Monthly Archives: November 2013

Let's talk a bit more about this site and its assertion that at this past year's Comic-Con International in San Diego, there were 1,075 panels and 26% were about comics. Well, maybe. But as several others have noted to me in e-mail, that 1,075 number seems to involve counting every last thing, including film screenings to an audience of three, as a "panel."

A more realistic way to look at things would involve a peek at the con's Quick Guide which comes as the center section in the annual Event Guide. This excludes Anime screenings and the many film festivals taking place but lists everything else and categorizes each as Comics, Movies, Television, Animation, Games, SF/Fantasy/Horror or Everything Else. For 2013, it lists 664 events in total. That number sure feels "righter" to me.

It classifies 307 of them — or a fraction more than 46% — as Comics…and that number is low because if an event was about, say, the movie version of a comic book, that's categorized as a Movies panel. In 2012, a panel about the Iron Man movie, was so classified but obviously, it has a lot to do with Comics. I don't think it would be unfair to say that at Comic-Con, more than half of the events are about comic books or strips. I suspect that the ones about Movies and TV tend to be in larger rooms…but that's kinda because more people want to see them.

I always hear people complaining that not enough of Comic-Con is about comics. In a 4.5 day con this past year, they had 307 events about comics. Almost none of them were on Preview Night so Thursday through Sunday, you had an average of more than 70 events per day that dealt with comic books or strips. At most times, there were probably ten occurring simultaneously.

But still, you hear this silly complaint. I do, anyway. In 2009, I moderated a panel about the Golden Age of Batman with Jerry Robinson, Sheldon Moldoff and Lew Schwartz — Bob Kane's first three ghost artists and, I believe, the only three people then alive who had drawn Batman before 1964. I mean, if you want to talk about Comic Book History, it doesn't get any more Comic Book Historical than that — and it was a one-time-ever event since, sad to say, all three men have since left us.

Still later that day in '09, a fellow complained to me that there wasn't enough at the con about old comics and their history. I told him about the panel I'd done and said, "I didn't see you there." He said, "I couldn't attend. I wanted to get in line to see the 24 panel with Kiefer Sutherland."

Stu Shostak does it again! Every week, he lassos someone from the world of television to guest on Stu's Show, his Internet Radio Extravaganza. In the past, they've ranged from the stellar (Dick Van Dyke, Jonathan Winters, Shelley Berman) to…well, me. On tomorrow's episode, he has a biggie: Mr. Carl Reiner. Stu and his co-host for the week, Vince Waldron, will be chatting with Mr. Reiner about his new book and about his days with Sid Caesar, his work on The Dick Van Dyke Show and — as is the norm on Stu's Show — a lot of the guest's not-often-discussed work…like Carl's days as a game show host and panelist. How could this not be a "must" tune-in?

To hear the show, you have two choices. One is to listen live…and you'll prefer this option because it's free. The show is broadcast every Wednesday commencing at 4 PM Pacific Time, 7 PM Eastern and other times in other climes. You do the math. Go to the Stu's Show website and click as directed. A program always runs at least two hours and often lasts much, much longer. I'm betting they get well into a third hour with Carl Reiner.

Or! If you can't listen live and you have a buck, go to that same website shortly after the broadcast and you can download it for the too-good-to-be-true price of 99 cents. And if you're gonna do that, you might as well buy three and get one free. If you haven't heard them, download that one, the one with Dick Van Dyke, the one with Jonathan Winters and the one with Shelley Berman. That'll be more than 10 hours of conversations with brilliantly funny men for three bucks. Can't do much better than that. Just don't miss Stu and Vince talking with one of the most talented, clever men in show business. And I sure as heck don't mean me.

Hey, let's spend five minutes in Cheerville with the world's greatest ventriloquist, Paul Winchell, and his woodenheaded friend, Knucklehead…

Readers of this site who read of my positive view of Obamacare keep sending me links to articles about someone somewhere who is moaning they'll be worse off under the new Affordable Care Act. As Brian Beutler notes, these folks' stories seem to only stand up until someone takes a closer look and notes that the moaners haven't bothered to find out what was really in their old plan and what they can now obtain under the new system.

I'm sure there are folks somewhere who'll be worse off. Nothing beneficial ever happens without someone being worse off but there are also people who'd be getting screwed by their insurance companies if Obamacare hadn't passed and now want to blame it. You know this whole thing about how Obamacare wouldn't let you keep your current doctor? Well, long before Obamacare and on three separate occasions, Blue Cross decided to stop paying for a doctor I'd been seeing. If they decided to save money and do it now, I could rush to Fox News and they'd put me on and say it was because of Obamacare.

