World Famous Bushman

Who is World Famous Bushman?

David Johnson, also known as the World Famous Bushman, is a homeless man who has been scaring passers-by along Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco since 1980. Johnson hides motionless behind some eucalyptus branches and waits for unsuspecting people to wander by. When they approach, he shakes the bush towards the unsuspecting tourists and startles them, sometimes making gruff "oogah-boogah" noises, while in-the-know observers giggle. Crowds gather to watch him work, often including those he has previously scared. The Bushman typically operates toward the western end of the Wharf, well to the west of the Grotto.

Crowds usually watch Johnson across the street from where he usually sits, to see him entertain people.

In a "good year", Johnson claims to earn $60,000. However, he cited the same figure to one of his victims in 1992. At one point, he employed a bodyguard to protect himself against attacks by the unamused, distract his targets, and to alert him to the approach of elderly people so he could avoid scaring them.

The police have received a number of complaints about the Bushman, and Fisherman's Wharf merchants have tried to shut him down. In 2004, he was charged with four misdemeanors, but a jury cleared him. The District Attorney subsequently dropped several remaining public nuisance complaints.