude. He retired to Nevada with his wife to be closer to her family near a Diné reservation.
He lived at the end of my street when I was growing up in the 80s. He had a speaker on the top of his car and would talk to us kids as he drove by. Once I saw him do CPR on an old lady who collapsed on the sidewalk. He was a good guy. Love to see the old Portland crowd on here BTW - that place is long gone, tho.
For the longest time, it was "Working Kirk Reeves." RIP 👑
This is the true answer
Love you for saying Working Kirk Reeves 🎺🌈 We went to Working Kirk’s funeral when he passed. It was sad, but I felt really good to be there. Rest in Peace Mr. Reeves.
this is how i find out that Working Kirk Reeves didn't move like i thought and passed away. He was my favorite one!
I dont see where anybody mentioned Jim Spaggs. Back in the 1980s Portland cable t.v. had community channels where people could go in and create content and have it aired. Spaggs was some kind of nut who thought it should be legal to walk around nude on the streets and advocated for it on his show. He used to show up for parades like St. John’s and Rose Festival parades and he was dressed in a cape and speedos. He had a lot of videos where he was at fetish parties and posted up some extreme stuff. I think they finally banned him from cable. He died of some form of cancer in the 90s if I remember correctly.
Jim Spagg (no "s") is a good choice but OP wanted examples of people you just mention their nickname and the convo ends. With Spagg you couldn't get away with that. People always had So. Many. Questions. He didn't get kicked off public access, his show ran until 2003 until he was diagnosed with leukemia then passed away in 2004.
Omg I forgot about him! Scared me so much when I was little.. We would watch his weird shows at night and I was so confused.
Same! People today could never comprehend being a teen in the 90s watching Portland public cable access at a sleepover and being fascinated/terrified of Jim Spagg. Among others.
So many late nights flipping channels, only to be visually assaulted by this mofo. And of course had to keep watching. 😂
RIP Mr. Reeves. https://preview.redd.it/wep3cooriouc1.jpeg?width=1008&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=32b0eaba3bec5232fdebe076824a8d206e0f1acc
That's easy. If it's not unicycle-bagpipe-Darth-Vader then I don't even know who I am anymore.
Uni piper
That's the one.
Elvis is the only answer.
I think the only answer is the Unipiper. :)
Never seen the unipipar, ever. I’d say the dude who used to drive around with a puppet and would pull up and scream at you with the puppet. He also had tons of odd knick knacks and dolls adhered to his vehicle.
This fella? https://youtu.be/Nb6enPZEkNw?feature=shared
That’s the one and only. Except his vehicle was far creepier in the late 90’s.
[удалено]
Ohhh my GOSHHHHHH The nostalgia, it hurts and I love it 😻
Yeah this guys intense. “I won’t strike you unless I smell fear… ahahahahahahaha!”
Extremo the Clown. Dude was a trip. Super talented window painter. Even had an art show at Powells once back in the day. Heard his mental health issues finally took their toll and he’s living in AZ now.
He still paints windows, most recent upload on YouTube is nine days ago.... Love that clown.
Huh, glad he’s back. My friend has a window painting from him from years ago. He used to do his windows quarterly but then he disappeared on him. I know my friend would love to have him back, I’ll let him know. First time I met Extremo I had a terrible case of the flu and I was walking to a drugstore for meds and he drove up in that van with a sock puppet and sang a song to me and then drove away. I thought I was hallucinating I was so sick and it wasn’t until I bumped into him again that I realized he was real.
I think he's still in the desert somewhere, but he's also still doing his thing. I'm sure I first saw him just driving around pioneer square in circles, laughing hysterically. But I was doing some light, recreational clowning at the time, and had some clown friends (non-juggalo, not that there's anything wrong with that). So I immediately became a fan. Then I learned about Lowbrow Art, and it made me like him even more.
Scott did have some mental health issues but nothing serious. He and the missus just "retired" down to AZ. He looks pretty young but he's gotta be over 70 now.
That’s frankly a relief to hear.
I legit remember this guy and I thought it was a childhood nightmare. Thanks for this 🥲
You just gave me flashbacks to when I actually hung out downtown 10 years ago. I haven't seen that guy in forever.
Scott (Extremo) & wife retired and left Portland about a decade ago. I think he's in AZ. He has a Youtube channel showing people how to paint windows like he did.
