David Zancai
Encyclopedia
David Zancai is a street entertainer
Busking
Street performance or busking is the practice of performing in public places, for gratuities, which are generally in the form of money and edibles...

 from Toronto, Ontario, in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. Zancai is known for his character Zanta: a modified Santa Claus
Santa Claus
Santa Claus is a folklore figure in various cultures who distributes gifts to children, normally on Christmas Eve. Each name is a variation of Saint Nicholas, but refers to Santa Claus...

 who travels the streets of downtown Toronto
Downtown Toronto
Downtown Toronto is the central business district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is approximately bounded by Bloor Street to the north, Lake Ontario to the south, the Don River to the east, and Bathurst Street to the west...

 doing pushups and shouting "yes yes yes" and "Merry Christmess". His costume consists of nothing but shorts, boots, and a red-and-white Santa hat, even during Toronto's winters. He claims to perform this routine every day of the year except Christmas Day, and estimates he does 2,000 to 3,000 pushups per day. Zancai receives mixed responses to his Zanta character, and has been banned from several public areas around Toronto, including the Toronto Transit Commission
Toronto Transit Commission
-Island Ferry:The ferry service to the Toronto Islands was operated by the TTC from 1927 until 1962, when it was transferred to the Metro Parks and Culture department. Since 1998, the ferry service is run by Toronto Parks and Recreation.-Gray Coach:...

.

Citytv Toronto

For his first appearance as Zanta, Zancai showed up behind the street window of the CHUM-City Building
CHUM-City Building
299 Queen Street West, also known as Bell Media Queen Street, is an office and studio complex located at the intersection of Queen Street West and John Street in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Currently the corporate head office of Bell Media the building previously served as the headquarters...

 and began performing. As a result of Citytv using streetscapes as backdrop to live news programming, Zancai was frequently seen in the background of the morning news and entertainment program Breakfast Television
Breakfast Television
Breakfast Television is a Canadian morning news and entertainment program which airs on the Citytv stations . Each station produces its own local edition of Breakfast Television....

. Reportedly aggravated by Zancai's presence, CHUM
CHUM
CHUM may refer to:* The former CHUM Radio division now known as Bell Media Radio* CHUM , a Toronto AM station* CHUM-FM, a Toronto FM station...

 filed a number of complaints which resulted in Zancai being banned from the area of the building. He violated this order, and as a result police banned him from the area south of College St. to King St., and from Yonge over to Spadina Ave.

Since that time, Zancai has made appearances on Breakfast Television and claims to have a verbal agreement allowing him to make regular appearances on the television series Speakers' Corner.
Speakers' Corner (TV series)
Speakers' Corner was a television series which aired weekly on Citytv and A stations in Canada, featuring numerous unscripted short segments on a variety of topics as recorded by members of the general public such as rants, big-ups, shoutouts, jokes, music performance, etc. After the video was...


Documentaries

Zancai has been the subject of two amateur documentary films. In October 2005, graphic artists Muckney Tipping and Pietro Gagliano filmed Zancai describing his life events and motivation to become known worldwide.

Other appearances

  • Zancai has attended several Christmas parades, pointing out that "Santa's at the back, while Zanta's at the front."
  • Zancai guest-starred in Episode 305 of Showcase Television
    Showcase Television
    Showcase is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel owned by Shaw Media. Showcase is a predominantly fiction-based service centred around scripted television series and films....

    's Kenny vs. Spenny
    Kenny vs. Spenny
    Kenny vs. Spenny is a Canadian comedy reality television series about Kenny Hotz and Spencer Rice, who face each other in various competitions. The loser of the episode must perform an act of humiliation, usually selected by the winner. Hotz and Rice helped create the series, and it was typically...

    as a replacement for Spencer Rice
    Spencer Rice
    Spencer "Spenny" Nolan Rice is a Canadian writer, director, producer, and comedian. He was the co-star of Kenny vs. Spenny along with Kenny Hotz.-Personal life:...

    ; Rice claimed he was suffering a nervous breakdown during the episode's production.
  • Zanta has followed actress Penélope Cruz
    Penélope Cruz
    Penélope Cruz Sánchez is a Spanish actress. Signed by an agent at age 15, she made her acting debut at 16 on television and her feature film debut the following year in Jamón, jamón , to critical acclaim...

     around Yorkville
    Yorkville, Toronto
    Yorkville is a district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, well known for its shopping. It is a former village, annexed by the City of Toronto. It is roughly bounded by Bloor Street to the south, Davenport Road to the north, Yonge Street to the east and Avenue Road to the west, and is considered part of...

    , trying to get in a photo during the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival
    2006 Toronto International Film Festival
    The 2006 Toronto International Film Festival ran from September 7 to September 16, 2006. Opening the festival was Zacharias Kunuk and Norman Cohn's The Journals of Knud Rasmussen, a film that "explores the history of the Inuit people through the eyes of a father and daughter."In a press release...

