Jeffrey Wilson-Boykin, a comedian and street performer, and his partner work next to the Santa Monica Pier. (L.A. Material / Hayes Davenport)
THE MOST FAMOUS COMEDIAN IN SANTA MONICA works outdoors. He’s not up on a stage — instead he’s often sitting in a folding chair, surrounded by a ring of orange pylons, luggage, and caution tape. But he’s heard by thousands of people every time he performs.
Jeffrey Wilson-Boykin, a street performer, sets up multiple times a week at Ocean Ave and Colorado Ave, one of the most tourist-trafficked intersections in Southern California. Equipped with a mic, an amplifier, and hours of continuous riffing, he’s become a widely known presence in the beachside community — and also a widely unpopular one.
Street performer tension in Santa Monica is nothing new. In 1999, in response to “unmanageable” crowds and “nasty squabbles between entertainers,” the city went so far as to impose new rules on performers at the pier and on the Third Street Promenade, forcing them to move 120 feet every two hours. “Welcome to the Soviet Union,” a henna tattooer and chalk artist told the L.A. Times in response.
But the sheer number of episodes (and the tonnage of discourse) associated with Wilson-Boykin is unique. In response to his insult-heavy, racially charged material, his amplified volume, and several incidents that led to police being called — including multiple pepper-sprayings — there’s a growing campaign in Santa Monica to put an end to his performances. But efforts by private citizens to move Wilson-Boykin away from the pier have so far been completely unsuccessful, and the comedian’s most vocal opponent says that the Santa Monica Police Department has abdicated its responsibility to intervene.
The beachside drama repeats what has become a familiar narrative in Los Angeles — residents clashing over the use of public space as law enforcement maintains distance. Now, as some grow frustrated with what they perceive to be an impotent police response and Wilson-Boykin steadfastly defends his constitutional right to perform, the tension at one of L.A.’s most prominent attractions may be reaching a breaking point.
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