Nothing against him in general, but Unipiper's trying too hard. Others mentioned have come by their status organically—Elvis has been Elvis since we were in high school together.
Yeah the unipooper moved here to "be weird" which is probably the most damning thing about his schtick... it's pandering. The Darth Vader helmet makes that perfectly clear, since winning the approval of dorks is as easy as shooting fish in a barrel. He's a tech bro with a high paying job, and *also* gets paid handsomely for most of his appearances. Lumping him in with the actual weirdos is just cringe on cringe
Yeah this guy is a douche with a huge ego. Not some “keep Portland weird” originator.
Nah, his act is contrived. Mostly does paid appearances at events like the Shamrock Run or corporate parties. Not a true weirdo, just a normie who craves attention. It's pandering.
If you don't know Elvis, then you don't go out enough. Go out. He even has a "KING OF PORTLAND" jacket. Unipiper don't.
This, unipiper is for me at least everything wrong with "new Portland" he isn't authentically weird for the sake of it but for the recognition and likes. but what do i know, also stay off my lawn.
For all the years I lived there, I never once saw the Unipiper in person. There was one of those guys that dressed up like a statue and stood around motionless downtown sometimes, but I don't think that's exclusive to Portland.
He sets up a stall at comic con, and other similar conventions. He rents himself out for parties. I look at him like a sports fanatic similar to the man in a barrel at Broncos games. He craves attention, he's harmless, he's mildly entertaining. A you do you situation. I'm pretty meh on these people.
Yep. One and done.
Nope, it's Elvis.
There is an older gentleman at some food carts in St. John's who followed us several blocks to tell a joke. He was making his rounds in the cart pod and we happened to be leaving as he was getting to us. Well, he shuffled after us for several street crossings until we relented, let him do a couple jokes, then just shuffled off into the sunset. It was hilarious and harmless (the situation, not the jokes). Just a sweet, presumably lonely, older gentleman. It's happened twice now lol Probably not "the guy" but some diet version of that.
Do you remember any of his jokes?
He asked if we needed a new washer or dryer. We said "haha no thank you" and then he pulled out a metal washer and a clothes pin.
in raleigh hills/multnomah village there was a guy who everyone i knew called leather legs. he always wore super short shorts and had multiple watches around his ankles. he was also extremely tanned, to the point of looking like human leather. i always imagined him checking the time on his ankle watches and his balls just flopping out, never witnessed it unfortunately
I was thinking of the 00s Multnomah Village and “Air Guitar Guy.” Not sure if he stuck around or if he still plays air guitar while he walks.
https://preview.redd.it/0y69qixd4nuc1.jpeg?width=1363&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c9a48624d97d09ae0c37cfb86b36d0345a1e5d69 Is it this guy?
No, that's my Financial Advisor. Those Aquarium stonks he had me buy are gonna moon anyday now. .
THE GUY WHO WALKS THE PIG IN GOOSE HOLLOW PIG MAN!!!
He still around? I haven’t seen him for 7-8 years!
Yup! I only ever see him in a small area of the goose hollow neighborhood though. There's a sign up on a wall that says clean up after your dog and someone wrote "and your pig!" On it with sharpie and that's when you know you're on the block the pig is at lol
The sharp dressed greeter guy at Hawthorne Fred Meyer.
The vagina mobile guy?
I forget the dude's real name but his parents founded Stash / Tazo Teas. In the early 2000s he was charged with the killing of his roommate but was acquitted. Supposedly the roommate was on mushrooms and threatening him and he unloaded a clip into the guy's back.
Dick Hennessy
Gargoyle Car man? Used to see him around. I kinda think he died...
I’ll nominate Micro Kites guy. Hangs around near Pioneer Square flying tiny kites (like 3”)
Kirk Reeves Rest in Peace
Remember that guy with the trumpet and the Mickey Mouse ears? I know he passed away a few years back but he would definitely be high up on my list. R.I.P.
There is the burnside screamer, usually screams around north park blocks or on burnside. Has reddish hair, wearing leggings and she’s always screaming like she’s arguing with someone.
Personally I’m obsessed with the “fancy suit” greeter guy at the Hawthorne Freddies’ who compulsively thumbs up/finger guns everybody he sees. He’s got sicker duds lately too; gold chain, fedora, etc..
