Max Quimby: My friends introduced me to Denton and I started school here three years ago. I am from Austin originally, and still spend quite a lot of time there.



Rumors have circulated as to why you balance plants on your head. Some say it’s because of a scoliosis diagnosis, and others say you’re raising money for different causes. What's the deal?

Haha! I’ve heard all of these rumors and they make me laugh so much because I think this is people’s way of putting what I do into a box. This is the only thing that makes sense to them. They can’t fathom that I could be doing this for my own enjoyment, and to make people smile! I think that when I balance things on my head and walk around, it can make people uncomfortable and sometimes even angry. I try not to focus on that though because I started doing this when I was a little kid to make people laugh, and I realized I was actually good at it.



What made you choose potted plants?

I love puns. I am possessed by the spirit of Attila the Pun. My grandmother got me into gardening before I came out here, and I’d always been able to balance things, so I couldn’t resist. My self-appointed title is “Your Friendly Neighborhood Pothead.”



How do people tend to react to seeing you walking to class with a potted plant on your head?



There are three different kinds of reactions. There are people who enjoy it and they smile with it. I like those people. Then there are the people who ignore me, and I think that’s kind of funny. Like they’ll go out of their way to ignore me. And the last ones are the people who react negatively. Like one time I got assassinated. These people ran by, smacked a plant off my head, and kept running. And they were filming it too! They were crazy. Yeah, it was from "insert fraternity here" [Editor's Note: This is an actual quote. We aren't omitting anything.] so I have a bit of a grudge against them.



It also unnerves me when people take pictures without me knowing and post them online. One person took a picture right behind me and posted it to Reddit with the title “My girlfriend says this guy walks around her campus with this plant on his head so ‘people will talk to him’.” It made the front page of Reddit, which led to some interesting (though mostly negative) comments. It just feels weird that someone can get so close and I won’t even know it, especially because I’ve actually never turned down a picture or the chance to talk to someone.