Steve McAllister’s “Get The Bunk Out Tour” • Friday, Aug. 19, 8 p.m.
Tickets: $10 general • $5 Students (Ages 13+)Click HERE to Become a Member
VIDEO
Join S teve McAllist er as he kicks off his “Get The Bunk Out Tour”. This one-man show is based on the wit and wisdom of Will Rogers. The majority of the laugh-filled show is comprised of the words Will used exactly as he wrote them, but as Will was also known as the “Poet Lariat”, Steve has also infused the performance with original poetry and songs that echo his original sentiments.
In 1928, Life magazine heralded the launch of the Anti-Bunk Party and nominated humorist Will Rogers as their presidential candidate. Will’s first official campaign promise was that if he were elected, he would resign. Yet before his run as the “bunkless candidate” came to an end, he had gained the support of such prominent people as Babe Ruth, Amelia Earhart, and Henry Ford, with Ford’s assertion that the Anti-Bunk campaign was “a serious attempt to restore American common sense to American politics.”
On election day, although he received no electoral votes, Rogers declared victory and effectively resigned. After the election, he said, “We went into this campaign to drive the Bunk out of politics. But our experiment, while noble in motive, was a failure.” He concluded: “the thing that stopped our party is that we are a hundred years ahead of times.”
The Anti-Bunk Party is due for a revival, and America would do well to reconsider what Will Rogers had to say about the state of our union a century ago and how that should guide us moving forward.
Paid for in part by Sarasota County Tourist Development Tax revenues