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His collection of portraits, Drew Friedman’s Sideshow Freaks, was published by Blast books in 2011. His comics and illustrations have been collected in several volumes, the latest, Too Soon?, published by Fantagraphics in 2010. His work has appeared in Raw, Weirdo, SPY, National Lampoon, Snarf, The New York Times, MAD, The New Yorker, BLAB!, The New York Observer, The Wall Street Journal, HONK!, Rolling Stone, Field & Stream, TIME, The Village Voice, Entertainment Weekly, and more. Photo of Drew Friedman and Jerry Lewis courtesy of Jay RuttenbergĮnjoy the conversation! Then check out the archives for more great episodes! Related conversations:įollow The Virtual Memories Show on iTunes, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, and RSS!ĭrew Friedman is an award-winning illustrator, cartoonist and painter. They like to be up there, telling jokes, being funny, and meeting women.”
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I think they’re all just a bunch of hams. “There’s a theory about why there were so many Jewish comedians: the smile behind the pain, the haunted smile. We also talk about how Harry Einstein died during a roast for Lucy and Desi, trade Gilbert Gottfried stories, discuss the state of the illustration market, explore why he used stippling effects and why he stopped, and more. Crumb, Joe Franklin, Tor Johnson, the Friars Club, Howard Stern, Abe Vigoda, the gallery show commemorating his books on Old Jewish Comedians, and his upcoming book of portraits on comic-book legends (as in ‘artists, writers and publishers’). Deli in NYC one Saturday morning to record a conversation about art, leaving New York, show biz, R. It’s the Vermeer of the Borscht Belt! Drew Friedman, the great painter, cartoonist, chronicler of modern fame (and infamy), and Howard Stern’s favorite artist, invited me out to 2nd Ave.
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I would finish a drawing of Jennifer Aniston, and to reward myself, I’d draw Shecky Greene.” I used to get assigned drawings of the cast of ‘Friends’ for Entertainment Weekly, and it was painful.
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“I don’t like drawing young people, attractive people.
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