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DMA#53: Drinking Your Own Bath Water: A Morning with Rich Sparks · Draw Me Anything with Jason Chatfield

0:00
SPEAKER_00: Well, we already have 30 people.
0:01
SPEAKER_00: That took five seconds.
0:04
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
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SPEAKER_00: Well, it looks like this is going to be a really popular one.
0:09
SPEAKER_00: We have my friend.
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I want to say my friend,
0:13
but it's an imagined friendship I've had with you for a very
0:16
long time.
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SPEAKER_00: The cartoonist Rich Sparks is here today.
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SPEAKER_00: Welcome, Rich.
0:23
SPEAKER_00: How are you?
0:26
SPEAKER_02: Oh, thanks for having me on.
0:28
SPEAKER_02: I'm really excited about this.
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SPEAKER_00: So am I,
0:31
SPEAKER_00: so am I.
0:32
SPEAKER_00: I mean,
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SPEAKER_00: everyone who knows this show knows that I'm obsessed with,
0:36
SPEAKER_00: you know,
0:37
SPEAKER_00: drawing and cartoons.
0:38
SPEAKER_00: And I have, I sort of fanboy out about cartoons all the time.
0:42
SPEAKER_00: And I am my favorite cartoonist.
0:44
SPEAKER_00: And I,
0:44
SPEAKER_00: what's really strange about you,
0:46
SPEAKER_00: I think it's like you and Barry Lit and John Cuneo,
0:49
SPEAKER_00: I just have this sort of parasocial...
0:53
I've met John and Barry but you and I have never met but I feel
0:58
like I know you
0:59
because I've been following your work for such a long time I'm
1:02
so familiar with
1:03
SPEAKER_00: your work I love your sense of humor it's very similar to mine
1:07
and I just like that you're like a pure cartoonist I think you
1:13
know you just have
1:15
you know this this thing that is is rare and it's a derangement
1:19
of the brain let's
1:20
be honest but it's uh it's truly it's this ability to have an
1:23
idea and then execute
1:25
it on a page and make strangers laugh across the planet which
1:29
is it's a pretty rare
1:30
skill to have it's a thing that is really hard to do well so um
1:34
yeah I just wanted
1:34
SPEAKER_00: to
1:36
say that first up because I'm a big fan of your work for a very
1:38
long time that's
1:40
lovely of you to say it's also lovely of you to include me in
1:43
the company of John
1:44
Cuneo where I don't belong at all because I revere those two
1:49
guys well Barry did
1:52
SPEAKER_02: blurb your new book he did yes he was very nice to do that I've had some
1:58
SPEAKER_02: interactions with him over the years
2:00
SPEAKER_02: Sure.
2:01
SPEAKER_00: Well,
2:01
I wanted to talk about the new book because this is the second
2:04
one that I've bought
2:05
SPEAKER_00: of yours.
2:05
SPEAKER_00: It's a collection of drawings.
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SPEAKER_00: It's called Horseshoes and Tardigrades and Other Drawings by Rich Sparks.
2:14
SPEAKER_00: This is published by our friend Marty at The Week for Humorists.
2:18
SPEAKER_00: And it's one of those things that,
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SPEAKER_00: like,
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SPEAKER_00: a collection of cartoons is really hard to put together.
2:24
SPEAKER_00: It's...
2:26
there's no thread there's no theme it's just like how do you
2:30
know what order to put
2:31
these crazy ideas in how do you spread them out how do you show
2:35
them in such a way
2:35
that if you just open this book to any page you're just going
2:39
to enjoy yourself and
2:40
SPEAKER_00: I spent
2:42
like as soon as I got this book the other day I just like I
2:45
couldn't put it down
2:46
I'm not exaggerating I had my mail all my mailbox stuff I had
2:51
all these urgent
2:52
things I just wanted to and I just sat there for like an hour
2:54
and a half just going
2:55
through this book and it's a fantastic new book so congrats by
3:00
the way congrats on
3:00
SPEAKER_00: the book and thanks to Marty for putting it out
3:05
SPEAKER_00: Yo, I mean, of course, our friend Marty at the Weekly Humorous.
3:07
I'm going to have to get him on the show when he's not busy
3:10
doing a million things
3:10
SPEAKER_00: at once,
3:11
SPEAKER_00: like running comedy clubs.
3:13
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I know.
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SPEAKER_02: He's so busy, that guy.
3:15
SPEAKER_00: I know.
3:16
SPEAKER_00: I know.
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SPEAKER_00: He's ex-New York.
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SPEAKER_00: I mean, he was in Brooklyn for a long time, and we lost him, so...
