I think Frank Jacobs is the best writer of funny verse in America today and he's also created some darn funny things which don't rhyme. Many of these have been for MAD Magazine, where he's been one of their most dependable contributors. Here's an article about the guy. Ignore where it says he's been writing for them since the early sixties. That's wrong. His first article was in issue #33, which was cover-dated June of 1957.
As I've mentioned here, the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles is hosting an exhibit called "ZAP! POW! BAM! The Superhero: The Golden Age of Comic Books, 1938-1950." It opens today and is there 'til August 9. Between now and then, there will be some special events...such as the one on March 5 when I'll be interviewing Golden Age Great Jerry Robinson. You can get tix for that event at this link and I suggest you do.
This afternoon, Skirball curator Erin Clancey and I were interviewed on Patt Morrison's show on KPCC radio and we talked about the exhibit for around 17 minutes. If you have Real Player installed and really want to hear it, there's a link on this page.
As Conan O'Brien winds down his successful run hosting Late Night for NBC (and prepares to Step Up To Big Pay), radio superstar Paul Harris recalls how outta-left-field the whole selection was. I remember that, too. When Letterman fled the time slot after The Tonight Show, we had rumors that it would go to Garry Shandling or Dana Carvey or Paul Provenza or Paula Poundstone or one of a dozen other folks, known quantities all. The notion that the gig would go to someone 99%+ of America had never heard of before was unthinkable.
As things turned out, it's hard to imagine anyone being more successful than Conan has been, though it didn't seem that way at first. To the credit of all involved, when things got off to a rocky start, they didn't panic and start wildly revamping the show and trying different things. They just kept doing the same show and did it better and better until finally it was good enough for enough of America to watch. Actually, I never thought it was as weak as some did but it did substantially improve.
Paul Harris was, as he notes, the first broadcaster to announce anywhere that this person named Conan O'Brien was getting the job. In the post I just linked you to, he explains that he got the information from me and suggests I blog about how I knew it before the rest of the world outside NBC. Alas, there's no tale there of brilliant detective work on my part. A friend of mine who was writing for Mr. Leno's Tonight Show just called me up and told me.
Like Paul, I'm a little skeptical about how Mr. O'Brien will fare at 11:35. Frankly, the last 3-4 years, I haven't liked any of the late night shows as much as I once did and I don't think it's just me. I think they've all settled into a too-comfortable groove of repeated bits and catch phrases and general déjà vu. Maybe this shake-up will do them all a world of good. In any case, it's a good idea to remember how wrong folks were to underestimate Conan O'Brien...and Jay Leno, as well.
I agree with this article that says the U.S. Mint is getting way too creative with our money. There was nothing wrong with the nickel the way it was.
Quick story. Remember when they made the big change in paper money? When suddenly, all the presidents had larger portraits and there were different style numbers in the corners? The first time I saw a new $20 bill was one morning in Laughlin, Nevada back in the days when I had this hobby (that's all it ever was) of counting cards in Blackjack and usually but not always winning tidy sums of loot. I gave it up because of the "usually but not always" part.
So one morn, I went to an ATM to withdraw $300 and out it came in these new twenties I'd never seen before. I don't think anyone in town had. After staring at them for a few moments, I strolled over to a 21 table and forked them over to a dealer to convert to chips. The dealer had never seen money like that either and looked somewhat troubled. She called over the Casino Host and showed him the pieces of paper I'd laid down, whereupon they had a brief private discussion about whether to accept it.
They quickly came to their senses and gave me my chips...but for a minute or so there, they were concerned that I had perhaps manufactured this alleged money. The thought process apparently went something like this: "My God...not only has this man printed up counterfeit money but he's taken it upon himself to completely redesign the twenty dollar bill!"
I will not be Live Oscar Blogging this year but my pal Gary Sassaman will be watching the whole thing, hunched over his computer and typing furiously throughout. You may wish to check in with him for his running commentary, which is always perceptive.
Here's another comedy that Oliver "Babe" Hardy made when he was teamed with a comic named Bobby Ray. This is Hop To It, Bellhop, made in 1925 a year before Hardy changed companies and teamed up with Stan Laurel. There are traces of the unique timing and rhythm that Hardy would bring to the new team but it's pretty much a typical comedy of the era. It wasn't until he'd begun working with Stan that he was encouraged to slow down a bit and bring more personality to his movements.
This runs a bit over nineteen minutes. You may have to watch a short silly ad before the film will start in the player below.
February 20, 2009
