Skanky Claus is coming to town

Radio, as a medium, has long been fertile ground for alter-egos. Perhaps it’s the relative anonymity of a solo voice in the night wafting over our valley floor that inspires the advent of persona. Or, as Shreveport-based Bob Smith learned in the ‘60s, a new identity can breed commercial success, as when he took the name Wolfman Jack. Admittedly, “Skanky the Clown” doesn’t have the same kind of je ne sais quoi as Smith’s nom d’air, but that doesn’t concern KSVY radio host Brettt Roncelli. And no, the extra T in his name is not a typo – it’s Roncelli’s brand differentiator, apropos since he dubbed his show “Triple T Left Coast,” which airs 10 p.m. to midnight on Thursdays on KSVY 91.3 Sonoma.
Next Thursday, however, Roncelli cedes command of the airwaves to Skanky, his shape-shifting “polymorph” of a persona, who, in this incarnation, will be “Skanky Claus” for Roncelli’s “Fourth Annual Anti-X-mas Special.”
Donned in white pancake makeup and a slash of grease paint across his mouth, Skanky makes an aesthetic, if nightmarish, nod to The Crow, The Joker and Beetlejuice.
Skanky has made prior appearances in Sonoma, both on-air and off. Skanky, as “Uncle Skanky,” raised more than eyebrows at the last Fourth of July parade when he shepherded a freight truck adapted into a rolling strip club replete with scantily-clad dancers and stripper poles. Of course, Roncelli, as Skanky, enjoyed the ire raised amongst conservative townsfolk. Ditto “El Skanko,” who appeared at a Cinco De Mayo celebration.
Originally, Roncelli set out to “spread the joy of electronic transcendental music” through his show. “Unfortunately, the majority of the people are already asleep by the time I come on,” he laughed. “The ones that have been awake have definitely had their space shifted.”
Roncelli will shift space again when he lets his Skanky persona loose on-air on Thursday. At 10:30 p.m., Roncelli, as Skanky, will lead a procession of pranksters from Steiner’s Tavern on First Street West to the historic Sonoma Plaza for some yuletide mischief. Everyone is welcome.
“Skanky is very irreverent and likes to poke fun at things that shouldn’t be poked fun at. Skanky Claus takes down the big guy himself,” says Roncelli of the trickster figure. “Skanky doesn’t fit into much well, including Santa’s outfit.”
Skanky and his brood will carol, carouse and distribute “questionable” gifts throughout their evening of merriment.
“We’ve had lots of fun with the ‘gifting’ idea, which we take very seriously,” explained Roncelli, who, with his group of merry-makers, has rewritten Christmas carols (or “scarols”) to better fit the clown’s insensitive bent, such as “Silent Wife” and “And Come All Ye Drinkers.”
“We encourage people to write their own Christmas carols and print them up to share around. No one has done a really good ‘Dreidel, dreidel, dreidel,’ yet,” said Roncelli, who sees it as part of his mission to return the Christmas holiday to its pagan roots.
“The pagan celebration of the Solstice was usurped,” explained Roncelli. “We’re totally reclaiming it. We’re putting the ‘Satan’ back in ‘Santa.’”