Bill Talen,
a.k.a "Reverend Billy"
Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping Choir
"The collar is fake, but the calling is real."
- Village Voice
In the persona of a fundamentalist preacher, New York-based performance artist and activist Bill Talen (a.k.a. "Reverend Billy") began delivering his anti-consumerist, anti-corporate message on the sidewalks of Times Square. Since then, his act grew in popularity, and a movement was born. He now leads The Church of Stop Shopping, regularly performing in lively revivalist-style meetings with a full choir and live band at New York's Highline Ballroom, as well as touring internationally. The Church's antics, including conducting an exorcism in front of Wal-Mart's headquarters, made them the stars of the Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me, 30 Days) documentary What Would Jesus Buy?
Today, his message resonates more than ever, and the bleach-blond, pompadoured "Reverend" is running as the Green Party's mayoral candidate for the City of New York.
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