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but is still running Weekly Humorous so I wanted to ask you
3:28
about your work you're
3:29
based in Chicago you have been working for a long time you're
3:33
published in pretty
3:35
much everywhere that takes cartoons at this point and I see a
3:39
lot of your stuff in
3:40
airmail which I really like I enjoy seeing your work there and
3:45
obviously in the New
3:46
SPEAKER_00: Yorker and everywhere that
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you know has ever published cartoons really but where did you
3:53
really get your start
3:54
I heard this apocryphal story that may or may not be true about
3:58
when you were
3:59
working was it at a grocery store you were doing this sort of
4:03
little daily panel
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thing what was that story I can't believe that yeah when I
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moved to Chicago I
4:09
worked at a grocery store and there had been this sign on the
4:14
scale in the produce
4:15
SPEAKER_02: department I worked in produce and um
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it said ring bell I can't remember what it was ring bell for
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fast service or
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something like that I can't even remember what it was but that
4:29
sign had obviously
4:30
been up there forever you know for like a hundred and so one
4:34
day I thought well
4:35
I'll just redraw it and I just drew some characters saying that
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and then before I
4:40
SPEAKER_02: knew it like weekly I was changing it and people were coming there
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SPEAKER_02: I'm being told I have an unstable internet connection sometimes.
5:04
SPEAKER_00: We're both deeply unstable people.
5:07
SPEAKER_01: This is part of the course.
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I like that you've got the sound dampening behind you The
5:13
reason for that,
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SPEAKER_00: from what I understand,
5:16
SPEAKER_00: is because in addition to being a cartoonist,
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SPEAKER_00: you're also a musician You have a band,
5:22
SPEAKER_00: which is pretty cool,
5:22
SPEAKER_00: and it's mentioned in here,
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it's an indie band called The Last Afternoons How long have you
5:27
been doing that
5:27
SPEAKER_00: for?
5:29
SPEAKER_02: Let's see, that particular band, I've been in bands forever
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SPEAKER_02: That particular band we just realized is 10 years old this year Oh wow,
5:39
SPEAKER_02: nice,
5:39
SPEAKER_02: congrats Put out several albums But yeah,
5:45
it was kind of shocking Because it feels like I can remember
5:49
starting the band like
5:49
SPEAKER_02: last week What kind of music is it?
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SPEAKER_02: There's a term for it We call it power pop And a lot of people don't
6:02
Either they don't know what that is or it sounds ridiculous It
6:06
does sound like some
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SPEAKER_02: kind of candy It does,
6:11
exactly But this is what Cheap Trick is and Bad Finger back in
6:16
the day This is all
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power pop Fountains of Wayne But lately we have been sort of
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thinking of ourselves
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SPEAKER_02: as indie pop
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that we don't always necessarily have to follow the formula of
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first chorus verse
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SPEAKER_02: big booming everything,
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SPEAKER_02: although we do that a lot.
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SPEAKER_02: That's kind of our bread and butter.
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SPEAKER_02: So you perform live?
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SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
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SPEAKER_02: We play in Chicago a lot.
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SPEAKER_02: We're not especially...
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One thing about Chicago and I'm assuming that this might be the
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case for bands all
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over the country or cities all over the country that any city
7:07
will have a certain
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SPEAKER_02: phase where there are popular local bands and then
7:15
Decades will go by and you'll say whatever happened to and what
7:20
you realize is that
7:21
SPEAKER_02: they're still doing it.
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SPEAKER_02: They're still making music.
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So Chicago I would say that we are in a like early 2000s phase
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where there was some
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SPEAKER_02: notoriety and
7:37
SPEAKER_02: I don't know it's one of these
7:59
SPEAKER_02: One of these professions,
8:00
SPEAKER_02: profession maybe isn't the word,
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SPEAKER_02: but it's one of these passionate hobbies that people don't let go of.
8:09
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
8:10
SPEAKER_02: Well,
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I saw this interview with Sting the other day and he was he was
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saying I mean
8:23
obviously he's a you know kabillionaire but he said that's not
8:27
what it's all about
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because it's just that I'm not I can't turn it off and that's
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sort of how I feel
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like people who are cartooning or whatever in music you can't
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turn it off so you
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just keep doing it yeah you can't not do it I think that's a
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that is a common thing
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I noticed that with comedians as well there's a there's
8:45
standard comedians who
8:47
SPEAKER_00: You know,
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you'll bump into them on the road doing shows or whatever and
8:50
you'll sort of go,
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SPEAKER_00: oh,
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SPEAKER_00: you'll have an interaction and then years later,
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SPEAKER_00: like 10 years later,
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SPEAKER_00: 20 years later,
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SPEAKER_00: you go,
8:54
SPEAKER_00: what ever happened to that guy?
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And you have this thing where you like Google them or find,
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hey,
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did they die?
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SPEAKER_00: What happened?
