Ed Subitzky
Encyclopedia
Ed Subitzky, full name Edward Jack Subitzky (born March 19, 1943) is an American writer and artist, who is best known as a cartoonist
, comics artist
, and humorist/humor writer. He has also worked as a television
comedy
writer and performer, a writer and performer of radio
comedy
, and a writer of radio drama
, as well as creating comedy and humor in various other media. He is a member of the Screen Actors Guild
, AFTRA, and the Writers Guild of America
.
In the early 1970s, Subitzky became a contributing editor
at National Lampoon magazine, where he worked with many well-regarded humor and comedy creators such as Henry Beard
, Doug Kenney, Michael O'Donoghue
, P. J. O'Rourke
, Michael Gross
, and comedy performers including John Belushi
and Chevy Chase
. As well as his work for the magazine, Subitzky contributed to many other Lampoon projects.
Subsequently Subitzky went on to various other kinds of humor and comedy work, including working on television with David Letterman
, and more work for radio. He has also written broadcast horror stories
.
During the 1990s, several comic strips of his appeared as "Op/Art" in the op-ed
pages of the New York Times.
Since 2003 he has contributed a number of written and drawn pieces on the subject of consciousness
to a serious science journal
, the JCS
.
Subitzky had a longtime day job as an advertising copywriter.
, just outside of New York City
. As a child he read a wide variety of comic books, and Mad
magazine. He was greatly influenced by the work of Harvey Kurtzman
and to a lesser extent that of Will Elder
, both of whom he met briefly in Mount Vernon when he was about 12 years old.
He was educated at what is now Binghamton University
, where he was a math
major who also took many philosophy
courses.
A few years later he moved into Manhattan
, and took cartooning classes at the School of Visual Arts
, or SVA. The classes were taught by Bob Blechman and Charles Slackman.
The connection was first established in 1972, when contributing editor Michel Choquette
of National Lampoon magazine visited the SVA cartooning class that Subitzky was in (p. 47, Levin, 2009). Choquette took a liking to Subitzky's work, and brought him over to the offices of National Lampoon.
Subitzky subsequently became a long-term contributing editor; one or more of his comic strips, cartoons, and written articles
appeared in almost every issue of the magazine. His name remained on the masthead
of National Lampoon from 1972 on, through the decline of the magazine in the 1980s, and almost up to the point of its eventual demise.
s for the Lampoon included “Saturday Night on Antarius!”, “Two-way Comics!", "Eight Comics in One!” and “Come Too Soon Comics!” Many of his comic strips ran to several pages, and featured numerous very small panels.
or photo funnies he wrote were “The Perfect Date” and “Every Red-Blooded American Boy’s Dream: Three Pretty Girls Doing Just What You Want So You Can Masturbate!"
: the first piece in the yearbook, which is the Principal's letter, and "In Memorium" [sic], which is a parody of a student In Memoriam piece.
In the same year Subitzky wrote numerous sections of the Lampoon book,The Job of Sex
, which was a parody of The Joy of Sex
.
In September 1974 he guest-edited the "Old Age
" issue of the magazine.
His writing and cartooning were reprinted in many National Lampoon anthologies, and pieces of his have been included in several other anthologies, including the "Big Book of New American Humor" and more than one collection edited by the cartoonist Sam Gross
.
In 1972, a comic of Subitzky's entitled Two-headed Sam in the singles bar! was made part of the comic book, "The Someday Funnies
", which was put together by Michel Choquette
in the 1970s, and which was finally published in 2011.
, which ran for a little over a year in 1973 to 1974. He conceptualized, and wrote all, or nearly all of, the “Public Disservice Announcements” (which were parodies of public service announcements) as well as a number of other pieces. Some selections from the Radio Hour work appeared on the CD album
Gold Turkey.
He also conceived, wrote, and starred in a one hour, two-episode radio play for The National Lampoon Radio Hour. The play was a spoof of popular science fiction
/horror
dramas, and it was entitled The Sluts from Space. The two episodes aired on May 25 and June 2 of 1974.
Subitzky voiced
the part of the science-nerd
hero, Timmy Johnson, who, by clever control of the supply of deodorant
s, manages to save the world from alien invaders disguised as beautiful and seductive women. The Sluts from Space episodes of the show are listed in detail at: http://www.marksverylarge.com/nlrh/nlrh740525_28.html and http://www.marksverylarge.com/nlrh/nlrh740602_29.html.
for its first season on the air in 1982, and he also appeared on the show many times, in variations of a sketch
which is sometimes referred to as “The Imposter". In these sketches, Letterman introduces Subitzky as someone else altogether, often a minor celebrity
, and after a few minutes of interviewing, Subitzky breaks down and admits to Letterman that he had only pretended to be the other person so that he could be on television
. He then runs through the audience apologizing abjectly.
Subitzky reprised this role in twelve more appearances on Late Night with David Letterman
.
page of the New York Times.
