Norbert Yancy

«My name is Jimmy. Gimme, gimme!» Made me smile. Thank you, Norbert.

A San Francisco standard. Norbert has been performing and making folks happy for as long as I remember. Even back to the days I heard his booming voice and singing near the Old Woolworth’s at Market St. Glad he is still playing and entertaining folks from around the planet. Rock on Norbert.

Guaranteed to improve your mood. He can make anyone smile as they walk by. Has been doing this for 20+ years and I’ve seen him a few times a year for all that time — and he never fails to bring a smile to my face. Make the time to see him if you can… and «give him some green so he can get a limousine»!

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Gavin Newsom, David Michael Hasselhof, Gilbert Gottfried, Lech Walesa, Jay Leno, Telly Savalas, Luciano Pavarotti, Spanish tenor Placido Domingo, German singer Roland Kaiser, the social pages of Polish newspaper Kolner Stadtanzeiger and The Sharron Osborne Show all have something in common: San Francisco’s own Mr. Norbert «Dynamite» Yancy has posed with them, preformed with them, or been featured in them.
When I first saw Norbert with his guitar working the tourists from his usual perch on the corner of Beach and Larkin, right by the steps up to Ghiradelli Square at Fisherman’s Wharf, my cynical side kicked in. I briskly walked by the man and his wall of clippings and photos of himself with celebrities. My mistake. If you see him stop and listen, maybe talk for a bit and take a close look at his memorabilia. You’ll see he lives up to his self-​billing of «complete entertainer and linguist.»
An unknown known performer, Norbert’s signature is a black hat, blue sweater, unwavering cheer and an endless supply of rhymes. Most people who claim to speak 20 languages push my BS detector far into the red but having chatted with him in Japanese and over the years watched him speak German, Italian and a handful of other languages I’m inclined to believe it. Here’s a blog post showing him singing a request in Farsi
. Got a song you want to hear? English or otherwise, I’m sure he’ll be happy to oblige.
Norbert is one of the hidden treasures that makes San Francisco wonderful. When I snapped the picture for this review Norbert’s comment was «I’m losing my composure from over exposure.» I don’t think that’s really the case yet, but next time you are thinking of taking a walk on a lazy afternoon, head down towards Fisherman’s Wharf and enjoy his show. You’ll be glad you did.