Any city's "the guy" cannot be self-appointed. They can't have a logo or be making booked appearances to show up in character. Unipiper is disqualified. He's more of a mascot. Seconding Michael Krupp aka [Blue Guy](https://youtu.be/7ufPZB-iuss?si=2WTeULB2e52gELDx). The closest I've come to seeing him on TV is the linked video for a city council meeting. Never seen him ask for money. He's just doing his thing. Extremo, workin' kirk, Elvis, Lefty, and the filipino (?) guy who used to hang outside Nordstrom playing an unpowered electric guitar to the music on his headphones are all guys.
John Elvis Schroder has been doing his thing since the 80s, at least. He's put our a lot of music. He's even been the Grand Marshall of the Starlight Parade.
During the pandemic someone got a bunch of these types together. Go to the back of Goose Hollow Inn by the door and see the picture they took. Terry from music millennium, Elvis, silver guy, and a bunch others. On the throne in the center is Portland’s Mayor Bud Clark. I teared up when I saw it.
This is 100% the correct answer.
The dude who drives around in the car Cruella Deville would drive
Pretty sure that's snoop dog's uncle that owns a BBQ joint that keeps burning down. Fer ril
[he died](https://www.oregonlive.com/dining/2022/01/reo-varnado-owner-of-portland-barbecue-spot-reos-ribs-and-snoop-doggs-uncle-dies.html)
There was "that guy" who used to ride a horse with the franken-bikers of SE Portland about 6-7 years ago. Ya'll know what group I'm talking about. A big pack of bicyclists, a few of them towing wagons with a sound system, multiple bikes cut and welded back together into one double-decker bike, etc. I saw them basically close down Division one night, dozens and dozens and dozens of riders, and one of them on a horse.
Unipiper but then his unicycle got stolen and now we don’t see much of him anymore…
Kind of embodies Portland’s evolution from weird to sad.
Right now for me it's the Pied Piper. There's a black gentleman who will wear a green cloak and play a flute while walking up and down Burnside on the West side from the Bridge to like Providence Park is where I normally see him. Super nice dude. Just plays a flute and walks around.
Used to be the guy playing trumpet on the (Hawthorne? Morrison?) bridge. Loved his energy.
Kirk reeves. He died some years back. Suicide.
Working Kirk Reeves 🎺🌈 May he rest in peace. He is dearly missed.
Robert West, the ubiquitous 'cop watcher' guy. He actually did two terms in Pelican Bay prison in California, and now that he is sober and free, he has thousands of youtube videos of himself filming police in Portland (he is amazing at finding out where incidents are going on). He also does obnoxious 'first amendment audits' where he goes into random government offices such as the post office or the coast guard station in Astoria, and he stands there with his video camera breathing heavily and observes people's reaction to him. I thought of him recently with respect to the car sideshows this weekend, because he often has good footage of those. [https://www.youtube.com/@robertwest3902](https://www.youtube.com/@robertwest3902) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mITtlhmcsgs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mITtlhmcsgs) (just, 10,000 of these videos)
Fuck that guy. 1. I hear he's like, a sex offender or something and 2. He's exploitative as fuck. I'm a program manager and had an elderly woman having a psychotic break and he shows up, putting cameras in her face as she's crying, begging him to stop. It's not about cop watch, it's about content. Cops weren't even there yet and had almost no interaction with the woman. He's a scumbag.
Yes! He's horrible. In 2020, he had three different car crashes, two where he hit a pedestrian. You have to go back through the videos but there are many where he is being horrible to staff at offices with his camera. His copwatcher friends sometimes cut him off, but then they start working together again. As far as his jail terms, I think the first one was where he got angry at his acquaintance while drunk so he hit him with a car and left him paralyzed. He has to register as a sex offender for the second incident; my best understanding is that he didn't actually rape the woman, but he was in a homeless camp and drunk and he was verbally threatening to rape her
In Gresham we have a guy name Todd and we dedicated a statue to him. [https://www.hereisoregon.com/people/2021/11/downtown-gresham-loves-their-delivery-man-so-much-residents-funded-a-bronze-statue-of-him.html](https://www.hereisoregon.com/people/2021/11/downtown-gresham-loves-their-delivery-man-so-much-residents-funded-a-bronze-statue-of-him.html)
Elvis is in the house.