His cartoons have also appeared in Natural History
, The New Yorker
, and Tricycle: The Buddhist Review
, and some written pieces of his appeared in Cracked.
entitled “A Call For More Scientific Truth in Product Warning Labels”, by Susan Hewitt and Edward Subitzky.http://www.cse.unsw.edu.au/~geoffo/humour/truth/truth.html This piece was subsequently quoted by both New Scientist
and Atlantic Monthly. Over 20 years after the piece was first published, it is still featured (both with and without its title, attribution and introduction) on hundreds of websites, including versions that have been translated into Dutch
, French
, German
, Hungarian
and Spanish
.
and philosophy
, especially the "Hard Problem" of consciousness, Subitzky has been contributing to a peer review
ed academic journal
, the Journal of Consciousness Studies
(JCS), published by Imprint Academic of Exeter, England.
Subitzky has had two cartoons, a 4-page comic strip, three written articles, and a poem published in this journal. Some of the pieces are humorous and some are not. In chronological order they are: an essay "I am a conscious essay" http://www.imprint.co.uk/jcs_10_12.html#subitzky, a single-panel untitled cartoon which was used as a frontispiece
, the 4-page comic strip "Inkland" http://www.imprint.co.uk/pdf/Subitzky.pdf, the short science fiction
story "The Voyage" http://www.imprint.co.uk/pdf/Subitzky_Reflection.pdf, another science fiction short story, "The Experiment" http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/imp/jcs/latest and a poem, "Mirage" http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/imp/jcs/2008/00000015/00000012/art00005. In 2010, a single-panel cartoon of his on the subject of the Turing test
was used as the cover art for the double issue of JCS: Volume 17 No.1–2.
film which was then produced, and subsequently bought by Saturday Night Live
, but was not aired. He co-wrote a screenplay
, which was bought but not produced. He also wrote the lyrics
for a country song
which appeared as background music in a bar scene in another film (Kandyland, 1987). http://www.fandango.com/edsubitzky/filmography/p113165 http://www.vh1.com/movies/person/100246/personmain.jhtml?personid=100246
in editorial photographs 54 times. In 1977 he appeared on the cover of the book National Lampoon Gentleman's Bathroom Companion as the Ty-D-Bol man (a spoof
of commercials for a blue-tinted toilet bowl cleaner). In 1988 he was featured on the cover of the March–April issue of National Lampoon magazine as a disappointed television viewer http://lampoon.rwinters.com/Lampoon1988.htm.
During the 1990s, Subitzky occasionally worked for the modeling agency
FunnyFace Today, appearing in a few publications including Redbook
.
In the 1980s Subitzky was the sole actor in a television commercial
for a video game called Mountain King.
n magazine, POX, ran a multi-page National Lampoon magazine parody
, which included a take-off of Subitzky's comic strips.
Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Writers and Artists Who Made the National Lampoon Insanely Great by Rick Meyerowitz
.
, a collection of original comics about the 1960s, edited by Michel Choquette
, which was released by Abrams
on November 1, 2011. http://www.amazon.com/Someday-Funnies-Michel-Choquette/dp/0810996189
Cartoonist
A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...
, comics artist
Comics artist
A comics artist is an artist working within the comics medium on comic strips, comic books or graphic novels. The term may refer to any number of artists who contribute to produce a work in the comics form, from those who oversee all aspects of the work to those who contribute only a part.-Comic...
, and humorist/humor writer. He has also worked as a television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
writer and performer, a writer and performer of radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
, and a writer of radio drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
, as well as creating comedy and humor in various other media. He is a member of the Screen Actors Guild
Screen Actors Guild
The Screen Actors Guild is an American labor union representing over 200,000 film and television principal performers and background performers worldwide...
, AFTRA, and the Writers Guild of America
Writers Guild of America
The Writers Guild of America is a generic term referring to the joint efforts of two different US labor unions:* The Writers Guild of America, East , representing TV and film writers East of the Mississippi....
.
In the early 1970s, Subitzky became a contributing editor
Contributing editor
A contributing editor is a magazine job title that varies in responsibilities. Most often, a contributing editor is a freelancer who has proven ability and readership draw. The contributing editor regularly contributes articles to the publication but does not actually edit articles, and the title...
at National Lampoon magazine, where he worked with many well-regarded humor and comedy creators such as Henry Beard
Henry Beard
Henry N. Beard is an American humorist, one of the founders of the magazine National Lampoon and the author of several best-selling books.-Biography:...
, Doug Kenney, Michael O'Donoghue
Michael O'Donoghue
Michael O'Donoghue was a writer and performer. He was known for his dark and destructive style of comedy and humor, was a major contributor to National Lampoon magazine, and was the first head writer of Saturday Night Live.-Childhood:O'Donoghue was born Michael Henry Donohue in Sauquoit, New York...
, P. J. O'Rourke
P. J. O'Rourke
Patrick Jake "P. J." O'Rourke is an American political satirist, journalist, writer, and author. O'Rourke is the H. L. Mencken Research Fellow at the Cato Institute and is a regular correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly, The American Spectator, and The Weekly Standard, and frequent panelist on...