I'm not quite sure who runs this page called the San Diego Comic-Con Unofficial Blog except that they're not affiliated with the actual con. But they provide some good reporting and a lot of useful info, and if you've never been to Comic-Con International down in San Diego and are thinking of attending, it would be worth your time to browse their site. The explanation of how and when tickets are available may be especially useful as is most of the stuff on that same page.

I'm interested in this new posting in which they compare 'n' contrast Comic-Con to others. They say there were 1,075 panels at the con in 2013. That seems awfully high to me. I don't recall moderating more than about 600. I guess their definition of a panel is any scheduled event in the hall.

They classified them all by category and that can't have been easy for some program items, especially those that cover, say, Iron Man in comics and movies. (I host panels with Cartoon Voice Actors. Do those panels come under TV, Anime or Other?) Anyway, you hear so many people complaining that Comic-Con is no longer about comics…and yet according to them, 26% of all panels were about comics, more than TV and movies combined. They peg Anime at 29% but I'm assuming that's because there are rooms that just show Japanese cartoons day and night.

Anyway, if there were 1,075 panels and 26% of them were about comics, that's like 280 panels over four days…or 70 a day. No, that can't be right. Is it? Maybe these folks could show their math because I'd sure like to believe there were way more panels about comics at the con than anyone could possibly attend.

And now, boys and girls — the story of The Mouse and The Cracker…

Five myths about the Affordable Care Act.

Okay, here's what I'm looking for: An audio player program for the PC that will let you play part of a podcast MP3, mark where you stop and then when you go back to that file, allow you to resume where you left off. I'm looking for simple. I just looked at four or five and they all had too many bells 'n' whistles. They all want to build a library and sync it across all the portable devices and kitchen utensils you own and then search the web for more podcasts and order Thai food for you and organize your sock drawer…

I just want a simple program that plays MP3s and remembers where you leave off. There must be one. There must. Write if you have a suggestion.

Joe Brancatelli on why Americans aren't as wild about air travel as they used to be. For me, a biggie is how the airlines have cut back on actual human beings at the airport. When something goes wrong, there's too often no one to talk to.

Another sad loss for those of us who love great comic book creators of the past. Nick Cardy died this evening from congestive heart failure. He turned 93 a few weeks ago.

Nicholas Viscardi was born October 20, 1920 so he was 18 when he went to work for Will Eisner's studio in the dawn of comics. He'd studied at the Art Students League and Eisner always said that when Nick walked in with his samples, he was an instant hire. His drawing was that good. He did many jobs for Eisner but was probably best known for drawing and usually writing the Lady Luck feature that ran as a back-up in Eisner's famous newspaper comic sections of The Spirit. Nick signed some of his early works "Nick Cardi" before settling down to Cardy.

He served in World War II and won two Purple Hearts for injuries which, he would later joke, were nothing compared to what he endured working for some editors. Once home from the war, he worked in advertising and in newspaper comics (including a stint illustrating the Tarzan daily) before he began working in 1950 for DC Comics, an association that would last twenty-five years. His artistry was seen in dozens of different comics but he's probably best remembered for a long stint drawing Aquaman and shorter but memorable runs on Teen Titans and a wonderful western comic called Bat Lash. In the early seventies, DC used him as one of their main cover artists across most of the line. He drew unusually handsome heroes and extraordinarily attractive women, and you could tell the work was always done with great care and pride.

Nick later said he left comics because he was bored with the form and eager to try new areas and to paint. Some of us recall his departure as being due to business disputes he later chose to forget. Whatever the reason, he went back to "Cardi" and enjoyed great success as a commercial artist, painting posters (and not necessarily the only ones) for many hit movies including Movie Movie, California Suite and Apocalypse Now. For a long time, he shunned comic books but was eventually lured back into the field to do a few covers.

He was also lured onto the convention circuit, an honor he had long declined. In 1998, after refusing for years, Nick finally agreed to be a Guest of Honor at the Comic-Con International in San Diego. Nervously, he set down all sorts of conditions: His table had to be next to the table of his friend, Colleen Doran; he had to be free to flee the autograph area if the crowds got to him, etc. He balked at doing a panel/interview but finally agreed on the condition that others would be up there with him so they could talk if he froze in front of the audience. I was his interrogator and I brought Colleen, Sergio Aragonés and Marv Wolfman up there with him…needlessly, it turned out. Once Nick got to talking, you couldn't shut him up and the audience loved every word he said. Partial transcripts of that panel may be read here and here.

