An Austin Original

Austin's original weirdo Crazy Carl Hickerson gets his own documentary

Crazy Carl Hickerson is an Austin original. If you’ve walked by Esther's Follies on an early weekend evening, you’ve no doubt taken in the unexpected site of Carl spinning chrysanthemums in his palm and flashing his man-boobs outside the theater’s giant window.

Known for years as an Austin institution of weird, Crazy Carl has also had an effect on local politics despite never holding office. And a new film from local production company Beef and Pie, Crazy Carl and His Man-Boobs: An Austin Love Story— screening at Austin Film Festival this Saturday — explores this legendary personality and the last remaining bastion of weirdo hippie Austin.

Crazy Carl (actually his legal name) became well known as an Austin personality during the city’s wild hippie days in the late-1960s, and it’s hard to find an aspect of the city’s culture from the period that he hasn’t touched. Whether it was Eeyore’s Birthday Party, selling sandwiches on the Drag or swimming naked at Hippie Hollow, Carl partook in it all.

And as much as Crazy Carl and his Man-Boobs is about the man himself, this excellent documentary is secretly an unofficial history of "Weird Austin." It covers the heady hippie days of the city as a countercultural mecca from the late '60s through the mid-1990s.

The documentary includes interviews from several Austin politicians, including former Mayor Will Wynn, former Austin City Council members Max Nofziger and Daryl Slusher, as well as mainstays of the Austin performance scene including Kerry Awn, Shannon Sedwick and Michael Shelton of Esther’s Follies.

Crazy Carl ran for city office 10 times from the '70s through the '90s, inspiring others outside the mainstream, like Max Nofziger, to run and win. As director Mike Woolf explains, “When Carl threw himself into the ring of local politics, it had a massive ripple effect.” Nofziger credits Crazy Carl with making him realize he could run at all. Of course, Crazy Carl never actually voted for himself, and his funny, self-aware sound bites were tongue-in-cheek enough to make a person wonder if his campaign was an elaborate performance, a reminder that the city shouldn’t take itself too seriously. As Esther’s Follies’ Shannon Sedwick explains, “He likes to be satirical.”

It’s clear from his funny credentials (first on the list: contortionist) that Crazy Carl knew how to stand out and make voters crack a smile, but the issues he ran on reveal someone with strong ideas for a better city. Some of those have since been implemented, like single-member city council districts and finishing the hike and bike trail. Crazy Carl was certainly decades ahead of his time.

So where do the man-boobs come in? In more recent years, Hickerson started showing up at Esther’s Follies and performing outside their giant windows overlooking Sixth Street. But how does one stand out when the whole city that now — thanks in part to Crazy Carl — prides itself on being weird? Well, Crazy Carl grew out his man-boobs. He's not transgender; he just loves breasts. And he also noticed that they got a reaction from crowds.

Woolf hopes the documentary helps people better understand Austin, so he (along with his co-director Andrew Yates and the Beef and Pie team) is launching a K ickstarter project to help get the film released publicly online. All the funds raised will go toward music licenses for the film’s soundtrack.

“It’s 100 percent a labor of love,” Woolf says. His hope is that all Austin newcomers will watch Crazy Carl and his Man-Boobs and gain a better sense of the man as well as the wonderful city he helped shape. Because without Crazy Carl, the city we know and love might not be what it is today.

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Crazy Carl and his Man-Boobs screens Saturday at 2 pm at the Rollins Theatre as part of the Austin Film Festival.

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High Score

Austin named the nation's pickleball capital in industry report

Photo by Henry Selis Photo

Other Racquet Social Club is back after city woes.

It's no secret that Austinites love pickleball. A new study proves just how much by ranking Austin the No. 1 city for pickleball in the whole country. Dallas and Houston also made the top 10 at Nos. 3 and 8, respectively.

The report was published by TeachMe.To, an online marketplace for learning sports (and sometimes music) from private instructors. It used data from its own platform, USA Pickleball, Places2Play, local pickleball associations, and more. It also referred to the Sports and Fitness Industry Association (SFIA), which named pickleball the fastest-growing sport in America, with a growth rate of 223.5 percent over three years.

Similarly, TeachMe.To ranked Austin as the fastest-growing city for pickleball, and citing this as the main reason for the overall title of "the nation's pickleball capital."

It name-checked the Austin Metro Pickleball Association (AMPA) — with approximately 3,000-3,500 members — and the Austin Pickleball League (APL), estimating that overall, "15,000-20,000 people play pickleball at least occasionally in the greater Austin area." About half of those players — about 8,000-10,000 people — play at least twice a month.

The report did not include gender data on Austin, specifically, but it did note that not only are two-thirds of pickleball players female; women's involvement in the sport is also growing 50 percent faster than men's.

New courts everywhere
This probably isn't a surprise to people who have noticed the number of courts opened around Austin in recent years. By 2024, TeachMe.To's data shows 32 dedicated courts in Austin, and thanks to with a utility rate of 92 percent it doesn't look like that'll be slowing down.

In the summer of 2023, the online booking platform Swimply noticed how many pickleball courts there were in Austin compared to such great demand, and added courts to its service. In fall 2023 and summer 2024, at least two important developments expanded that availability: Other Racquet Social Club opened as a friendly, country club-like neighborhood option, and national chain The Picklr announced it's bringing five locations to Austin and Round Rock.

Perhaps because Austin is such a food-obsessed city, there seems to be some growing opportunity for food and beverage hospitality around pickleball, too. Other Racquet recently started hosting the Bill's Dips food truck, a spinoff of the popular downtown restaurant Bill's Oyster; and a pair of bars with pickleball courts, Drifters Social Coffee & Cocktails and The Pickle Pub, also opened in South Austin this year, with strong online ratings already.

The trend has even reached into real estate (see this cute house with its own pickleball court) and inspired athletes to introduce similar sports to the local market, as in the case of the padel club Paddle39. TeachMe.To's report also mentioned tech companies adding pickleball to their campuses.

Aside from growth, the study also considered lesson activity (including information about teacher availability and diversity of clinic offerings), infrastructure, community vitality, the tournament scene.

Austin had the highest concentration of all the cities of players under 40 (65 percent), as well as the highest share of national lesson bookings. At 16.90 percent, that means about one in six of the pickleball lessons contracted through this platform were in Austin. Lesson demand, the report says, is growing 125 percent year-over-year.

Elsewhere in Texas
Dallas was No. 3 thanks in part to its "central location" according to the report.

"The city's 45 dedicated courts and 85 [percent] public accessibility rate have fostered one of the most active competitive scenes in the country, with 8,500 registered league players," it says. "The combination of strong tournament presence, extensive infrastructure, and a 112% growth in lesson bookings solidifies Dallas as a powerhouse in the national pickleball landscape."

Houston made No. 8 with an emphasis on integrating pickleball with other sports.

"The city's 22 dedicated courts have seen a 92% increase in lesson bookings, driven by innovative programming that includes the nation's first corporate league system," it says. "Houston's success in integrating pickleball into existing sports infrastructure while maintaining 72% year-round utilization demonstrates a sustainable model for rapid growth."

Overall predictions
After laying out data about the top cities in pickleball, the report made some predictions. As the Austin newcomer mentioned above believes, the report also thinks padel is the next big thing. It also guesses more cities will act like Houston by focusing on hybrid facilities.

It also expects to see an expanded professional circuit and mainstream coverage, more technology used on the court, a rise in the prevalence of young players, and more opportunities in corporate wellness and real estate. "Dedicated pickleball facilities will become as common as swimming pools in luxury developments," it says. Texans will be the judge of that one.

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