, Michael Gross
Michael C. Gross
Michael C. Gross is an American artist and film producer. He is best known for his work as the art director for National Lampoon magazine. He was hired in 1970, and his work first appeared in the eighth issue of the magazine, the "Nostalgia" issue, which was November 1970...
, and comedy performers including John Belushi
John Belushi
John Adam Belushi was an American comedian, actor, and musician, best known as one of the original cast members of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, The Star of the Films National Lampoon's Animal House and the The Blues Brothers and for fronting the American blues and soul...
and Chevy Chase
Chevy Chase
Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase is an American comedian, writer, and television and film actor, born into a prominent entertainment industry family. Chase worked a plethora of odd jobs before moving into comedy acting with National Lampoon...
. As well as his work for the magazine, Subitzky contributed to many other Lampoon projects.
Subsequently Subitzky went on to various other kinds of humor and comedy work, including working on television with David Letterman
David Letterman
David Michael Letterman is an American television host and comedian. He hosts the late night television talk show, Late Show with David Letterman, broadcast on CBS. Letterman has been a fixture on late night television since the 1982 debut of Late Night with David Letterman on NBC...
, and more work for radio. He has also written broadcast horror stories
Horror fiction
Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...
.
During the 1990s, several comic strips of his appeared as "Op/Art" in the op-ed
Op-ed
An op-ed, abbreviated from opposite the editorial page , is a newspaper article that expresses the opinions of a named writer who is usually unaffiliated with the newspaper's editorial board...
pages of the New York Times.
Since 2003 he has contributed a number of written and drawn pieces on the subject of consciousness
Consciousness
Consciousness is a term that refers to the relationship between the mind and the world with which it interacts. It has been defined as: subjectivity, awareness, the ability to experience or to feel, wakefulness, having a sense of selfhood, and the executive control system of the mind...
to a serious science journal
Academic journal
An academic journal is a peer-reviewed periodical in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as forums for the introduction and presentation for scrutiny of new research, and the critique of existing research...
, the JCS
Journal of Consciousness Studies
The Journal of Consciousness Studies is an interdisciplinary peer-reviewed academic journal dedicated entirely to the field of consciousness studies. It was previously edited by Joseph Goguen. It has been co-edited by the philosopher of mysticism, Robert K.C...
.
Subitzky had a longtime day job as an advertising copywriter.
Early life
Subitzky was born in and grew up in Mount Vernon, New YorkMount Vernon, New York
Mount Vernon is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. It lies on the border of the New York City borough of The Bronx.-Overview:...
, just outside of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. As a child he read a wide variety of comic books, and Mad
Mad (magazine)
Mad is an American humor magazine founded by editor Harvey Kurtzman and publisher William Gaines in 1952. Launched as a comic book before it became a magazine, it was widely imitated and influential, impacting not only satirical media but the entire cultural landscape of the 20th century.The last...
magazine. He was greatly influenced by the work of Harvey Kurtzman
Harvey Kurtzman
Harvey Kurtzman was an American cartoonist and the editor of several comic books and magazines. Kurtzman often signed his name H. Kurtz, followed by a stick figure Harvey Kurtzman (October 3, 1924, Brooklyn, New York – February 21, 1993) was an American cartoonist and the editor of several comic...
and to a lesser extent that of Will Elder
Will Elder
William Elder was an American illustrator and comic book artist who worked in numerous areas of commercial art, but is best known for a zany cartoon style that helped launch Harvey Kurtzman's Mad comic book in 1952....
, both of whom he met briefly in Mount Vernon when he was about 12 years old.
He was educated at what is now Binghamton University
Binghamton University
Binghamton University, also formally called State University of New York at Binghamton, , is a public research university in the State of New York. The University is one of the four university centers in the State University of New York system...
, where he was a math
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
major who also took many philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
courses.
A few years later he moved into Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, and took cartooning classes at the School of Visual Arts
School of Visual Arts
The School of Visual Arts , is a proprietary art school located in Manhattan, New York City, and is widely considered to be one of the leading art schools in the United States. It was established in 1947 by co-founders Silas H. Rhodes and Burne Hogarth as the Cartoonists and Illustrators School and...
, or SVA. The classes were taught by Bob Blechman and Charles Slackman.
National Lampoon magazine
Subitzky ended up doing a great deal of work for National Lampoon magazine, including primarily comic strips, cartoons, and humor writing.The connection was first established in 1972, when contributing editor Michel Choquette
Michel Choquette
Michel Choquette is a French Canadian from Montreal, a humorist who has written for print, for television and for film, and a comedian who has performed for television....
of National Lampoon magazine visited the SVA cartooning class that Subitzky was in (p. 47, Levin, 2009). Choquette took a liking to Subitzky's work, and brought him over to the offices of National Lampoon.
