Robert John Burck, aka the Naked Cowboy, was modeling for Playgirl magazine when he happened upon a simple formula for success: playing the guitar ... in his underwear. At first he performed in the streets of New York for free, just for the attention. After years of running up credit card debt, however, he realized he could make hundreds of dollars in tips a day and the stunt became a full-time gig.
Naked Ambition, a short documentary by Sofian Khan, follows Burck and his female counterpart, Cindy Fox, through a typical day in wintry Times Square. "I didn't know what to expect ... I was like, Oh my god, I can't even believe I'm standing out here in a bikini," Fox says, describing the first time she donned a star-spangled swimsuit and joined Burck's act. "They were so excited about the whole thing," Fox says of the crowd and women in particular, "so ... it kind of made me not have to worry so much about how I was singing or playing!"
For more work by Sofian Khan, visit https://vimeo.com/capitalk.
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