Nick had the best time in San Diego that year. He always had a long line of folks eager to meet him and to thank him for all the great comics and a lot of those who queued up were top professionals who thanked him for the inspiration. He was the kind of man who cried if you told him you loved his tie so there were a lot of happy tears that weekend. Thereafter, he attended San Diego and other conventions whenever his health and budget would allow. He called me to chat every month or two and when he did, I always knew I'd be on the phone for at least an hour and that I'd love every minute of it. Those who appreciate fine comic art will treasure his work forever…and those of us who knew him will never forget that dear, sweet man.

In a hospital room in Florida at this moment, there is a lovely man who drew an awful lot of lovely comic books. His name is Nick Cardy and his doctors do not expect him to be with us much longer…maybe another day or so, they say.

Nick has no family left but he has an awful lot of friends and admirers. I do not believe that this kind of thing ever does any good…but sending all your good thoughts in that direction will certainly not do any harm.

Here comes a strong recommendation for those of you within driving (or even flying) distance of Santa Monica Airport. There's a theater in the airport complex there and it's housing a very funny show. I'm not sure how long it's going to be there because it keeps being extended and extended…but don't take the chance of missing it. Go quickly to see this production of El Grande de Coca-Cola.

Some history. El Grande de Coca-Cola is a play that was written by Alan Shearman, John Neville Andrews, Ron House. Shearman and House starred in it when it was first staged in London four decades ago and they were in it when it came to America, had a long run off-Broadway in New York and then toured major cities to constant raves. This new production was directed by Shearman and it stars House in the role he created.

So what the heck is El Grande de Coca-Cola? It's a night in a shabby cabaret in Trujillo, Honduras, a city where everyone speaks the kind of Spanish you don't have to speak Spanish to understand. On the evening in question, Señor Don Pepe Hernandez, who believes himself to be Mr. Show Business, was to have presided over an evening of top cabaret acts…but they all cancelled, leaving him and his staff of relatives to whip up a show on short notice. The result is a fast-paced, slapsticky revue of some of the most amateurish entertainment imaginable. Basically from an audience standpoint, you just sit there and laugh pretty continuously for 75 minutes.

Ron House is magnificent as the impresario, a man whose talents are about as bogus as his four-dollar hairpiece. (The show, by the way, has been updated for the times. Señor Don Pepe reveals at one point that his role model is Señor Don Trump and does a great — which is to say, lousy — impression of him…in pidgin Spanish.) Then you have his cast of four. Sometimes, they play Señor Hernandez's staff, sometimes they play other characters and sometimes they play Señor Hernandez's staff playing other characters, and most also do triple or quadruple duty as the orchestra. In real life, they are Nina Brissey, David Lago, Lila Dupree and Aaron Miller. Paul Denk rounds out the bill as an Italian chef from a nearby restaurant who wanders in on occasion.

Brissey, Lago, Dupree and Miller all astound the audience with their versatility, energy and expert timing both of physical comedy and just comedy in general. Shearman and House is/were part of a comedy troupe called Low Moan Spectacular, which was responsible for four shows: This one, Footlight Frenzy, Bullshot Crummond and The Scandalous Adventures of Sir Toby Tollope. All were noted for their relentless devotion to mirth. Every second on stage, the actors were either waiting out the laugh from the last joke or leading right into the next one. The evening I saw the original production of Footlight Frenzy may well be the most I've ever laughed in a theater.

And so the tradition continues. Brissey does a phony psychic act and wrings every possible laugh out of a brilliant bit of chicanery. Lago explodes on stage with a bullet-catching trick and some of the best comic dance moves I've ever seen. Dupree is hilarious as she opens the proceedings as a vendor selling Coca-Cola (the show is full of product placement) to the audience. And Miller just fractures the audience as a blind singer who can't find the audience or the side of his guitar that has the strings. Each of them does dozens of other insane acts…and I haven't even gotten to the Toulouse-Lautrec impression which alone is worth the price of admission.

