With the total (or partial) retirement of Mort Drucker, Jack Davis and Angelo Torres, Tom Richmond has become the star caricaturist of MAD magazine — which may be the highest-possible achievement for a person who draws funny likenesses of real people. Tom is more than worthy of that honor and he's a real great guy, too. His website has oodles of tips for anyone interested in what he does for a living.
Recently, a show called MN Original which airs on the PBS station in his hometown in Minnesota did a profile on him and that segment is below.
One of the interesting business ventures with which Tom is involved — and you'll see this in the video — is the drawing of caricatures in malls and theme parks. He does some of the drawings himself and manages concessions in different venues.
You've probably seen kids doing this in places that attract crowds. Whenever I've been to one of them with my friend Sergio Aragonés, Sergio always make a point of stopping and introducing himself to the (usually) beginning professional cartoonists. Anyone who draws caricatures knows MAD so they know of Sergio and they're always thrilled to meet him. He makes a point to offer whatever kind of encouragement he can to them…and he usually turns a blind eye to one occasional bit of deceit in this profession.
Almost all of the booths or set-ups display sample caricatures of celebrities. The idea is that you'll see the drawings of Clint Eastwood or Scarlett Johansson and you'll think, "Gee, I'd like that guy to draw me the way he drew them." But more often than not, the samples on display were not drawn by the artist currently on duty…and a large percentage of time, they're swipes of caricatures done by top magazine and advertising cartoonists.
When I first started going to Las Vegas in the eighties, I saw caricaturists everywhere, though mainly on Fremont Street downtown. Most of the sample drawings on display were copied from Mort Drucker (or sometimes Jack Davis) work in MAD. A few years ago, I told Tom that I'd seen proof of his ascendance to the top of his profession. Most of the caricaturists I see in Vegas now are displaying Tom Richmond swipes.