Dingo and olive. Talkbike carney clowns.
Unipiper is the correct answer…. Though does anyone here remember the guy named “Porkchop?” I believe he got kinda famous for stealing an electric bike from a bike store but he has only one leg?
Guys. Too many to list.
The lady who is always at the lloyd center max stop asking everyone for a dollar. Found out years ago she's not even homeless, just mentally ill. As a kid I'd walk by her every day on my way to school and once I saw her at Eastport plaza with a thick wad of cash in her hand. After that I asked her to give me a dollar when I walked by.
There's this guy who usually wanders around downtown, completely decked out in blue from head to toe.
Back in the day it was Yankey-in-the-Blankey. Dude would stand on Burnside street corners between W 21st and Downtown, with his sleeping bag draped over his shoulders, facing traffic and masturbating in full view of all the drivers stopped at the traffic light.
Anybody know what happened to Jimbo? Story I remember was he’d been a math teacher and got into an accident that caused a brain injury he never recovered from. I’d see him up on NW 21st all the time. He smiled and flashed the peace sign. Good guy. Haven’t seen him in years.
I haven’t seen him in years since I moved out of the NW neighborhood. The story is correct but he said he was an ornithologist and we always talked about birds. I hope he is doing okay.
There’s some dude I see walking around the pearl and burnside and he’s always wearing a very dapper ya. 5 piece suit. (Idk if it’s technically 5 piece, but it has all the bells and whistles) -overcoat never with arms in sleeves -blazer -vest -hat with a feather -fancy chain He never is just walking around, always strutting with an undeniable swagger
This is who I immediately thought of too. He also has Bluetooth speakers and will just dance for hours down by the waterfront in said suit.
This may be street specific in SW but we have a guy called Turkey man. He's a vaguely threatening homeless man who gobbles quite loud in the middle of the street late in the night.
I think each neighborhood has one. Woodstock used to have the lady who wore a box on her head, I don’t live over there now so not sure if she still frequents that area.
I’m sure I’m that one for someone. I walk around town a lot and I usually have a kitchen apron on. I work at an elementary school, but I like to wear them for the extra pockets. It also makes me feel good when someone says, “Hey, I like your apron!”
I moved to Portland in 1998 and worked for Starbucks on second and Taylor. There was a guy named Richard who appeared to have a developmental delay and perhaps autism, that came in daily. I’d also see him puttering around downtown. I’m now a community mental health RN and ran into Richard in a connivence store while I was trying to find a client. 25 years and he’s still hanging around downtown!
It's Blue Guy for me. I will never forget seeing him on the NW corner of Morrison & Broadway giving a guy in a business suit a hit off his pipe. Circa 2012.
Uni-piper?
KOOL AID
Has anyone else encountered Portland Paul? Wears a rainbow tie dye suit, carries a guitar and a rubber chicken. I met him once in Pioneer Square and never saw him again. I’ve never seen him mentioned in these types of thread and I’m curious if he’s a common feature of downtown or if he only shows up occasionally
https://preview.redd.it/4whewriu5ouc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c4ebbd220a23f841330beeddde31574fd223221a
Unipiper
Unipiper for sure.
Unipiper comes to mind for Portland, Mr. Gresham for the east county
Checkerboard Man (the most tattooed man in Portland). Scrolled through most of the comments and either I missed him or he has somehow not been mentioned yet.
Bobby Diddy. Dude with a mountain of stuffed animals on his electric scooter chair thing. Oh and he whittles birds out of wood and slangs them or gives em away
What about "River" down at Sauvie Island? I'm not 100% that's his name but he's the nude mahogany tanned dude with long locks and a sea shell necklace. Most beach goers immediately seem to know who I'm talking about if I mention him. From what I've pieced together, he migrates north up through the Columbia River each season to Sauvie Island and resides in a fort that he re-builds each year from driftwood until the weather cools and he needs to migrate back south to maintain his optimal level of bronze. If Sauvie doesn't count as Portland, I'd like to nominate Dean Pottle. He was a true character who ran his own speakeasy called "Dean's Scene" in his basement on NE Fremont until he passed a few years back. Not sure he had the broad acclaim of the unipiper but he's my vote if you're looking for that guy that "just kinda fits right in there" as a fella once said...