Subitzky subsequently became a long-term contributing editor; one or more of his comic strips, cartoons, and written articles
Article (publishing)
An article is a written work published in a print or electronic medium. It may be for the purpose of propagating the news, research results, academic analysis or debate.-News articles:...
appeared in almost every issue of the magazine. His name remained on the masthead
Masthead
-Media:* the masthead , a list, usually found on the editorial page of a newspaper or other periodical, listing the publisher, editorial board, advertising rates, etc....
of National Lampoon from 1972 on, through the decline of the magazine in the 1980s, and almost up to the point of its eventual demise.
Comic strips
Subitzky's approximately 100 comic stripComic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
s for the Lampoon included “Saturday Night on Antarius!”, “Two-way Comics!", "Eight Comics in One!” and “Come Too Soon Comics!” Many of his comic strips ran to several pages, and featured numerous very small panels.
Written humor
His approximately 100 articles and written pieces for National Lampoon included “How I Spent My Summer” in the "Self-Indulgence" issue (December 1973, Vol. 1, No. 45) http://www.marksverylarge.com/issues/7312.html and "Stupidworld" in the "Stupid" issue (March 1974, Vol 1, No 48) http://www.marksverylarge.com/issues/7403.html.Fumetti
Two out of many fumettiFumetti
Fumetti is an Italian word which refers to all comics. In English, the term refers specifically to photonovels or photographic comics, a genre of comics illustrated with photographs rather than drawings. Italians call these fotoromanzi...
or photo funnies he wrote were “The Perfect Date” and “Every Red-Blooded American Boy’s Dream: Three Pretty Girls Doing Just What You Want So You Can Masturbate!"
Lampoon books
In 1974, Subitzky wrote two sections of the infamous National Lampoon 1964 High School Yearbook ParodyNational Lampoon 1964 High School Yearbook Parody
National Lampoon 1964 High School Yearbook Parody is an American humor book that was first published in 1973. It was a spin-off from National Lampoon magazine. The book was a parody of a high school yearbook from the early 1960s. It was edited by P. J. O'Rourke and Doug Kenney and art directed by...
: the first piece in the yearbook, which is the Principal's letter, and "In Memorium" [sic], which is a parody of a student In Memoriam piece.
In the same year Subitzky wrote numerous sections of the Lampoon book,The Job of Sex
The Job of Sex
National Lampoon The Job of Sex: a Workingman's Guide to Productive Lovemaking is a humorous book that was first published in 1974. It was a spin-off from National Lampoon magazine. The book was a parody of the 1972 book, The Joy of Sex. The parody was written by several of the National Lampoon's...
, which was a parody of The Joy of Sex
The Joy of Sex
The Joy of Sex is an illustrated sex manual by Alex Comfort, M.B., Ph.D., first published in 1972. An updated edition was released in September, 2008.-Overview:...
.
In September 1974 he guest-edited the "Old Age
Old age
Old age consists of ages nearing or surpassing the average life span of human beings, and thus the end of the human life cycle...
" issue of the magazine.
His writing and cartooning were reprinted in many National Lampoon anthologies, and pieces of his have been included in several other anthologies, including the "Big Book of New American Humor" and more than one collection edited by the cartoonist Sam Gross
Sam Gross
Sam Gross is an American cartoonist. He began cartooning in 1962.His cartoons have appeared in numerous magazines including The New Yorker, Harvard Business Review, Esquire, Cosmopolitan and Good Housekeeping.He was cartoon editor for National Lampoon and Parents Magazine...
.
In 1972, a comic of Subitzky's entitled Two-headed Sam in the singles bar! was made part of the comic book, "The Someday Funnies
The Someday Funnies
The Someday Funnies is an exceptionally large and varied book of comics which was published by Abrams on November 1, 2011. During the early 1970s, the humorist Michel Choquette gradually put together a unique collection of comics about the 1960s, by soliciting work internationally from contemporary...
", which was put together by Michel Choquette
Michel Choquette
Michel Choquette is a French Canadian from Montreal, a humorist who has written for print, for television and for film, and a comedian who has performed for television....
in the 1970s, and which was finally published in 2011.
National Lampoon radio
Subitzky was a writer for and an occasional performer on The National Lampoon Radio HourThe National Lampoon Radio Hour
The National Lampoon Radio Hour was a comedy radio show which was created, produced and initially written by staff from National Lampoon magazine. The show ran weekly, for a little over a year, from November 17, 1973 to December 28, 1974...
, which ran for a little over a year in 1973 to 1974. He conceptualized, and wrote all, or nearly all of, the “Public Disservice Announcements” (which were parodies of public service announcements) as well as a number of other pieces. Some selections from the Radio Hour work appeared on the CD album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
Gold Turkey.
He also conceived, wrote, and starred in a one hour, two-episode radio play for The National Lampoon Radio Hour. The play was a spoof of popular science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
/horror
Horror fiction
Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...
dramas, and it was entitled The Sluts from Space. The two episodes aired on May 25 and June 2 of 1974.
