Talen moved to New York City in the mid-1990s, in the throes of a self-described midlife crisis.

FORBES: Reverend Billy and His Crusade Against Consumerism

Talen lives in Brooklyn with his wife, Savitri D, who directs his shows.

FORBES: Reverend Billy and His Crusade Against Consumerism

Talen was out of costume, but still in character, his hair deflated somewhat without the hair spray, but still formidable.

FORBES: Reverend Billy and His Crusade Against Consumerism

During our hour-and-half long interview, Talen frequently elevated the volume of his voice preacher-like to a booming crescendo when coming to a point.

FORBES: Reverend Billy and His Crusade Against Consumerism

Here, with the guidance of an actual cleric named Sidney Lanier, Talen dreamed up the character of a street preacher named Reverend Billy.

FORBES: Reverend Billy and His Crusade Against Consumerism

"I can't get too excited about this Vegas thing, " says Emily Talen, a professor of urban and regional planning at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Reverend Billy is the stage persona created by a man named Bill Talen, 60, who grew up in a strict Dutch Calvinist household in the Middle West.

FORBES: Reverend Billy and His Crusade Against Consumerism

Talen had a glass of white wine.

FORBES: Reverend Billy and His Crusade Against Consumerism