9:00
SPEAKER_00: And then nine times
9:02
out of town they died I'm kidding no they there is a point
9:05
where you realize oh
9:06
shit they're still going they're still doing it but nothing
9:10
strange they just it's
9:11
not that they plateaued per se it's just that they were only
9:14
ever doing it to do it
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they weren't doing it to get famous they weren't doing it to
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get a late night spot
9:17
or a sitcom or thing you know those are great amazing things to
9:20
get and they're
9:21
great when they happen for you they're great for your career
9:24
but the real like
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lifers the comedians who do it for the right reasons are doing
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it because they
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SPEAKER_00: can't not do it right yeah
9:32
it's a compulsion but musicians I think are very similar yeah
9:39
is it okay if I share
9:40
some of the cartoons in this book because I alright so if
9:44
anyone is any uninitiated
9:47
Rich Sparks or you know someone who hasn't seen your work for
9:50
someone who hasn't
9:52
seen your work what is like a I mean I want to get a sense from
9:58
you because I'm
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SPEAKER_00: going to give one but
10:01
what is the thing that sort of defines your work what do you
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think it separates
10:05
your work from other cartoonists oh I would have no idea about
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that I don't know I
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SPEAKER_02: don't know um one thing I do know though is that the uh
10:20
we know this term the gag panel which is what you're seeing in
10:25
magazines when
10:26
cartoons is not an easy fit for me the only thing I would say
10:34
is that I have to
10:38
kind of redirect myself down into a certain channel in order to
10:45
get to the gag
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SPEAKER_02: panel
10:47
SPEAKER_02: Right.
11:08
put out some of these but even but yeah so that's all yeah okay
11:13
and uh regular
11:14
readers will remember Michael Gober being on the show at
11:17
American Bystander great
11:18
publication love that guy I've got I've got a lot to say about
11:21
Michael love that
11:22
yeah yeah yeah really really uh it's it's it's doing he's doing
11:27
great things he's
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uh really it's a very selfless uh crazy thing to do to be to be
11:34
running something
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SPEAKER_00: like American Bystander he's a he's he's
11:37
SPEAKER_00: We're lucky for it.
11:39
SPEAKER_00: So this book is,
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SPEAKER_00: I've got a bunch of sort of to show people like,
11:45
SPEAKER_00: all right,
11:45
SPEAKER_00: Rich Sparks,
11:46
SPEAKER_00: who is he?
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SPEAKER_00: What is his style?
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SPEAKER_00: Some of them are captionless.
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SPEAKER_00: Some of them just have like a little title in the bottom left.
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And this one was one of the first ones that jumped out at me
11:57
because there's a term
11:58
SPEAKER_00: in Australia.
11:59
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you've ever heard this term.
12:01
SPEAKER_00: where I'm from.
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SPEAKER_00: If someone's being a bit arrogant, they're kind of full of themselves.
12:06
SPEAKER_00: My uncle taught me this one when I was a kid.
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SPEAKER_00: They really are just too into their own stuff.
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SPEAKER_00: You'll say, mate, look at this guy.
12:16
SPEAKER_00: He drinks his own fucking bath water.
12:18
SPEAKER_00: So this is the literal interpretation of drinking your own bath water.
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SPEAKER_02: Wow.
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SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
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SPEAKER_00: This is Australian for arrogant.
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SPEAKER_02: Hey, one thing I've heard about Australians is the tall poppy syndrome.
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SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's the same thing.
12:39
That's part and parcel of not letting people enjoy their
12:43
success or be able to talk
12:46
SPEAKER_00: themselves up at all is that tall poppy syndrome.
12:50
SPEAKER_02: I love that.
12:50
SPEAKER_02: I love that.
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SPEAKER_02: I think that's a fabulous way to be.
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SPEAKER_02: I think Americans could use that.
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SPEAKER_00: It certainly keeps your head screwed on Who's going to publish that?
13:11
Nipokyo I mean mad maybe but there are these things you do with
13:17
wordplay and I'm
13:19
sure it's just like some random idea comes to you in the shower
13:22
or while you're
13:22
walking or playing music or whatever it is and it's like a
13:25
spoonerism or it's a pun
13:27
or something and you go ooh write that down that could be
13:30
something like these
13:34
SPEAKER_00: one-off drawings of like
13:39
SPEAKER_00: You wouldn't call it, is that a spoonerism, would you say?
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SPEAKER_02: I can't remember what a spoonerism is.
13:46
Yeah,
13:46
it's something like one part of the word is switched with the
13:49
other part of the word.
13:50
SPEAKER_00: I'm probably wrong on that.
13:52
SPEAKER_00: Just a regular country cartoonist is drawing an utter.
13:56
SPEAKER_02: This is what I imagine Barry Blitt does out in the country out there.
14:02
SPEAKER_02: I do always imagine that cartoonists are secretly pervs, so...
14:06
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, or the plein air cartoonist that you put in the book back here.
14:12
SPEAKER_00: This is another scenario.
14:15
SPEAKER_00: Oh, portmanteau.
14:18
SPEAKER_00: Thanks, Bear Edmonds.
14:19
SPEAKER_00: It's a portmanteau is the word I was looking for, not splinterism.