Subitzky voiced
Voice acting
Voice acting is the art of providing voices for animated characters and radio and audio dramas and comedy, as well as doing voice-overs in radio and television commercials, audio dramas, dubbed foreign language films, video games, puppet shows, and amusement rides.Performers are called...
the part of the science-nerd
Nerd
Nerd is a derogatory slang term for an intelligent but socially awkward and obsessive person who spends time on unpopular or obscure pursuits, to the exclusion of more mainstream activities. Nerds are considered to be awkward, shy, and unattractive...
hero, Timmy Johnson, who, by clever control of the supply of deodorant
Deodorant
Deodorants are substances applied to the body to affect body odor caused by bacterial growth and the smell associated with bacterial breakdown of perspiration in armpits, feet and other areas of the body. A subgroup of deodorants, antiperspirants, affect odor as well as prevent sweating by...
s, manages to save the world from alien invaders disguised as beautiful and seductive women. The Sluts from Space episodes of the show are listed in detail at: http://www.marksverylarge.com/nlrh/nlrh740525_28.html and http://www.marksverylarge.com/nlrh/nlrh740602_29.html.
Horror stories
In 1980 Subitzky wrote numerous pieces for a nationally-syndicated series of five-minute horror stories, broadcast on radio. The series was entitled Nightwatch.Comedy albums
Subitzky was the sole author of two National Lampoon comedy albums:- Official National Lampoon Stereo Test and Demonstration RecordOfficial National Lampoon Stereo Test and Demonstration RecordThe Official National Lampoon Stereo Test and Demonstration Record was a comedy album in vinyl LP format which was put out by National Lampoon magazine in 1974. The album was a parody of stereo test and demonstration records, which were used by hi-fi enthusiasts to test the performance limits of...
, 1974, voiced by John Belushi and Chevy Chase, among others.
- The Official National Lampoon Stereo Test and Demonstration Tape, 1980, on cassette tapeCompact CassetteThe Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally for dictation, but improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel...
for car stereo.
Comedy writing and performing
Subitzky was a comedy writer on The David Letterman ShowThe David Letterman Show
The David Letterman Show was a live morning NBC talk show hosted by David Letterman from June 23 to October 24, 1980. The show originally ran for 90 minutes, then 60 minutes from August 4 onward.-Background:...
for its first season on the air in 1982, and he also appeared on the show many times, in variations of a sketch
Sketch comedy
A sketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes or vignettes, called "sketches," commonly between one and ten minutes long. Such sketches are performed by a group of comic actors or comedians, either on stage or through an audio and/or visual medium such as broadcasting...
which is sometimes referred to as “The Imposter". In these sketches, Letterman introduces Subitzky as someone else altogether, often a minor celebrity
Celebrity
A celebrity, also referred to as a celeb in popular culture, is a person who has a prominent profile and commands a great degree of public fascination and influence in day-to-day media...
, and after a few minutes of interviewing, Subitzky breaks down and admits to Letterman that he had only pretended to be the other person so that he could be on television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
. He then runs through the audience apologizing abjectly.
Subitzky reprised this role in twelve more appearances on Late Night with David Letterman
Late Night with David Letterman
Late Night with David Letterman is a nightly hour-long comedy talk show on NBC that was created and hosted by David Letterman. It premiered in 1982 as the first incarnation of the Late Night franchise and went off the air in 1993, after Letterman left NBC and moved to Late Show on CBS. Late Night...
.
The New York Times Op/Ed page, and magazine work
During the 1990s, Subitzky had several Op/Art cartoons published on the Opinion/EditorialEditorial
An opinion piece is an article, published in a newspaper or magazine, that mainly reflects the author's opinion about the subject. Opinion pieces are featured in many periodicals.-Editorials:...
page of the New York Times.
His cartoons have also appeared in Natural History
Natural History (magazine)
Natural History is an American natural history magazine. The stated mission of the magazine is to promote public understanding and appreciation of nature and science.- History :...
, The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
, and Tricycle: The Buddhist Review
Tricycle: The Buddhist Review
Tricycle: The Buddhist Review is an independent, nonsectarian Buddhist quarterly magazine established in 1991 by Helen Tworkov. Published by The Tricycle Foundation out of New York City, most issues have interviews with Buddhist teachers, articles or essays on Buddhism and contemporary issues, book...
, and some written pieces of his appeared in Cracked.
Journal of Irreproducible Results
In 1991, he co-wrote a science humor piece for the Journal of Irreproducible ResultsJournal of Irreproducible Results
The Journal of Irreproducible Results is a magazine of science humor. JIR was founded in Israel in 1955 by virologist Alexander Kohn and physicist Harry J. Lipkin, who wanted a humor magazine about science, for scientists. It contains a unique mix of jokes, satire of scientific practice, science...
entitled “A Call For More Scientific Truth in Product Warning Labels”, by Susan Hewitt and Edward Subitzky.http://www.cse.unsw.edu.au/~geoffo/humour/truth/truth.html This piece was subsequently quoted by both New Scientist
New Scientist
New Scientist is a weekly non-peer-reviewed English-language international science magazine, which since 1996 has also run a website, covering recent developments in science and technology for a general audience. Founded in 1956, it is published by Reed Business Information Ltd, a subsidiary of...
and Atlantic Monthly. Over 20 years after the piece was first published, it is still featured (both with and without its title, attribution and introduction) on hundreds of websites, including versions that have been translated into Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, Hungarian
Hungarian language
Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....
and Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
.