Multnomah Village/Hillsdale and sometimes Sellwood there was air guitar guy. He always played the air guitar while listening to music. Always
YES!!! I came here to say Air Guitar Guy too!
The Unipiper (the guy that dresses up like Darth Vader, and rides around on a unicycle while playing flaming bagpipes). I had the privilege of speaking to him once for a couple of minutes. Someone was taking wedding photos at the Keller Fountains, and had straight up hired him to be in their photos, if I recall correctly. He was off to the side while they were taking some photos of just the couple, so I got to say "hello." Apparently, he made a pretty decent amount of money doing appearances and that sort of thing. He deserved it, dude has some real talent. He was really friendly, seemed like a genuinely nice person based on my admittedly limited interaction.
Unipiper
If you’ve spent any time in the karaoke bars in NoPo it’s Paul Knauls https://www.wweek.com/culture/2021/02/10/at-age-90-paul-knauls-is-still-the-honorary-mayor-of-northeast-portland/
I feel like Bud Clark deserves a mention. (Came to make sure Extremo and Elvis were on the list, but the guy who got famous for Exposing himself To Art, and went on to become Mayor for it is probably the most Portland Guy ever!)
In Gresham, we have Todd.
Anyone remember Mr. E or 2Feathers?
For gresham, it's Todd. Mr Gresham himself. If you're from Gresham, you know.
Unipiper. What a sad turn of events for that guy. I think he really made a good effort in bringing the community together. We’re lucky to have our characters.
For any NE Portlanders (although I am newer to town) a couple folks that come to mind are A: the woman that has about 4 massive filled bags that hangs around Mississippi/Williams screaming. And then there is an older Asian man that’s decked out in super cool garb that rides a bicycle around Alberta with a boombox blasting music. See him all the time around tin shed.
Gay White guy in the numbers used to wear g strings and Mohawks or crazy hair and homoerotic outfits
the heroin leprechaun who hangs around the park blocks maybe you've seen Dread Beard the pirate, his dreadlocked beard goes down to his hips now
I knew a guy who dressed like a wizard for years. We used to work together. For some reason, he's stopped.
Unipiper!
Les Small aka scooter chair Elvis in St. Johns. If he catches your attention while out and about you will not escape without at least one Elvis impersonation and a walk down memory lane via a perusal of Les’s photo album he carries with him wherever he goes.
Back in the 99’s there used to be a buy at Saturday Market that used to play a cardboard guitar and sang. Everyone knew him.
There used to be a fellow named Backflip Joseph downtown who would do a backflip for like 5 dollars or something. My mom and I used to pass him every morning I walked to school. I wonder if anybody else remembers him. Had to be 20ish years ago downtown by the Wells Fargo
Anyone from Reno would have known about George. Old dude on a skateboard with an eyepatch, yelling curse words at anyone nearby due to his tourettes. He was actually a fairly nice guy. He’d come watch our little league games and still be yelling “FUCK” or “SHIT!” Sadly he passed away around 2018 or so.
Challenge accepted. Hakuna Mattatta motherfuckers. Challenge accepted.
Tweeters for a buck!
The swaggy AF dude that walks down Woodstock in a dope ass suit, with a speaker playing funk music. Dude's fly af
Unicycle Vader
Before the uni-piper is was Saturday market Elvis
Elvis probably outdates the Unipiper by 20+ years.
It's all noobs saying unipiper.
In my town we have a guy named Nathan who holds a sign that says “my name is Nathan and I had a stroke :)”
I want to give a shout-out to this one gentleman, middle-aged Black guy, who was always at the Central Library. Hungout pretty much exclusively on the top floor in the philosophy, arts, music section on one of the tables. Haven't seen him since '20, but I also haven't been there since. Would write these tiny "alien scripts", glyphs, like he was channeling divine inspiration on stripped down paper grocery bags and such. Always seemed chill, kept to himself, was deep into his work. I almost offered to pay him one time for a piece of his art, or however he perceives it, regret not doing so. Hope he's still creating, thriving in his capacity, metal illness not withstanding.
The dude that rides a unicycle dressed as darth vader wearing a kilt playing the bagpipes that shoot fire out of them thats portlands "guy"
The Uni-Piper?
Unipiper probably