Salt & Pepper

Ah, the Swingin' Sixties!

1968, Sammy Davis, Jr. and Peter Lawford starring in "Salt & Pepper", Sammy as Salt, Peter as Pepper, poster art by the one and only Jack Davis, directed by Richard Donner. I can add no more... except...

1969... Sammy Davis, Jr. and Peter Lawford RETURN as Salt & Pepper in "One More Time" (released in 1970), poster art still by the one and only Jack Davis, this time directed by Jerry Lewis, the only film he would direct that he didn't star in.

"One More Time" stars Peter Lawford, Sammy Davis, Jr., director Jerry Lewis

The Salt & Pepper novelization

"SUPER-SPIE HIPPY", The Italian soundtrack album

                    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_and_Pepper_(film)

"Hipsters O-Bandon Obama!"

"Get Back-Packin'!!" (click to enlarge)

For the lead story in the latest issue of the New York Observer, the youth vote potentially abandoning Barack Obama, I depicted Williamsburg, ("hipster" capitol) skateboard toting "hipsters", donning their patented "hipster" look of fedoras, fake glasses and tight jeans, telling their former "hipster" leader to get lost. Art director, Lauren Draper. 

double click to enlarge

This issue marks the NY Observer returning to their Broadsheet roots, after several years as a tabloid. Newspapers are not dead! 

Basil Wolverton and PLOP!

PLOP! # 1 (click to enlarge)

PLOP! "The New Magazine of Weird Humor" was a comic book published by DC comics beginning in 1973 (original intended title: ZANY). I remember being totally thrilled to see the cover of issue #1 on the newsstand, because it featured one of my all time favorite artists, Basil Wolverton, creating the art and title lettering. It  would turn out to be one of his last steady, high profile assignments.

 At first glance to a casual reader, It looked to be a throwback to the original MAD comics, as well as having an "underground comix" feel to it. It didn't take me long to realize that the covers were basically the only thing worthwhile or actually funny about this comic book, which was neither "Weird" nor had "Humor". Edited by Joe Orlando of EC comics fame, it was clearly aimed at (sub-mental?) children, and the "humor", mainly lame, obvious DC superhero parodies (Batman/Superman/Wonderwoman...) and reprints of unfunny magazine "gag cartoons" (for some reason, an abundance of "prisoners hanging on prison walls making droll comments"?) was all but nonexistent. The only other saving grace was the inclusion of artwork by the great Sergio Aragones of MAD fame, who contributed the cover border as well as some interior art and stories. Still, I continued buying it, mainly for the covers, most rendered by Wolverton, with some later issues featuring covers by Wally Wood, aping Wolverton's style a bit. PLOP! Plodded along for 24 issues till it was finally put to rest in 1976. These are the covers by the one and only Basil Wolverton, with three by Wally Wood:

                             http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basil_Wolverton

Some Recent Assignments

These are some recent and fairly recent illustration assignments for various publications, and one privately commissioned piece. enjoy...

Keith Richards for Readers Digest, Art director (AD) Marti Golon

The Beastie Boys for Rolling Stone, AD: Steven Charny

Jimmy Fallen, George Lopez, David letterman, Conan O'Brien as the Late Night Beatles, for  Billboard, AD: Greg Grabowy

Anthony Weiner/The NY Observer, AD Ivylise Simones

Mayor of London Boris Johnson & British PM David Cameron posed as the "British Gothic" couple, for British GQ 

My Uncle Irving, posed as Superman, commissioned by my two cousins (apologies to Alex Ross)

THE SCUBA DUBA TEAM

designed by Lawrence Ratzkin

In 1967, my dad Bruce Jay Friedman's play Scuba Duba (A Tense Comedy) opened to rave reviews at the Off-Broadway New Theatre on E. 54th St, and became a huge hit. It was inevitable that the show would spawn a softball team that would play in the then popular "Broadway Show League" on thursdays in Central Park, two games per field, popularized by then Mayor Lindsay.

On my recent  "The MAD Show" blog, I posted a photo of "The MAD Show" team of 1967 (The MAD show had been the previous tenant at the "New" New Theatre), featuring, among others, Woody Allen, George C. Scott and Jason Robards. There were no future superstars on the "Scuba Duba" team of 1968, but it still featured some interesting players:

Scuba Duba team photo (click to enlarge)

Top row, L to R: Alan Wolfson (IBM engineer), author George Plimpton, New York Yankees president Michael Burke (CBS then owned the Yankees), MAD show writer Stan Hart, The show's star Jerry Orbach, author Bruce Jay Friedman, unknown, Bernard (Buzz) Farber. Kneeling, LtoR: Harry Ufland (William Morris agent, Hollywood producer), Jay Rosenblatt (publisher of Showbill), Bobby Kampf (NJ real estate mogul), Artie Kaplow, unknown. Front: The MAD Show and Scuba Duba general manager Michael Brandman, now an independent film producer and author.

Opening night ticket

Learn more about "Scuba Duba" on my brother Josh's blog about the show:

http://newtextureblog.blogspot.com/2010/01/josh-alan-friedmans-scuba-duba-man.html

                                       special thanks to Michael Brandman

JERRY & ME

Drew Friedman/Jerry Lewis

So, speaking of Jerry...

In 2009, Jerry Lewis invited my wife and I to be his personal guests at the annual MDA Labor Day Telethon at the South Point hotel/casino in Las Vegas. Jerry had enjoyed a tribute I had done of him for the NY Observer, in which I had implored the Motion Picture Academy to give him a special career Oscar, and called me to request a large print of the piece. I had the honor of presenting the print to Jerry that weekend, as well as my wife and I having full access to Jerry and the show's backstage rehearsals.

The visit is now of course bittersweet for us, as for some still unknown reason, Jerry will no longer being hosting the telethon...

http://blogs.forbes.com/rickungar/2011/08/06/a-major-weapon-in-health-care-battle-benched-jerry-lewis-tossed-from-mda/

 I'm at least happy we had this opportunity to spend some time with the one and only Jerry Lewis.

Meeting Jerry. That's his longtime secretary, Penny to my right

Jerry in his Jazzy. Presenting the print to him

Jerry and I talk comedy and art

Jerry signs a print for me

The King of Comedy and me

Backstage photos by me. Jerry rehearses his Jolson medley with the orchestra

Jerry conducts as his pal Richard Belzer looks on

This is the piece that originally appeared in the NY Observer (Jerry has since been awarded a "Humanitarian" Oscar, for his charitable work on behalf of the MDA). It can be ordered as a large print here:

http://www.drewfriedman.net/prints/jerry-lewis.html

My illustration of Jerry Lewis created for my first book of "Old Jewish Comedians" (2006)

Tor Johnson Returns

All hail Super Swedish Angel Tor Johnson (Click to enlarge)

This is the newly completed back cover artwork for the upcoming reprint of my first collection of comic art, co-written by my brother Josh: "Any Similarity to Persons Living or Dead is Purely Coincidental", my first full color portrait of beloved Swedish mongoloid wrestler/movie star Tor Johnson.

The new large edition is scheduled for release next spring from Fantagraphics books, and will also feature a brand new, full color Shemp Howard mug gracing the cover and a foreword by a late NYC elevator man.

All my early Tor Johnson comic strips will be in the new edition, including this, my first, "Tor Johnson at Home", originally published in R. Crumb's magazine "WEIRDO". When I sent this to Robert Crumb in 1981, he had never heard of Tor Johnson.