14:23
And people in the chat are also very excited about the fact
14:26
that you actually
14:27
SPEAKER_00: included tardigrades on the book.
14:31
SPEAKER_00: Well, I'm a big tardigrades fan, yeah.
14:34
SPEAKER_00: I
14:37
and a hello in the chat from our buddy Bucky Jones there oh
14:43
yeah there's only one
14:46
other person I know apart from you and John Cunha who draws a
14:49
penis that well and
14:50
SPEAKER_00: it's Bucky Jones thank you I love it
14:56
SPEAKER_00: This one is great.
14:57
SPEAKER_00: These caption lists,
14:58
SPEAKER_00: in my mind,
15:00
SPEAKER_00: I sort of got this from just looking at too many Sam Gross cartoons,
15:04
SPEAKER_00: I think,
15:05
SPEAKER_00: or just obsessing over old New Yorker cartoons.
15:09
SPEAKER_00: I love a caption list.
15:10
SPEAKER_00: I'm a big fan of a caption list cartoon.
15:15
SPEAKER_02: Yeah,
15:15
SPEAKER_02: they don't always occur to me,
15:17
SPEAKER_02: but when they do,
15:18
SPEAKER_02: I'm usually happy that they have happened.
15:21
yeah yeah because it is harder to do I mean I find it really
15:25
difficult if I can
15:25
show don't tell then I will but it's it's easier said than done
15:30
truly this other
15:31
SPEAKER_00: one this is fantastic this is
15:34
Dogcast I would listen to this show any day of the week over
15:40
most podcasts and I
15:44
SPEAKER_00: would be interested in everything he had to say what I noticed by the way
15:47
throughout the book is there's all these little deep cuts
15:49
there's these little
15:50
SPEAKER_00: cartooning deep cuts like um
15:54
Leonardo da Muncie Renaissance Man Muncie is in Indiana right
16:00
right Muncie Indiana
16:02
of course famously or or not famously I don't know who knows
16:05
this maybe it's just
16:06
because of a cartoonist we know this is Jim Davis of Garfield I
16:09
think he owns half
16:09
of Muncie at this point uh but uh this is an interesting little
16:16
these these little
16:18
so I don't know where you start with these I don't know if it's
16:21
like one idea and
16:22
then you build it out but it's this guy this guy in a bow tie
16:26
is like I bought mini
16:27
golf to Muncie I'm a cult leader and all my teeth are made of
16:31
vinyl and I came up
16:33
SPEAKER_00: with Muncie nickname the Muncie nickname Magic City
16:41
SPEAKER_00: I'm also well known for the sex position called Amnigs.
16:46
SPEAKER_00: Where do these come from?
16:48
SPEAKER_00: Do you just look at him and say, what would he say?
16:50
SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
16:51
SPEAKER_02: Actually, I drew this guy from TV.
16:54
SPEAKER_01: You did?
16:55
SPEAKER_02: Somebody out there,
16:56
SPEAKER_02: and I'm not really a good caricaturist,
16:59
SPEAKER_02: but I have a feeling that somebody out there recognizes this guy.
17:01
SPEAKER_02: I can't even remember where I saw him.
17:04
SPEAKER_02: Right, right.
17:06
SPEAKER_02: So I just did a, you know, I do this a lot.
17:08
SPEAKER_02: I just do a lot of freeze framing on TV and drawing.
17:11
SPEAKER_01: Is that right?
17:13
Do you find that doing that gives you ideas as well,
17:15
like other cartoon ideas?
17:17
SPEAKER_02: It does.
17:18
Like for that one,
17:19
when I do that guy,
17:20
I say,
17:20
oh,
17:21
I got to say something about him.
17:22
SPEAKER_02: Plus, I'm kind of obsessed with Muncie.
17:25
SPEAKER_02: I've never been there, but I...
17:28
There's something about the name of it Muncie sounds so
17:32
quintessentially American
17:33
to me It is I've been to Muncie It is exactly what you think it
17:38
looks like Okay
17:39
There's a lot of wheat fields Some corn There's a bunch of
17:45
college bars there I've
17:48
done comedy there And you know what The headliner for the show
17:52
Instead of doing
17:53
SPEAKER_00: comedy He just held up a boombox above his head And played Metallica
17:58
and everyone clapped I mean it was the strangest gig I've ever
18:01
done but Muncie,
18:03
Indiana that's you know and it is exactly what you think it is
18:06
it's just a
18:06
wholesome main town you know mainstream America style you know
18:12
place very wholesome
18:13
there's another deep cut little Charlie Brown it's like the
18:15
first Charlie Brown
18:17
SPEAKER_00: strip ever published I think this is a reference to right?
