Panels copyright © 1981, 2012 Josh Alan Friedman, Drew Friedman.
Showing posts with label Drew Friedman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Drew Friedman. Show all posts
Friday, December 14, 2012
The Friedman Bros.' "Keith Richards"
That the Stones have been playing together for 50 years is impressive, but their feat has nothing on the endurance of Keef's dentist!
Skeptical? Click on the panels below to read this vintage strip from the fabulous Friedman Bros. circa 1981 in its entirety.
Panels copyright © 1981, 2012 Josh Alan Friedman, Drew Friedman.
Panels copyright © 1981, 2012 Josh Alan Friedman, Drew Friedman.
Saturday, December 8, 2012
Josh Alan Friedman's "As Chanukah Passes Me By"
To watch on YouTube, click the image above. To watch via Vimeo, click below.
© 2002, 2011 Josh Alan Friedman
Video by Wyatt Doyle & Josh Alan Friedman, with artwork by Drew Friedman. Visit DrewFriedman.net
Thursday, November 22, 2012
"Thanksgiving at McDonald's in Times Square" by Josh Alan Friedman
To watch on YouTube, click the image above. To watch via Vimeo, click below.
Josh Alan's first 45.
To purchase your digital copy of the original "Thanksgiving at McDonald's in Times Square" single, click here.© 1988, 2011 Josh Alan Friedman
Video by Wyatt Doyle & Josh Alan Friedman, with artwork by Drew Friedman. Visit DrewFriedman.net
Josh plays "Thanksgiving" live here.
Monday, March 5, 2012
The Friedman Bros.' ANY SIMILARITY TO PERSONS LIVING OR DEAD... Back in Print!
After too long out of print, the debut comix anthology by Josh Alan Friedman and Drew Friedman, Any Similarity to Persons Living or Dead is Purely Coincidental, is back in bookstores this April! This all-new edition includes painted covers by Drew and a new introduction by Chester "Chappy" O'Daniel (elevator man, emerithttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifus).
Pre-order your copy at Amazon.com HERE
.Visit Josh Alan Friedman at Black Cracker Online, here.
Visit Drew Friedman at his blog, here.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
"As Chanukah Passes Me By" by Josh Alan Friedman
To watch on YouTube, click the image above. To watch via Vimeo, click below.
© 2002, 2011 Josh Alan Friedman
Signed copies of Josh's BLACK CRACKER are available now. Click here to order.
Video by Wyatt Doyle & Josh Alan Friedman, with artwork by Drew Friedman. Visit DrewFriedman.net
Thursday, November 24, 2011
"Thanksgiving at McDonald's in Times Square" by Josh Alan
To watch on YouTube, click the image above. To watch via Vimeo, click below.
Josh Alan's first 45.
To purchase your digital copy of the original "Thanksgiving at McDonald's in Times Square" single, click here.
© 1988, 2011 Josh Alan Friedman
Video by Wyatt Doyle & Josh Alan Friedman, with artwork by Drew Friedman. Visit DrewFriedman.net
Josh plays "Thanksgiving" live here.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Drew Friedman Gets Freaky
Visiting Los Angeles in support of his latest collection of portraits, Sideshow Freaks, Drew Friedman joined New Texture's Wyatt Doyle at Book Soup for a book signing and conversation. Wyatt's introduction follows:
Friedman signs at Book Soup That Drew Friedman is a remarkable talent is obvious; his flawless draftsmanship is without peer, and his images are often laugh-out-loud funny. But more than that, Drew Friedman’s art has consistently subverted expectations, from the beginning.
Much of his earliest published work (often created in collaboration with his brother, writer Josh Alan Friedman) focused on forgotten TV celebrities, B-picture has-beens and Z-picture never-weres, placed squarely in the spotlight. The Friedmans' comics dropped these famous faces into bizarre, absurd–and often absurdly normal–scenarios, affording them the kind of leading-role stardom most never achieved during their actual careers.
