Manny The Hippie

Letterman's Hippie Finds Jail a Real Bummer

Torri Minton, Chronicle Staff Writer

Jail is schwag, man.

The other night, said Manny the Hippie, he was trying to call his girlfriend from the San Francisco City Jail when he got jumped by a couple of very big inmates who wanted to use the phone.

It didn't hurt much, Manny said yesterday. But look, he said, pulling his curly hair back to show the red spots above his eyebrows. ``They were kicking my a--, man.''

Manny, aka Micah Papp, is not supposed to be famous this way, wearing orange jail clothes, including orange socks and orange underwear, and talking to the press all day long, from behind bars.

Manny, 20, is supposed to be the famous hippie movie reviewer discovered by David Letterman's ``Late Show'' in April, the month before the CBS program filmed in San Francisco.

He is supposed to be the long- haired blond guy in the purple hat who taught Letterman how to talk hippie. He is supposed to be the guy who taught America to say ``schwag'' (bad) and ``dank'' (good) and ``diggety-dank'' (really good). That is how he rates his movies.

But the Dayton, Ohio, police discovered Manny, too, and sent out a warrant for his arrest. Micah Papp was not supposed to leave Ohio, they said, because he was on probation for selling pot. Manny said yesterday that, yes, he sold an eighth of an ounce to an undercover police officer two years ago, and that he spent 2 1/2 months in jail.

Now he is waiting for the Ohio police to decide whether they want him to come back.

Being in jail, ``it's schwag, man,'' said Manny, looking at his fingernails. ``But I'm not trying to be a role model. I don't want kids to get the idea, `Let's go to jail, it's cool, yeah, Manny's in there.' ''

Manny, who was sleeping in Buena Vista Park when Letterman discovered him, admits that he used to sell a little bit of marijuana now and then.

``I smoke my ganja. I hang out, talk to tourists, ride my bike around.'' After Letterman, he even smoked pot on a yacht, and before going on TV.

But Letterman was wise, said Manny, who figures he's been on the show about 20 times. ``Whenever I smoke pot and do the show, he knows.'' Once, he said, he was so high when reviewing Mission Impossible that ``I bombed.''

``I learned I don't want to smoke pot when I go to work,'' said Manny, patting his hair. ``It just makes me stupid.''

After Letterman, Manny appeared on KBBG radio in San Francisco. He tried out for a Mike Meyers movie. He found an agent.

He also found a place to live, where he has five roommates and pays $370 a month and it's totally dank. He also bought a four speakers for $15 a pair at the Goodwill.

``I'm trying to be a professional amateur comedian,'' Manny said. ``But it's not working . . .

But seriously, he said, ``I'm not a bad person. I've done stupid stuff in my life. Now I'm gonna pay for it.''

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