Stuart Davis, as you may already know, has been part of the Integral family for a very long time. So long, in fact, that Ken Wilber's very first published dialogue way back in 2003 was with Stu. There is a very good reason that Ken decided to feature Stu right out of the gate: he embodies the sort of raw, edgy, post-New Age vibe that itself defined the overall aesthetic of Integral Naked. Since then, Stuart has remained a vital part of the Integral community, and our Integral Life archives are full of special performances, dialogues, and comedy sketches that he has produced over the years.

While at one of our Integral Spiritual Experience events I was outside enjoying a wonderful late night/early morning discussion with Stuart and Michael Dowd. Michael made a really great observation:

"Stuart," he said, "you are what prevents Integral from being taken over by the New Age."

And it's true; there is a an undeniable vein of irreverence that cuts through Stuart's work—irreverent, but never cynical, inauthentic, or insincere. Stu embodies a deeply Tantric humor that leaves no stone unturned, no taboo untouched, and no sacred cow unskewered. Stuart offers nothing less than a full-chakra embrace of the absurdity of existence, from body fluids to Brahman—which can be a bit unnerving for those who prefer to look only at the "love and light" aspects of incarnation, or for those who take their spiritual identities and idolatries just a little bit too seriously. For these reasons, it can be fun to think of Stuart as our "Integral Gargoyle". I like to imagine him perched above the entrance to the Integral temple, keeping the New Age riffraff at bay.

However, as Stuart is himself somewhat of a living paradox, our favorite gargoyle is simultaneously one of our greatest ambassadors of Integral consciousness, working tirelessly to bring more Integral awareness into a cultural mainstream that has existed in a vacuum of irony, cynicism, and self-referential deconstruction for way too long.

Which brings us to Sex, God, Rock n' Roll. SGRR is sort of a mashup of Saturday Night Live sketch comedy, Daily Show news reports, and brilliant standup comedy monologues, all with a decidedly Integral twist. Stu has assembled some incredible talent—not to mention an incredibly talented production team—and together they have put together one of the most bizarre, unique, and consistently hilarious programs on television.

"I'm gonna get you pregnant!" Stuart loves to exclaim at his performances. In this case, it is pop culture itself that's getting knocked up. And there is no postmodern politically-correct prophylactic that can possibly stop it from happening.

Written by Corey W. deVos