Entertainer, author and pop-culture expert Charles Phoenix has been known for his live, hilarious Retro Slide Show performances, fun-filled School Bus Field Trip Tours, crazy kitchen experiments and colorful coffee table books. Now he will be known for leading the notorious Doo Dah Parade, alter-ego to the Tournament of Roses, as its 2009 Grand Marshal.

The parade will make its way down Colorado Boulevard in the historic Old Pasadena District on Sunday, January 18th, stepping off at 11:30am. Parade organizers feel that Phoenix is a perfect match for an event that’s widely known as a send-up of convention and social norms. Doo Dah head Tom Coston says, “Charles is simply hilarious, graciously wicked and a truly artistic spirit—that spells Doo Dah.”

The Grand Marshal’s entourage will also be pure Charles Phoenix. He will be traveling the parade route standing on the tailgate of a 1964 Ford station wagon that was special ordered by the Templton, California Fire Department. It’s fire engine red, complete with a siren on top and will be towing a vintage matching travel trailer trailed by dozens of champion roller skaters. The spectacle is everything!

The 32nd Occasional Doo Dah Parade will celebrate the post-holiday season in its typically loud, irreverent style. Once a grassroots event begun in 1978, Doo Dah soon gained national recognition as the twisted sister to Pasadena’s ‘other parade’, featuring a woolly range of mischiefs, grounded superheroes, political pundits, homegrown satirists, art car inventors, and other bohemian frolickers. This year’s Grand Marshal follows in the footsteps of anti-consumer evangelist Reverend Billy, performing artists Culture Clash, rock-a-billy king Ray Campi, novelty DJ Dr. Demento, singer-songwriter Ian Whitcomb and Doo Dah’s signature Synchronized Briefcase Marching Drill Team.

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