San Francisco Performer Paul Addis, Notorious For The Premature Burning of Burning Man, Commits Suicide

On Sunday we found out the tragic news that our friend Paul Addis had committed suicide at the BART Embarcadero Station in San Francisco on Saturday night. Paul was a local San Francisco performer I’ve known since the 1990s, who has produced many inspired local performances, including “Gonzo, A Brutal Chrysalis”, a brilliant one man show based on Hunter S. Thompson.

Paul is also notorious for being the man who set the Burning Man sculpture on fire at the 2007 event. He plead guilty to felony charges and was sentenced to prison. He was granted parole in 2008, returning to San Francisco to produce more shows, including Dystopian Veneer and More Human Than Human.

There’s more coverage of Paul’s death over on SFAppeal, SF Bay Guardian, SFGate, KTVU and Burners.me.

photos by Scott Beale