I met the woman who wrote the screenplay for Electric Boogaloo. And she was NOTHING like you’d imagine. More on that someday.
I guess classic American Satire reached its pinnacle in the William Gaines MAD era with Allen Sherman’s “My Son the Folksinger”, especially because of its gentleness.
I just watched Barrymore in Twentieth Century and that’s hard to beat.
So now I’ve reached back seven and nine decades, which seems a long slog. Oh, and let me remind you that once Lord Buckley graced our stages; unsure whether the Mighty Hip Einie is satire, but I so rarely get to drag Lord Buckley into the conversation I reckon I need to do it.
The answer is American Fiction, the new film. Because it’s clever and ambitious and it totally works.
Very glad to hear that you made it unscathed. That’s truly terrifying when the bike breaks. I still have a scar on my leg from the crank shattering on my old bike. I took a header in front of El Cerrito Plaza BART station, the jagged crank slashed my leg, and jammed my shoulder in the landing. Some kid watching thought it was hilarious. Later I heard there had been a class action suit against Shimano.
I remember that Sean Kelly piece; Safire explaining why they called him Nixon’s butt boy!
Good luck in your endeavors, and I hope I can throw some money in the magazine’s direction soon.
I'm glad you're planning to keep the print version of "Bystander" going, and would love to hear more about the tax-deductibility scheme, I mean, plan. I'm a fairly recent devotee of AB and I can't describe what a great feeling it has been to read a humor magazine - and a beautifully-designed one, at that - in print.
I appreciate the recommendations re: satire. It's been ages since I watched "Life of Brian," I should give that another look. "The Death of Stalin" sounds intriguing as well, and somehow I missed that you had written a series of books ("Barry Trotter"), I'll be looking for those.
Isn't it nice to get a new copy of the Bystander? Just to hold it, feel the pages, soak in the visual? And THEN enjoy the dispatches from sweetly disturbed minds as if we were all around a large table after a big Italian dinner, daring each other to listen and imagine "See? I told you my brain works like this!"
I met the woman who wrote the screenplay for Electric Boogaloo. And she was NOTHING like you’d imagine. More on that someday.
I guess classic American Satire reached its pinnacle in the William Gaines MAD era with Allen Sherman’s “My Son the Folksinger”, especially because of its gentleness.
I just watched Barrymore in Twentieth Century and that’s hard to beat.
So now I’ve reached back seven and nine decades, which seems a long slog. Oh, and let me remind you that once Lord Buckley graced our stages; unsure whether the Mighty Hip Einie is satire, but I so rarely get to drag Lord Buckley into the conversation I reckon I need to do it.
The answer is American Fiction, the new film. Because it’s clever and ambitious and it totally works.
“We welcome you
To Crackerbox Palace
We’ve been expecting youuuu”
Good one.
Remember what Kaufman said: "Satire is what closes Saturday night."
And Kaufman, as I recall, had a HUGE wang.
Like all successful satirists. Necessary equipment.
NOBODY TALKS ABOUT THE TAILORING COSTS JIM
😅 (Sorry, I don't see many emoticons here, but this deserved a visual)
Very glad to hear that you made it unscathed. That’s truly terrifying when the bike breaks. I still have a scar on my leg from the crank shattering on my old bike. I took a header in front of El Cerrito Plaza BART station, the jagged crank slashed my leg, and jammed my shoulder in the landing. Some kid watching thought it was hilarious. Later I heard there had been a class action suit against Shimano.
I remember that Sean Kelly piece; Safire explaining why they called him Nixon’s butt boy!
Good luck in your endeavors, and I hope I can throw some money in the magazine’s direction soon.
Was the Safire piece in the Lampoon?
Yes, I think so. I don’t think it was in Not the New York Times
I'm glad you're planning to keep the print version of "Bystander" going, and would love to hear more about the tax-deductibility scheme, I mean, plan. I'm a fairly recent devotee of AB and I can't describe what a great feeling it has been to read a humor magazine - and a beautifully-designed one, at that - in print.
I appreciate the recommendations re: satire. It's been ages since I watched "Life of Brian," I should give that another look. "The Death of Stalin" sounds intriguing as well, and somehow I missed that you had written a series of books ("Barry Trotter"), I'll be looking for those.
Isn't it nice to get a new copy of the Bystander? Just to hold it, feel the pages, soak in the visual? And THEN enjoy the dispatches from sweetly disturbed minds as if we were all around a large table after a big Italian dinner, daring each other to listen and imagine "See? I told you my brain works like this!"
You seem to be inviting us to inquire (enquire?) about the future plans for Bystander. So I am.
Alan, Jesus! I hope you’re OK.