THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Like many people, Eddie Clift Burga digs and digs every day at his job, without ever seeming to get anywhere. And, frankly, he has to deal with a lot of crap.
“I’m used to the smell,” said Burga, as he jammed his shovel into the ground.
Burga digs sewer trenches for a residential plumbing company. He spoke while standing chest-deep in a hole on a client’s front lawn in Van Nuys.
“Well, somebody has to do it,” said Burga as he scooped some more earth.
But at the end of the day, Burga knows he’s just a shovel’s-throw away from his escape — a tricked out 2021 Toyota Corolla.
“[I can] go home, take a shower, and do what I love to do,” said Burga, shoveling out more dirt.
Burga side-hustles as an Uber driver, but he is more like an uber, Uber driver. He offers more than a traditional ride share.
Later that evening, he opened up the trunk of his car, which is parked in a shopping mall parking lot close to his Thousand Oaks home.
“Well, right here, we have the red carpet,” said Burga, as he sorted through the trunk. “And then I have a spare disco ball.”
His shiny black car is skinned with musical notes and a large mirrored “disco ball” on the car’s hood. A real mirrored ball hangs inside the car just below the dome light.
Come five o’clock, “Eddie the plumber” becomes “Disco Uber Eddie.” Eddie also wears a long black wig and bandanna, to mimic an 80s rock star.
A regular passenger dialed up Burga so he and his date could hop from one Thousand Oaks bar to the next. He dispatched himself to the club, to greet his guests and to give them the red carpet treatment—literally.
Burga parked his car at the entrance, unrolled his red carpet in front of the rear passenger door, and blasted heavy metal music.
“We call Uber Eddie when [we] wanna have fun,” said the passenger, who had to scream above the music playing inside the car. “And we get to keep the fun going until we have to get dropped off at our doorstep.”
Besides the mirrored ball, his car is wired for an immersive light show set to — not just disco music — but any genre.
“Rap. Rock. What do you want to hear?” said Burga.
Spectrum News reached out to Uber, who confirmed that Burga was given a green light to light up his car, as long as safety is not compromised and his customers are not offended.
Burga gets rave reviews for his rolling rave. He has a 4.93 star rating, out of five, on the Uber app.
“His interior is cool. His personality rocks,” said a female passenger who specifically hailed Burga to pick her up after a night of partying.
“And that makes me so happy,” said Burga.