18:20
SPEAKER_00: right yeah good old nose hair Jones yes sir how I hate him
18:29
there's another there's another Charlie Brown reference in here
18:33
I didn't flag it
18:34
but it was it was him in the is it the pumpkin patch saying
18:38
like never meet your
18:39
heroes I happen to know that which is like right near the
18:42
beginning it is near the
18:44
beginning somewhere yeah I feel like I noticed that little
18:47
theme there's like a sub
18:49
theme like there's comic references like thing but you know
18:53
from Fantastic Four
18:56
SPEAKER_00: It's like comics and cartoon references Do you keep like,
19:00
what's your And I'm cringing as I'm asking this Because I don't
19:03
want to say where
19:04
do you get your ideas I want to know more about like You get
19:07
this like nugget of an
19:08
SPEAKER_00: idea Or a thing,
19:10
you see a thing on TV There's a face or a name Or like a city
19:14
or town Or something,
19:15
a sign And your brain just does that thing And then where does
19:19
it go from there?
19:20
SPEAKER_00: How do you, do you sketch it out immediately?
19:22
SPEAKER_00: Do you write it down?
19:22
SPEAKER_00: Do you have like a system?
19:25
I have no system but I usually it just starts with drawing
19:30
something and then while
19:32
SPEAKER_02: I'm drawing it something it
19:35
I seem to remember with this one though because this one I
19:38
think I literally drew
19:40
the night before I had to send all the finals to Marty and it
19:46
was I can't remember
19:48
where it came from but it just like occurred to me that Linus
19:54
maybe might be too in
19:57
SPEAKER_02: love with the wrong people
20:01
Never meet your heroes There was another one I think of yours I
20:05
think it's in this
20:05
book actually It's one of the guy carving out the
20:08
jack-o'-lantern And he's carving
20:09
SPEAKER_00: out the eye And the jack-o'-lantern is screaming Like,
20:12
SPEAKER_01: ah,
20:12
SPEAKER_01: why would you do that?
20:16
SPEAKER_00: Very insane,
20:17
sort of like absurd moment And it makes complete sense There's
20:21
another thing that I
20:22
sort of notice about your stuff This is what originally drew me
20:25
to your work When I
20:26
SPEAKER_00: was sort of
20:28
and I think I stumbled on it I'm embarrassed to say on
20:30
Instagram it wasn't
20:32
magazines or anything I first saw on Instagram but then I did a
20:35
deep dive and went
20:36
back and saw all of your published cartoons and just sort of
20:39
really just got so
20:42
mesmerized by your line and by the texture and the characters
20:47
everyone has these
20:47
SPEAKER_00: sort of these heads you know I love a flat top
20:54
glasses you know the flat top rim thing of the glasses which is
21:00
it's a very rich I
21:01
don't know if you did this on purpose it's very rich sparks
21:04
coated glasses anytime
21:07
I see them I think of your work well you can see I have them on
21:11
too yes a lot of
21:13
the guys in these drawings are my dad or versions of my dad wow
21:19
okay that's
21:20
SPEAKER_00: interesting
21:21
so he used to wear glasses wore glasses he had high-waisted
21:26
pants he had a little
21:28
mustache he had more hair than he should have had right and the
21:39
high-waisted pants
21:40
it was also a theme with you I noticed people wearing
21:44
high-waisted pants just
21:47
SPEAKER_00: classic dude you know
21:50
SPEAKER_00: It is a funny look,
21:51
just like the construction of the human body and then putting
21:55
high-waisted pants on
21:57
SPEAKER_00: that body just makes it look so much funnier with like a dad bod.
22:02
There was a Dan Collins question in the chat say how much he
22:06
loves your work,
22:07
SPEAKER_00: but he says,
22:08
SPEAKER_00: how has Facebook not kicked you off?
22:11
SPEAKER_00: Or has it?
22:11
SPEAKER_00: Because I know John Cuneo had a little issue with that at one point.
22:15
SPEAKER_02: You know, the issue comes and goes.
22:18
but I have discovered and I you know I kind of love to bring up
22:28
this topic because
22:29
SPEAKER_02: I don't want something to happen but let's see there are
22:42
There are ways of drawing that are explicit and there are ways
22:47
of drawing that
22:50
aren't and I am trying to figure out how I feel about the
22:58
notion of what's funnier.
23:01
SPEAKER_02: Like, is showing everything funny or is not the way to go?
23:10
SPEAKER_02: And I can't
23:11
It's always back and forth and the in terms of the I don't know
23:16
actual sensors or
23:18
whether it's an algorithm or something like that it does seem
23:23
to have go through
23:24
phases Oh okay so do you think there's an like because AI is
23:29
obviously automating a
23:30
lot of the moderation on these platforms now do you think
23:32
there's just like buggy
23:34
AI that's kind of misidentifying things or flagging certain
23:37
things that it sees or
23:38
SPEAKER_00: is it other people seeing them and flagging them
23:41
SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
23:41
SPEAKER_02: I remember hearing one time that at least on Facebook,
23:45
and I guess that would work the same for Instagram since
23:48
they're both met,
23:49
SPEAKER_02: that they have a team of people.