Journal of Consciousness Studies
Since the year 2000, based on his long-term interest in scienceScience
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
and philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
, especially the "Hard Problem" of consciousness, Subitzky has been contributing to a peer review
Peer review
Peer review is a process of self-regulation by a profession or a process of evaluation involving qualified individuals within the relevant field. Peer review methods are employed to maintain standards, improve performance and provide credibility...
ed academic journal
Academic journal
An academic journal is a peer-reviewed periodical in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as forums for the introduction and presentation for scrutiny of new research, and the critique of existing research...
, the Journal of Consciousness Studies
Journal of Consciousness Studies
The Journal of Consciousness Studies is an interdisciplinary peer-reviewed academic journal dedicated entirely to the field of consciousness studies. It was previously edited by Joseph Goguen. It has been co-edited by the philosopher of mysticism, Robert K.C...
(JCS), published by Imprint Academic of Exeter, England.
Subitzky has had two cartoons, a 4-page comic strip, three written articles, and a poem published in this journal. Some of the pieces are humorous and some are not. In chronological order they are: an essay "I am a conscious essay" http://www.imprint.co.uk/jcs_10_12.html#subitzky, a single-panel untitled cartoon which was used as a frontispiece
Book frontispiece
A frontispiece is a decorative illustration facing a book's title page. The frontispiece is the verso opposite the recto title page. Elaborate engraved frontispieces were in frequent use, especially in Bibles and in scholarly books, and many are masterpieces of engraving...
, the 4-page comic strip "Inkland" http://www.imprint.co.uk/pdf/Subitzky.pdf, the short science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
story "The Voyage" http://www.imprint.co.uk/pdf/Subitzky_Reflection.pdf, another science fiction short story, "The Experiment" http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/imp/jcs/latest and a poem, "Mirage" http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/imp/jcs/2008/00000015/00000012/art00005. In 2010, a single-panel cartoon of his on the subject of the Turing test
Turing test
The Turing test is a test of a machine's ability to exhibit intelligent behaviour. In Turing's original illustrative example, a human judge engages in a natural language conversation with a human and a machine designed to generate performance indistinguishable from that of a human being. All...
was used as the cover art for the double issue of JCS: Volume 17 No.1–2.
Another Imprint Academic publication
The book, What does it all mean? A humanistic account of human experience by William A. Adams, 2005, 250 pages, published by Imprint Academic, featured cover art by Ed Subitzky, a single panel cartoon on the subject of consciousness.Film-related work
Subitzky conceived, wrote, and did the original drawings for, a short animatedAnimation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
film which was then produced, and subsequently bought by Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
, but was not aired. He co-wrote a screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
, which was bought but not produced. He also wrote the lyrics
Lyrics
Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...
for a country song
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
which appeared as background music in a bar scene in another film (Kandyland, 1987). http://www.fandango.com/edsubitzky/filmography/p113165 http://www.vh1.com/movies/person/100246/personmain.jhtml?personid=100246
Character modeling
Subitzky appeared in the Lampoon magazine as a character modelModel (person)
A model , sometimes called a mannequin, is a person who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art....
in editorial photographs 54 times. In 1977 he appeared on the cover of the book National Lampoon Gentleman's Bathroom Companion as the Ty-D-Bol man (a spoof
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of commercials for a blue-tinted toilet bowl cleaner). In 1988 he was featured on the cover of the March–April issue of National Lampoon magazine as a disappointed television viewer http://lampoon.rwinters.com/Lampoon1988.htm.
During the 1990s, Subitzky occasionally worked for the modeling agency
Modeling agency
A modeling agency is a company that represents fashion models, to work for the fashion industry. These agencies earn their income via commission, usually from the deal they make with the model and or the head agency....
FunnyFace Today, appearing in a few publications including Redbook
Redbook
Redbook is an American women's magazine published by the Hearst Corporation. It is one of the "Seven Sisters", a group of women's service magazines.-History:...
.
In the 1980s Subitzky was the sole actor in a television commercial
Television advertisement
A television advertisement or television commercial, often just commercial, advert, ad, or ad-film – is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization that conveys a message, typically one intended to market a product...
for a video game called Mountain King.
A 2006 parody
In 2006, an AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n magazine, POX, ran a multi-page National Lampoon magazine parody
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
, which included a take-off of Subitzky's comic strips.
