Zanta Q&A

A shorter version of this appeared in the Post yesterday. Go me! And props to Dov for taking the photo.

With the film fest in town, there’s a good chance you’ll run into some celebrities this weekend. Ethan Hawke. Jennifer Lopez. Spike Lee. Yoko Ono. David Zancai? Zancai, a.k.a. Zanta, is our own local celeb of sorts. You’ve probably seen him on the Toronto streets. He’s hard to miss. He’s the tanned, beefy, half-naked guy in the Santa hat doing push-ups all over the city while howling his very own version of “Ho Ho Ho” — “Yes Yes Yes.”

Zancai became Zanta on December 31, 2004 when he appeared at a Toronto family court in a Santa hat to fight for custody of his baby daughter. Because the former contractor hadn’t seen his daughter on Christmas, he decided to wear the hat until he brought her home. He hasn’t taken it off since.

At first, you would see him “performing” on the subways and in the club district. But, about a year ago, when he was banned from the downtown core for appearing in the background of one too many newscasts, the North York-born Zanta started hanging out in posh Yorkville instead. He writes “Google me” and “www.torontozanta.ca” on the classy Cumberland sidewalks in colourful chalk, flexing his muscles for all passers-by. Wikipedia even has an entry on him! Here, he talks frantically about push-ups, the fuzz and his plans for the future.

What’s with the outfit, man?
I’m flipping through the TV stations and all of a sudden something hits me. Jerry Springer, Ricki Lake, Montel Williams, all these talk shows. I thought, “There is no one out there in the world wearing a red Santa Claus hat and shorts and boots and does push-ups all over the city.” So off I went, Yonge, Queen, King, Front, John. I figured, if someone’s going to see me outside, with no shirt in a snow storm, when it’s raining outside or freezing ass cold, they’re gonna look at me and say, “Hey, I gotta check that guy out.” Rrrr-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta. There is no one else in the world who does something like this. I can finally leave my mark here on this earth. Yes yes yes rrrrr. Not only world fame — this here is gonna put me in the history books.

I’ve seen you do push-ups all over the city. How come?
I’ve been on compensation since April 2000 when I fell 25 feet and landed on my back into a staircase. I spent 23 days in a coma, 17 days on life support, three-and-a-half months in a walker and 10 months in a body brace. When I could walk again, I started doing push-ups at the gym. Then I did them in the most wildest of places — on cabs, mailboxes, poles, in the middle of intersections. Anywhere where someone is gonna look. I usually do about 2,000 to 3,000 on a typical day, and I can do them for maybe 15, 20 minutes non-stop. But no matter how many I do, when I finish my show, someone’s got to tell someone else. They just can’t keep it to themselves. Yes yes yes — rrrrr.

What are those strange noises you’re making?
That’s all hydrolics — rrrrrr. When I started doing push-ups, I realized, “You know what, I hate doing push-ups.” But I figured I’m just gonna do it. Don’t stop, don’t stop, something’s gotta give. So as I was pushing harder and harder — uhhh uhhh — and then slowly it became rrrrrr rrrrrr — and then started to evolve into hydrolics — aaarrrrrrrrrr aaarrrrrrrrrr.

Why do you think people like you?
People don’t like me. They love me. Yes, all ages love Zanta. Straight, gay — everything loves Zanta. Male, female, whatever. Because I’m the fucking man — da dat dat da da. This character is wild.

What’s your next move?
I’m on my last leg in Yorkville. I figure before I get killed I better back outta here. I’m banned from Yorkville’s historical laneway and the police harass me all the time. I’m gonna go, but it’s time to boost it up to the next level. This fall I’ll be on Kenny vs. Spenny on Showcase. The First Annual Zanta Parade will hit the streets in 2007 and I’ll have people flying in from all over the world. I got a lot of fans. And now that my website is up and running, I’ve had about 18,000 hits already. Now the cops are going to find out that all this time they’ve been harassing me, my fans have been watching all along.

(A police car drives by)
I see a cop car right there, and I’m telling you, the chills I get down my back when I see a cop car. So we were together for the last couple of hours here, OK? I feel like they’re going to grab my ass and arrest me for nothing because the film festival is around.

Were you at the film festival last year?
What month are we in? Oh, I was in jail last September. They threw me in for harassment of my ex. My lawyer is yelling at me, “No more Zanta. You gotta stop the Zanta thing.” I fired him. I told the judge, “Mama, if you were to Google search Toronto Zanta, you’d see so many hits out there. I’ve made myself somewhat of a local celebrity in Toronto, y’know?” She puts on a smile on her face and says, “I realize that, yes yes yes.”

What about all these other celebrities who are going to be invading your turf for the next week?
These are little small boys. Those there are stars. See, me, I’m a character. I’m an actual living character, yes yes yes.