23:52
SPEAKER_02: But now I'm wondering if that team of people still exists or not.
23:56
SPEAKER_02: I really don't know.
23:57
SPEAKER_02: I really don't know.
23:59
SPEAKER_02: And I actually try not to even think about it.
24:01
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's best not to think about it.
24:03
SPEAKER_02: I feel like I'm always on the verge of getting in trouble.
24:06
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's the unknowable.
24:07
SPEAKER_00: Oh, that's always a great place to be living, though, Rich.
24:10
SPEAKER_00: I think you're always on the verge of getting into trouble.
24:14
SPEAKER_00: This is another one that I was like, it was such a simple idea.
24:18
SPEAKER_00: Brian Drain.
24:20
SPEAKER_00: It's
24:20
SPEAKER_00: I was just changing one letter in the whole thing.
24:24
SPEAKER_00: But I don't know why it just, it made me burst out laughing.
24:27
SPEAKER_00: I just, it was perfect.
24:30
There's several little moments like that throughout the book
24:33
that I just like,
24:35
SPEAKER_00: I didn't see it coming.
24:36
SPEAKER_00: It was probably because it was after a lot of things like,
24:40
SPEAKER_00: you know,
24:41
SPEAKER_00: testicle slinking,
24:42
SPEAKER_00: you know,
24:42
SPEAKER_00: like these other sort of zigzag things.
24:47
Ziggy like just these things that were not similar and then all
24:51
of a sudden you
24:52
know it sort of shocks you out of nowhere and uh sacrifice
24:58
right some of these
25:02
things are uh the actual wording in is a visual more like that
25:09
like Brian Drain
25:10
SPEAKER_02: thing yeah like I
25:12
SPEAKER_02: for being so happy when that occurred to me.
25:16
SPEAKER_02: I thought, like, if I say it out loud, it doesn't mean anything.
25:20
SPEAKER_02: Right.
25:21
SPEAKER_02: Of like, oh, okay.
25:23
SPEAKER_02: All right.
25:23
SPEAKER_02: Now I get it.
25:25
SPEAKER_01: Like, this one.
25:29
SPEAKER_00: The other thing I really enjoy is that,
25:32
SPEAKER_00: and I don't know,
25:32
SPEAKER_00: I want to talk to you about this a little bit because you do these,
25:36
SPEAKER_00: ah,
25:36
SPEAKER_00: it's got a boy.
25:38
SPEAKER_00: Ah.
25:39
these sort of the eyes for your characters are kind of like
25:43
these wide sort of
25:45
SPEAKER_00: they're never like giant goofy googly eyes
25:49
you sort of have this you know wide set and then often you know
25:53
very very simple
25:54
but then but the most part a lot of people are wearing glasses
25:57
and I wonder if
25:58
there's a theory I guess you know whenever I draw people with
26:02
glasses so that you
26:02
can't see their pupils I feel like there's that Scott McCloud
26:06
theory of like you
26:07
know you being sort of projected onto the character a little
26:11
bit because you can't
26:12
see their pupils do you do that consciously or subconsciously
26:15
do you think there's
26:15
SPEAKER_00: like a theory behind that
26:18
there probably is somebody probably has a theory I don't but
26:24
you know I it's
26:25
another thing that I wrestle with because there's maybe this
26:31
goes back to say like
26:32
the far side or something sure Gary Lawson right and that
26:37
there's a comedy value in
26:39
letting eyebrows do all the work yes yes but every once in a
26:44
while I will draw
26:46
an eyeball within glasses and I feel I do it so rarely that I
26:52
feel like it's for a
26:54
reason right right right yeah I mean if it's a real like if
26:58
it's a if it's a
26:59
reaction I think I notice you do it a lot like if the person
27:02
needs to be reacting
27:03
to the gag to land like that pumpkin gag kind of needs him to
27:07
look kind of upset
27:09
SPEAKER_00: you know right yeah you don't want you don't want to hide it
27:13
SPEAKER_00: Right, right, right.
27:14
SPEAKER_00: Otherwise, he just kind of looks like a psychopath.
27:16
SPEAKER_00: But also, the eyebrows do do a ton of work.
27:19
SPEAKER_00: I mean,
27:20
SPEAKER_00: it's interesting how,
27:22
SPEAKER_00: you know,
27:23
the shape of the glasses and then the eyebrows actually kind of
27:25
do a lot of work,
27:26
SPEAKER_00: especially if it's just like straight across.
27:30
SPEAKER_00: You know, Democles has a variety of...
27:33
I feel like in that one right there,
27:34
I feel like the sweat drop is doing all the work.
27:37
SPEAKER_00: That is doing a lot of heavy lifting.
27:39
SPEAKER_00: I love this one.