The 2010 book Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead
A chapter about Ed Subitzky (pages 208 – 213) is included in the 2010 coffee-table book about the early years of National Lampoon Magazine,Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Writers and Artists Who Made the National Lampoon Insanely Great by Rick Meyerowitz
Rick Meyerowitz
Rick Meyerowitz is an American artist. He started drawing during his childhood and attended art school at Boston University...
.
The 2011 book The Someday Funnies
A comic strip by Subitzky is included in the book The Someday FunniesThe Someday Funnies
The Someday Funnies is an exceptionally large and varied book of comics which was published by Abrams on November 1, 2011. During the early 1970s, the humorist Michel Choquette gradually put together a unique collection of comics about the 1960s, by soliciting work internationally from contemporary...
, a collection of original comics about the 1960s, edited by Michel Choquette
Michel Choquette
Michel Choquette is a French Canadian from Montreal, a humorist who has written for print, for television and for film, and a comedian who has performed for television....
, which was released by Abrams
ABRAMS Books
Abrams, formerly Harry N. Abrams, Inc. , is an American publisher of high-quality art and illustrated books, and the enterprise is presently a subsidiary of the French publisher La Martinière Groupe...
on November 1, 2011. http://www.amazon.com/Someday-Funnies-Michel-Choquette/dp/0810996189
External links
- http://www.marksverylarge.com Currently this is the major, and definitive, Lampoon information site
- http://lampoon.rwinters.com Shows all the Lampoon covers
- http://www.cse.unsw.edu.au/~geoffo/humour/truth/truth.html One of many sites which show the "product warning labels" piece
- http://homepage.mac.com/hewsub/ Has two images
Books
- Josh Karp, 2004 Chicago Review Press, A Futile and Stupid Gesture: How Doug Kenney and National Lampoon Changed Comedy Forever, Chicago Review Press, 2006, ISBN 1556526024, 9781556526022
- Matty Simmons, 1994, Barricade Books, If You Don't Buy This Book We'll Kill This Dog: Life, Laughs, Love and Death at the National Lampoon ISBN 1569800022; ISBN 978-1569800027
- Tony HendraTony HendraTony Hendra is an English satirist and writer who has worked mostly in the United States. Educated at St Albans School and Cambridge University, he was a member of the Cambridge University Footlights revue in 1962, alongside John Cleese, Graham Chapman and Tim Brooke-Taylor.-Career:In 1964 Hendra...
, 1987, Dolphin Doubleday, Going Too FarGoing Too FarGoing Too Far: the Rise and Demise of Sick, Gross, Black, Sophomoric, Weirdo, Pinko, Anarchist, Underground, Anti-establishment Humor is a 1987 American non-fiction book by British-born humorist Tony Hendra about black humor, what Hendra calls "boomer humor", a twisted style of humor that was...
: the Rise and Demise of Sick, Gross, Black, Sophomoric, Weirdo, Pinko, Anarchist, Underground, Anti-establishment Humor ISBN 0385232233; ISBN 978-0385232234 - Rick MeyerowitzRick MeyerowitzRick Meyerowitz is an American artist. He started drawing during his childhood and attended art school at Boston University...
, 2010, Abrams, Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Writers and Artists Who Made the National Lampoon Insanely Great, ISBN 978-0-8109-8848-4, pages 208–213
Magazines and journals
- LEVIN, Bob, August 2009, The Comics JournalThe Comics JournalThe Comics Journal, often abbreviated TCJ, is an American magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books, comic strips and graphic novels...
, No. 299, p. 30-81, How Michel ChoquetteMichel ChoquetteMichel Choquette is a French Canadian from Montreal, a humorist who has written for print, for television and for film, and a comedian who has performed for television....
(Almost) Assembled the Most Stupendous Comic Book in the World, Starring: Harvey KurtzmanHarvey KurtzmanHarvey Kurtzman was an American cartoonist and the editor of several comic books and magazines. Kurtzman often signed his name H. Kurtz, followed by a stick figure Harvey Kurtzman (October 3, 1924, Brooklyn, New York – February 21, 1993) was an American cartoonist and the editor of several comic...
, Jack KirbyJack KirbyJack Kirby , born Jacob Kurtzberg, was an American comic book artist, writer and editor regarded by historians and fans as one of the major innovators and most influential creators in the comic book medium....
, Federico FelliniFederico FelliniFederico Fellini, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI , was an Italian film director and scriptwriter. Known for a distinct style that blends fantasy and baroque images, he is considered one of the most influential and widely revered filmmakers of the 20th century...
, Art SpiegelmanArt SpiegelmanArt Spiegelman is an American comics artist, editor, and advocate for the medium of comics, best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning comic book memoir, Maus. His works are published with his name in lowercase: art spiegelman.-Biography:Spiegelman was born in Stockholm, Sweden, to Polish Jews...
, Wally WoodWally WoodWallace Allan Wood was an American comic book writer, artist and independent publisher, best known for his work in EC Comics and Mad. He was one of Mads founding cartoonists in 1952. Although much of his early professional artwork is signed Wallace Wood, he became known as Wally Wood, a name he...