If you want to pay that (modest) price of admission and see a great show, here's a link to order. You may see me there again. I'll be going back because, in case you haven't picked up on it by now, I kinda liked this thing. Here's a little promotional video that will give you an idea of what you're in for…

Last week, I posted the following item here…

This is for anyone who lives in Las Vegas or is going to be there Saturday, November 9. A friend of mine was going there that weekend for a business-type conference and he got two great tickets to see Lewis Black at the Mirage Hotel. It's a 10 PM show on 11/9. Seats are in the 8th row. The conference has been postponed so he ain't gonna be there and would like to sell his tix. $200 for the pair and he'd prefer PayPal. Write to me. I guarantee the tickets are legit.

Someone claimed the deal so I announced the offer was taken.  Now, that someone says they can't go and can't use the tickets so the offer is good again.  If you're interested, act quickly so there's time to mail the tickets to you.

From a new book on Richard Pryor: The story of wha' happened when Mr. Pryor hosted Saturday Night Live. The book is Furious Cool: Richard Pryor and the World That Made Him and it's written by David and Joe Henry. It's pretty good and here's an Amazon link to order it.

I met Pryor a few times and worked on one TV show where he guest-starred and then wrote on the series mentioned below. I was never around for any outbursts or anger so my memory of him is as a usually-quiet guy who acted like he was terrified that everyone around him was about to hurt or exploit him in some way. The one time he ever acted friendly was the first time I met him, a story I keep meaning to tell here and will. I did tell this story about being on the set when he returned to TV after his infamous burn incident.

The book by the Henrys seems to capture the guy pretty well. I'll quibble a teensy bit with what they wrote about the series I worked on with him…

Seven years after parting company with NBC, Richard returned to TV with Pryor's Place, a CBS Saturday morning kid show that premiered on September 15, 1984 and ran for ten weeks. The expected parties were outraged that Richard Pryor should in any way be presented as a role model for children. It was a thoroughly wholesome affair, following two young boys on their adventures in a Sesame Street-type neighborhood as they faced moral dilemmas and learned lessons from them. Richard somberly played himself as host and narrator but showed much more life playing neighborhood characters. Critics were kind, though few could resist pointing out that he'd come full circle and was back to doing Bill Cosby's act.

I don't know where they get this "ten weeks" business. We did thirteen episodes and as was customary then on Saturday morn, each aired several times so the show was on for most of a year. They would have run 'em for a full year if they had led into a second season…and there would have been a second season but Richard simply refused to do any more. Matter of fact, he tried to quit repeatedly during the thirteen because he became more interested in a movie he was doing and couldn't understand why, after taping the first six or so, he couldn't stop and come back next year to do the rest. I also don't recall any outrage by anyone that Richard Pryor was addressing children. My sense was that the series didn't get much attention at all…a not unusual occurrence with shows I work on. But the book is still well worth your time.

I admire Jon Stewart, who I think is currently presiding over perhaps the greatest body of political humor this nation has ever seen. But I also think I agree with Elias Isquith that it's becoming disingenuous for Stewart to claim he's just a comedian, not a player. The interviews he does with politicians on his show are often quite political…and by the way, better at getting to what some of these people really think than any other interviewer around. Like Isquith, I also thought the Stewart/Colbert "Rally to Restore Sanity And/Or Fear" lacked purpose or humor, though it strived for both.

Stewart's attempts to have it both ways — function as pundit, pass for "just a comedian" — remind me of something I don't like about roman à clef novels or films. It's where the author or filmmaker wants you to accept his or her version of some real event…but when you call them on errors of fact or distortions, they go, "No, no! This is a work of fiction." Oliver Stone's JFK was like that for me — a film that wanted you to accept its depiction of history but which granted itself the right to just plain make up stuff or put words into the mouths of real people who never said those things.

The whole piece being discussed that was on The Daily Show was about how Stewart had been slamming aspects of Obamacare and that was a big deal. It may well be to those who think the show never goes after Obama — a view widely held by those who either don't watch the show or who believe that unbiased political humor would be based on the premise that Obama is a foreign-born Commie out to destroy America. (At times, my right-wing friend Roger seems to think that anyone who doesn't have that as a bumper sticker on his car is a radical leftie. The middle-ground, centrist position is that Obama is merely a Commie dupe who doesn't realize he's destroying America.)

Stewart's views are not exactly a secret and I find him fairer in ridiculing "his side" than any so-called political pundit is these days about criticizing his or her own team. That may be the one way he differs from them…that is, if you count the fact that he's usually funny and usually accurate in his facts.