And in the same way a juicy Hollywood rumor can color the public’s impressions of a star, for a lot of Friedman fans, the comics added strange and intriguing new layers to the personas of celebrities they’d cast in them. So while the Friedmans had nothing to do with the initial success of names like Tor Johnson, Joey Heatherton, Frank Sinatra, Jr. and Ernest Borgnine, all now have very specific associations for loyal Friedman readers.
Before long, Drew’s illustration work moved into more mainstream venues and collaborations with his wife, Kathy Bidus. Satirizing contemporary notables, above-ground readers were introduced to Freidman via his "Private Lives of Public Figures" panels in Spy magazine and his work for Details. His illustrations for Howard Stern’s two bestsellers and a flood of editorial work–including his pieces for the New York Observer, followed (Drew’s provided front-page illustrations for the paper since 1994).
In a position to bring some labors of love into print, Drew released two successful volumes of portraiture: Old Jewish Comedians and More Old Jewish Comedians. Sideshow Freaks (Blast Books) is his latest labor of love.
Drew has been quoted repeatedly as preferring to draw “ugly” faces instead of “beautiful” ones, and Sideshow Freaks would seem to take that fascination to its logical extreme. But Friedman’s work runs much deeper than that, and Penn Jillette’s excellent introduction sets right those who would confuse the book with the kind of crass exploitation historically associated with the sideshows.
In these hypersensitive, politically correct times, it’s a real high-wire act, but Drew pulls it off, avoiding shock value and cheap sensation by always keeping his subjects' humanity at the forefront. Even when surviving reference photographs of these "freaks" suggest deer-in-headlights moments, Friedman's portraits have a warm and inviting quality, and a curious dignity; his affection for these one-of-a-kind faces and figures is indisputable. (For the real grotesques, you need only revisit his previous book, the collection of contemporary celebrities and politicians, Too Soon?)
And in much the same way that his previous work adds both fresh perspective and new dimension to our perception of celebrity, Drew’s gorgeous artwork in Sideshow Freaks quietly makes the viewer reconsider the unique beauty of the different, whether the viewer is consciously aware of it or not.
Much of his earliest published work (often created in collaboration with his brother, writer Josh Alan Friedman) focused on forgotten TV celebrities, B-picture has-beens and Z-picture never-weres, placed squarely in the spotlight. The Friedmans' comics dropped these famous faces into bizarre, absurd–and often absurdly normal–scenarios, affording them the kind of leading-role stardom most never achieved during their actual careers.
And in the same way a juicy Hollywood rumor can color the public’s impressions of a star, for a lot of Friedman fans, the comics added strange and intriguing new layers to the personas of celebrities they’d cast in them. So while the Friedmans had nothing to do with the initial success of names like Tor Johnson, Joey Heatherton, Frank Sinatra, Jr. and Ernest Borgnine, all now have very specific associations for loyal Friedman readers.
Before long, Drew’s illustration work moved into more mainstream venues and collaborations with his wife, Kathy Bidus. Satirizing contemporary notables, above-ground readers were introduced to Freidman via his "Private Lives of Public Figures" panels in Spy magazine and his work for Details. His illustrations for Howard Stern’s two bestsellers and a flood of editorial work–including his pieces for the New York Observer, followed (Drew’s provided front-page illustrations for the paper since 1994).
In a position to bring some labors of love into print, Drew released two successful volumes of portraiture: Old Jewish Comedians and More Old Jewish Comedians. Sideshow Freaks (Blast Books) is his latest labor of love.
Drew has been quoted repeatedly as preferring to draw “ugly” faces instead of “beautiful” ones, and Sideshow Freaks would seem to take that fascination to its logical extreme. But Friedman’s work runs much deeper than that, and Penn Jillette’s excellent introduction sets right those who would confuse the book with the kind of crass exploitation historically associated with the sideshows.
In these hypersensitive, politically correct times, it’s a real high-wire act, but Drew pulls it off, avoiding shock value and cheap sensation by always keeping his subjects' humanity at the forefront. Even when surviving reference photographs of these "freaks" suggest deer-in-headlights moments, Friedman's portraits have a warm and inviting quality, and a curious dignity; his affection for these one-of-a-kind faces and figures is indisputable. (For the real grotesques, you need only revisit his previous book, the collection of contemporary celebrities and politicians, Too Soon?)