, Bill Griffith, Don Martin, Vaughn BodéVaughn BodéVaughn Bodē was an artist involved in underground comics, graphic design and graffiti. He is perhaps best known for his comic strip character Cheech Wizard and artwork depicting voluptuous women. His works are noted for their psychedelic look and feel...
, William Burroughs, Michael O'DonoghueMichael O'DonoghueMichael O'Donoghue was a writer and performer. He was known for his dark and destructive style of comedy and humor, was a major contributor to National Lampoon magazine, and was the first head writer of Saturday Night Live.-Childhood:O'Donoghue was born Michael Henry Donohue in Sauquoit, New York...
, Roy ThomasRoy ThomasRoy William Thomas, Jr. is an American comic book writer and editor, and Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. He is possibly best known for introducing the pulp magazine hero Conan the Barbarian to American comics, with a series that added to the storyline of Robert E...
, Sergio AragonesSergio AragonésSergio Aragonés Domenech is a cartoonist and writer best known for his contributions to Mad Magazine and creator of the comic book Groo the Wanderer....
, Jann WennerJann WennerJann Simon Wenner is the co-founder and publisher of the music and politics biweekly Rolling Stone, as well as the owner of Men's Journal and Us Weekly magazines.-Childhood:...
, Gahan WilsonGahan WilsonGahan Wilson is an American author, cartoonist and illustrator known for his cartoons depicting horror-fantasy situations...
, C.C. Beck, R.O. Blechman, Eugene IonescoEugène IonescoEugène Ionesco was a Romanian and French playwright and dramatist, and one of the foremost playwrights of the Theatre of the Absurd...
, Barry Windsor-SmithBarry Windsor-SmithBarry Windsor-Smith, born Barry Smith is a British comic book illustrator and painter whose best known work has been produced in the United States....
, Guido CrepaxGuido CrepaxGuido Crepax was an Italian comics artist. He is most famous for his character Valentina, created in 1965 and very representative of the spirit of the sixties. The Valentina series of books and strips became noted for Crepax's sophisticated drawing, and for the psychedelic, dreamlike storylines,...
, Ralph SteadmanRalph SteadmanRalph Steadman is a British cartoonist and caricaturist who is perhaps best known for his work with American author Hunter S. Thompson.-Personal life:Steadman was born in Wallasey, Cheshire, and brought up in Towyn, North Wales...
, Steve EnglehartSteve EnglehartSteve Englehart is an American novelist. In his earlier career he was a comic book writer best known for his work at Marvel Comics and DC Comics, particularly in the 1970s...
, Salvador DaliSalvador DalíSalvador Domènec Felip Jacint Dalí i Domènech, Marquis de Púbol , commonly known as Salvador Dalí , was a prominent Spanish Catalan surrealist painter born in Figueres,Spain....
, Arnold RothArnold RothArnold Roth is an American freelance cartoonist and illustrator for advertisements, album covers, books, magazines and newspapers.Novelist John Updike wrote, "All cartoonists are geniuses, but Arnold Roth is especially so."...
, Archie GoodwinArchie Goodwin (comics)Archie Goodwin was an American comic book writer, editor, and artist. He worked on a number of comic strips in addition to comic books, and is best known for his Warren and Marvel Comics work...
, Shary FlennikenShary FlennikenShary Flenniken is an American editor-writer-illustrator and underground cartoonist. After joining the burgeoning underground comics movement in the early 1970s, she became a prominent contributor to National Lampoon and was one of the editors of the magazine for two years...
, Evert Geradts, MoebiusJean GiraudJean Henri Gaston Giraud is a French comics artist. Giraud has earned worldwide fame, not only under his own name but also under the pseudonym Moebius, and to a lesser extent Gir, the latter appearing mostly in the form of a boxed signature at the bottom of the artist's paintings, for instance the...
, Denny O'Neill, Tom WolfeTom WolfeThomas Kennerly "Tom" Wolfe, Jr. is a best-selling American author and journalist. He is one of the founders of the New Journalism movement of the 1960s and 1970s.-Early life and education:...
, Will EisnerWill EisnerWilliam Erwin "Will" Eisner was an American comics writer, artist and entrepreneur. He is considered one of the most important contributors to the development of the medium and is known for the cartooning studio he founded; for his highly influential series The Spirit; for his use of comics as an...
, Frank ZappaFrank ZappaFrank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
and many more - COOKE, Jon B., April 2003, Comic Book ArtistComic Book ArtistComic Book Artist was an American magazine founded by Jon B. Cooke devoted to anecdotal histories of American comic books, with emphasis on comics published since the 1960s...
, 24, "Ed Subitzky Interview: A mind for mirth, the nicest cartoonist in comic book history off the top of his head" - BUTCHER, Susan, & WOOD, Carol, 2006, POX (Australia), # 6, page 26, "Itsy-Bitsy Comics! by Izzy Bitzky"