27:40
SPEAKER_00: This is one of the great,
27:42
SPEAKER_00: I think,
27:42
a perfect encapsulation of a great Rich Sparks cartoon is that
27:46
you see it,
27:47
SPEAKER_00: you see the gag,
27:48
SPEAKER_00: you do the whole,
27:48
SPEAKER_00: you know,
27:50
SPEAKER_00: the thing your brain does,
27:51
SPEAKER_00: but then you spot this little detail and you're like,
27:54
SPEAKER_00: ah,
27:55
SPEAKER_00: there it is.
27:56
SPEAKER_00: So, do you just sit with a sketchbook and sort of noodle away?
28:01
SPEAKER_00: Are you a doodle firster?
28:02
SPEAKER_00: Do you sort of noodle away and, you know, come up with ideas?
28:06
SPEAKER_00: Or are you a word firster or a bit of both?
28:09
SPEAKER_02: No, probably more of a doodler.
28:12
SPEAKER_02: But I don't, like, don't sketch.
28:16
SPEAKER_02: I don't, you know, I don't practice.
28:18
SPEAKER_02: But I draw.
28:18
SPEAKER_02: So I guess it's the same thing.
28:20
SPEAKER_02: So I watch a lot of TV shows.
28:22
SPEAKER_02: and I just sit there with a dope hat on my lap.
28:25
And usually something will spring out out of four or five
28:28
drawings over a night.
28:30
SPEAKER_02: Right, right.
28:31
SPEAKER_02: And do you keep a catalog,
28:32
like how do you keep a catalog of your sketchbooks and ideas
28:35
and stuff like that?
28:36
I don't,
28:37
but what I do is I just keep all my sketchbooks and my wife
28:41
hates me.
28:46
So you just have this gigantic stack of sketchbooks that
28:51
someday someone's going to
28:52
have to go through and figure out what the hell to do with all
28:54
these things.
28:55
SPEAKER_00: Is that it?
28:56
SPEAKER_00: I think maybe that's it.
28:59
there was a great there's a great cartoon in here it's a bobber
29:03
it's this guy sort
29:04
of fly fishing and it's just little and it was bombing there
29:08
what I really love
29:09
about it is like there you when you draw someone like in
29:13
profile it's this really
29:15
SPEAKER_00: nice you've got this like hump like hunch on the back
29:18
and like this shape of the way it's a very human shape like
29:23
there's no idealizing
29:24
form or shape or any of these sorts of you know poses where you
29:32
know sometimes you
29:33
I don't know if you consciously or subconsciously will change
29:36
the way that a person
29:38
looks or stands because of the way you've seen it drawn but you
29:42
just have this very
29:43
SPEAKER_00: like honest way of drawing body
29:46
SPEAKER_00: I'm very impressed when anyone has a great body because in my mind
30:14
I see it in three dimensions I mean I see it in rotating so
30:17
it's like you'll say so
30:19
some human is approaching you and you say like wow that person
30:22
has great calves and
30:24
then they turn sideways and it's oh wow this is like they're
30:27
skinny as hell or
30:28
something right right there's no reason to imagine that there's
30:32
any kind of
30:34
standard that matters it obviously doesn't but sometimes when
30:39
you see symmetry
30:42
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, okay.
30:44
SPEAKER_02: It's like shocking to look at.
30:46
SPEAKER_02: And it doesn't really happen that often.
30:48
SPEAKER_02: So in that case, it's pretty good to just let people be people.
30:54
SPEAKER_02: And that's right to draw.
30:57
SPEAKER_02: Yeah,
30:57
SPEAKER_00: I mean,
30:58
SPEAKER_00: symmetry doesn't necessarily happen that frequently in the human form,
31:02
SPEAKER_00: which is why it is so strange when you do see it.
31:06
SPEAKER_00: I think the asymmetry of a face is kind of how you
31:09
SPEAKER_00: Nail likeness sometimes is by just finding those little asymmetries.
31:13
SPEAKER_00: But yeah,
31:15
SPEAKER_00: but it is a funny sort of idea to kind of to think about,
31:20
SPEAKER_00: you know,
31:20
because I think especially with the algorithm and with sort of
31:24
the way the bodies
31:25
SPEAKER_00: that people see,
31:26
it sort of consciously or subconsciously creates this idea of
31:29
what a body is meant
31:31
SPEAKER_00: to
31:31
you know quote unquote meant to look like and I think it
31:35
distorts it I think it
31:36
distorts what a what a real human body looks like some you know
31:42
some kind of Greek
31:43
or Roman god it's like you know this is everybody's kind of
31:46
different and it's
31:47
meant to be and it's meant to look a little bit silly and funny
31:50
in parts and you
31:51
know every bit doesn't have to be perfect and aesthetically
31:53
pleasing you know
31:55
SPEAKER_00: sometimes it can just be a body it's fine
31:59
SPEAKER_00: Hey, this is really good.
32:00
SPEAKER_02: Hey, you're good at this.
32:01
SPEAKER_02: You should try to make a career with it.
32:03
SPEAKER_00: Nah, there's no money in it.