    . He finally was photographed with Cruz and Michael Keaton
    Michael Keaton
    Michael John Douglas , better known by the stage name Michael Keaton, is an American actor known for his early comedic roles, most notably his performance as the title character of Tim Burton's Beetlejuice . Keaton is also famous for his dramatic portrayal of Bruce Wayne/Batman in Tim Burton's...

    .
  • Zanta is one of the many characters profiled in Jason Kieffer's comic book, "The Rabble of Downtown Toronto".
  • Jason Kieffer created a short story for Taddle Creek Magazine's Christmas 2009 issue called "Why, Zanta?...Why?..."; Kieffer is creating a full graphic novel about Zanta.

Reception

In 2005, Zancai was banned from the downtown core of Toronto following a number of complaints filed by CHUM
CHUM
CHUM may refer to:* The former CHUM Radio division now known as Bell Media Radio* CHUM , a Toronto AM station* CHUM-FM, a Toronto FM station...

, owner of Citytv
Citytv
Citytv is a Canadian English language television system owned and operated by Rogers Communications under its Rogers Broadcasting Ltd. division...

. Zancai's continued desire for fame and exposure resulted in at least one arrest on mischief charges. Zanta has claimed that on August 19, 2006, he was banned from the Exhibition Place
Exhibition Place
Exhibition Place is a mixed-use district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, by the shoreline of Lake Ontario, just west of downtown. The 197–acre area includes expo, trade, and banquet centres, theatre and music buildings, monuments, parkland, sports facilities, and a number of civic, provincial,...

 grounds, in particular the Canadian National Exhibition
Canadian National Exhibition
Canadian National Exhibition , also known as The Ex, is an annual event that takes place at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada during the 18 days leading up to and including Labour Day Monday. With an attendance of approximately 1.3 million visitors each season, it is Canada’s largest...

, after performing in the Farm, Food and Fun building. On November 17, 2006, 680 News radio reported Zancai had been banned by the Toronto Transit Commission
Toronto Transit Commission
-Island Ferry:The ferry service to the Toronto Islands was operated by the TTC from 1927 until 1962, when it was transferred to the Metro Parks and Culture department. Since 1998, the ferry service is run by Toronto Parks and Recreation.-Gray Coach:...

 from the city's buses, subways, and subway stations. Zancai is presently no longer allowed at the Toronto Street Festival, the Taste of the Danforth
Taste of the Danforth
Taste of the Danforth is a yearly festival held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in the Greektown area along Danforth Avenue for a period of three days in August, spawned from the Taste of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Started in 1994, it celebrates Greek food and culture every second...

, the St. Patrick's Day Parade or the Santa Claus Parade
Santa Claus parade
Santa Claus parades or Christmas pageants are parades held in some countries to celebrate the official opening of the Christmas season with the arrival of Santa Claus....

. He has also been banned from Old York Lane between Cumberland Street and Yorkville Avenue in Yorkville
Yorkville, Toronto
Yorkville is a district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, well known for its shopping. It is a former village, annexed by the City of Toronto. It is roughly bounded by Bloor Street to the south, Davenport Road to the north, Yonge Street to the east and Avenue Road to the west, and is considered part of...

, College Park
College Park (Toronto)
College Park is a shopping mall, residential and office complex located on the southwest corner of Yonge Street and College Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada...

, and Dundas Square
Dundas Square
Yonge-Dundas Square is a commercial junction and public square, situated at the southeast corner of the intersection of Yonge Street and Dundas Street East in Downtown Toronto...

.

In August 2006, Zancai received a provincial probation order stating that he is "not permitted on any TTC property or vehicle other than surface routes" for two years. Unofficially, Zancai's access to surface routes has also been suspended, with most bus drivers across the city refusing him access. Zancai is in the process of fighting the ban, with attorney handling his case pro-bono. Former TTC Chairman Adam Giambrone
Adam Giambrone
Adam Giambrone is a Canadian politician who was a Toronto City Councillor, representing the southern of two Davenport wards. Elected at 26, he remained the youngest member of Toronto council after re-election. He is also a former president of the federal New Democratic Party...

 acknowledged there is no specific TTC bylaw against doing push-ups on TTC property, but has defended the ban by stating that such behaviour may pose a "serious safety hazard".

Adam Vaughan
Adam Vaughan
Adam Vaughan is a councillor representing Ward 20 Trinity—Spadina in Toronto, Canada. For about 20 years, Vaughan worked as a political journalist and activist, most recently as the Political Specialist at Citytv/CP24. Before that, for ten years, he reported for CBLT in Toronto as a municipal...

, a former Citytv reporter and councillor for Trinity-Spadina, has stated that Zancai is "a much-loved character when you don't have to do work around him," but he is nonetheless "probably a public nuisance", and that some people understandably take issue with his behaviour. In an interview with the National Post, Vaughan stated: "Just because you have a right to freedom of speech doesn't mean you have a right to an audience. And when you impose yourself in a public space consistently and without much regard for whether other people can enjoy that public space, boundaries are broached." Zancai's lawyer has responded by saying that Zancai is "entitled to be as strange as he wants to be" and has defended his right to make use of public spaces for doing pushups.
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