Last year, thousands of people made the choice to have the seasoned faces of Sid Caesar, Rodney Dangerfield and Jerry Lewis stare back at them. Drew Friedman’s Old Jewish Comedians became a sleeper hit for Fantagraphics. It was so well received that the exclusive Friars Club held a “bookwarming” party, with some of the comedians from the book showing up. Following such a success, Friedman and Fantagraphics bring us More Old Jewish Comedians in April.
“I felt bad that I limited myself to 32 comedians,” Friedman said, explaining why the first book has garnered a sequel. “I felt bad that I didn’t include a lot of women.”
The first book included big names like Dangerfield and Lewis, but also featured obscure talents such as Menasha Skulnick, a Yiddish theater performer from the 1920s and ’30s. More Old Jewish Comedians features illustrations of Woody Allen and Carl Reiner in their golden years, but the obscure acts remain, including the lesser known Marx brothers, Zeppo and Gummo. Larry Storch (F Troop) is notable for being the only comedian who asked to be in the book, even sending Friedman a reference. One woman included in the new book is someone Friedman claims will be the comedian no one will have heard of, Bobbi Baker, “The Queen of the Cruise Ships.”
The book came about when Monte Beauchamp—editor of the comics anthology BLAB!—decided to put together a series of storybooks, each devoted exclusively to the work of BLAB! regulars. When Beauchamp asked Friedman what he wanted to draw, the answers were simple: old, Jewish and comedians. “I wanted them to look past their prime, but still wanting to be in the game,” Friedman said of the cast. “One of the things I like to draw is older people because the history is written on their faces. People have complained to me about my use of liver spots, but the way I see it, liver spots are my ‘Ninas’ ” (referring to legendary caricaturist Al Hirschfeld’s habit of hiding the name of his daughter in each of his drawings).
The books offer Friedman a break from his regular job illustrating current celebrities. “Working at Entertainment Weekly, I had to draw Jennifer Aniston, and then I could go to the book to draw Shecky Greene,” Friedman said. “For me, it was a pleasure.” For most research Friedman relied on an extensive library of books and scrapbooks. It came in handy for people like Gummo Marx, who left his brothers’ comedy team before they started making movies. “I know a lot about [these comedians], but I’m not a historian,” Friedman said.
“The book wasn’t intended as a trip down memory lane or as nostalgia,” Friedman continued. “It wasn’t meant as a history book.” The book doesn’t come with historical notes explaining who the people in the book are. All that’s there is the performer’s stage name, his or her Jewish name and the unmistakable Friedman style of illustration, where a person’s face tells the whole story.
Friedman said he has a long list of comedians out there that he liked to draw, but he isn’t interested in creating a third book. What will arrive next year is a slipcased edition including both books, some new illustrations and, this time, a little bit of history on who’s in there.