And in much the same way that his previous work adds both fresh perspective and new dimension to our perception of celebrity, Drew’s gorgeous artwork in Sideshow Freaks quietly makes the viewer reconsider the unique beauty of the different, whether the viewer is consciously aware of it or not.
¡Viva Friedman! text and photographs copyright © 2011 Wyatt Doyle
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Drew Friedman (and Wyatt Doyle) Get Their Freak on in Los Angeles!
TOMORROW:Drew Friedman premieres his new collection, SIDESHOW FREAKS (Blast Books), at Book Soup (8818 Sunset Blvd. in West Hollywood)! Join us TOMORROW, Sunday, February 20 @ 4 pm for a signing and talk moderated by NT's Wyatt Doyle.
Can't make the event? Contact Book Soup and ask about purchasing signed copies by mail!
Monday, January 10, 2011
Get your freak on in L.A. with Drew Friedman and Wyatt Doyle!
Drew Friedman premieres his new collection, SIDESHOW FREAKS (Blast Books), at Book Soup (8818 Sunset Blvd. in West Hollywood)! Join us Sunday, February 20 @ 4 pm for a signing and talk moderated by NT's Wyatt Doyle.
Can't make the event? Contact Book Soup and ask about purchasing signed copies by mail!
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Josh Alan Friedman's "Bela Lugosi"
To view on YouTube, click the above image. To watch via Vimeo, see below.From THE WORST! Josh Alan's original musical based on the life of Ed Wood.
THE WORST! is available on CD and digital download from CD Baby. Click here to purchase.
© 1994, 2010 Josh Alan Friedman
Visit Josh Alan at Black Cracker Online.
Video by Wyatt Doyle, with artwork by Drew Friedman (from WARTS AND ALL by Drew Friedman and Josh Alan Friedman). Visit DrewFriedman.net
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Carl Ballantine, R.I.P.
reprinted from 21 April 2008:
The Amazing Mr. Ballantine
Carl Ballantine, late of The Ed Sullivan Show, McHale’s Navy and at least one episode of every television show ever made, recently made the latest in a long line of special guest appearances, this time at Skylight Books in Los Feliz. The occasion was a book signing to promote Drew Friedman's new collection, More Old Jewish Comedians, which features a fantastic Friedman portrait of Ballantine, among others.
Carl Ballantine turns a page.
copyright © 2008, 2009 Wyatt Doyle
The Amazing Mr. Ballantine
Carl Ballantine, late of The Ed Sullivan Show, McHale’s Navy and at least one episode of every television show ever made, recently made the latest in a long line of special guest appearances, this time at Skylight Books in Los Feliz. The occasion was a book signing to promote Drew Friedman's new collection, More Old Jewish Comedians, which features a fantastic Friedman portrait of Ballantine, among others.
After a Q&A with Friedman, moderator Ben Schwartz asked the crowd if there were any additional questions.
“Yeah,” called Ballantine from his folding chair in the audience. “When is this gonna be over so I can get something to eat?”
Carl Ballantine turns a page.copyright © 2008, 2009 Wyatt Doyle
Monday, April 21, 2008
The Amazing Mr. Ballantine
Carl Ballantine, late of The Ed Sullivan Show, McHale’s Navy and at least one episode of every television show ever made, recently made the latest in a long line of special guest appearances, this time at Skylight Books in Los Feliz. The occasion was a book signing to promote Drew Friedman's new collection, More Old Jewish Comedians, which features a fantastic Friedman portrait of Ballantine, among others.
After a Q&A with Friedman, moderator Ben Schwartz asked the crowd if there were any additional questions.
“Yeah,” called Ballantine from his folding chair in the audience. “When is this gonna be over so I can get something to eat?”
Carl Ballantine turns a page.copyright © 2008 Wyatt Doyle
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