32:06
SPEAKER_00: Yeah,
32:07
SPEAKER_00: I wanted to ask,
32:09
SPEAKER_00: and I guess it's like a cartoonist's question,
32:13
SPEAKER_00: is do you use just like a regular,
32:15
SPEAKER_00: like what do you use,
32:15
SPEAKER_00: like a pen,
32:16
SPEAKER_00: a ballpoint pen,
32:17
SPEAKER_00: a pilot,
32:18
SPEAKER_00: a fountain pen?
32:20
SPEAKER_00: What's your weapon of choice?
32:21
SPEAKER_00: You dropped there for a second.
32:22
SPEAKER_00: Oh, I'm sorry.
32:24
SPEAKER_00: I was wondering what your weapon of choice is.
32:26
SPEAKER_00: Do you have a fountain pen?
32:29
I don't have it with me I use a roller pen vision oh uniball
32:38
uniball uniball vision
32:39
that's what I use years ago I found it and it after trying
32:45
different things I tried
32:46
it and it was just right and I've never looked back that's it
32:53
is it the Elise?
32:57
SPEAKER_02: no it's not quite that
32:59
It's called Vision This one Unibull Vision Oh,
33:05
the one with the What do you call it?
33:08
SPEAKER_00: This one here, right?
33:12
SPEAKER_02: Well, maybe Mine is silver Oh, okay Probably is
33:17
SPEAKER_00: Yeah,
33:18
SPEAKER_00: the reason I was using this for a while,
33:20
SPEAKER_00: the reason I like them is once in a while,
33:23
SPEAKER_00: you know,
33:23
I'll be sketching away with these and I'll want to kind of add
33:28
just a little detail
33:29
SPEAKER_00: or like a smidge of like a wash or something.
33:32
SPEAKER_00: So I'll kind of cheat,
33:35
SPEAKER_00: you know,
33:35
if there's like a hat or something like that and I want to kind
33:39
of give it some
33:40
SPEAKER_00: color.
33:42
SPEAKER_00: I'll...
33:44
sort of patch it a little bit knowing that I'm going to kind of
33:48
ruin it and then
33:49
because this is non-waterproof ink you can use like a water
33:54
brush and just kind of
33:57
smudge the ink to create a little wash and it just looks like
34:05
you brought you know
34:06
ink and watercolors or whatever the hell with you but you're
34:09
really just cheating
34:10
SPEAKER_00: there you're really just using the ink from the pen
34:13
SPEAKER_02: You have just taught me something.
34:15
SPEAKER_02: So this is the reason I should learn something.
34:19
SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
34:20
SPEAKER_00: Don't get used to it.
34:22
SPEAKER_00: Don't get used to it, Rich.
34:24
SPEAKER_00: That's the last thing you're going to learn from me.
34:26
SPEAKER_00: If you've ever seen John Cuneo's, like sometimes he'll post videos.
34:30
SPEAKER_00: Oh, I can't stop watching them.
34:32
SPEAKER_00: I've been dating watching those things.
34:34
SPEAKER_02: And one of the things that he does is always just smudging.
34:38
SPEAKER_02: And I've never done that.
34:41
SPEAKER_02: But I think I'm going to,
34:42
SPEAKER_02: between the two of you now,
34:43
SPEAKER_02: I think I'm going to start incorporating it.
34:46
Well,
34:46
I mean,
34:47
the thing about your work,
34:48
though,
34:49
and I really love it,
34:50
is that it's line,
34:51
right?
34:52
SPEAKER_00: And it's texture.
34:54
SPEAKER_00: You always have this ability to find texture.
34:56
SPEAKER_00: There's that great cartoon of Attila the hungover.
35:01
And it had like this sort of texture to the different parts of
35:06
his costume with,
35:07
SPEAKER_00: you know,
35:07
SPEAKER_00: you were using stippling and hatching and all kinds of line.
35:12
SPEAKER_00: You didn't need wash or watercolor, anything.
35:15
SPEAKER_00: You just kind of had it with line.
35:18
and that's such a great skill to have because it reproduces
35:20
well the line weights
35:22
are consistent I think there's something about flat line that
35:25
is kind of funny you
35:26
know in comedy there's just something about instead of like
35:29
swoopy contoured line
35:31
there's something about flat and a little bit kind of wonky
35:35
like this kind of like
35:37
SPEAKER_00: a George Boost sort of level of just like
35:40
and Cuneo I think when I watch him work he uses I think one of
35:45
these I think he
35:47
also uses a uniball but the waterproof one because then he can
35:51
add his wash but
35:52
he'll kind of hold the pen a little further back and he has
35:55
this like really nice
35:56
like wobbly folly to his line and he will add some you know
36:01
texture if he needs to
36:03
but like he'll have and that's why I can't stop watching him
36:07
I'm like he clearly
36:08
SPEAKER_00: has a plan in his head
36:10
I mean I don't know if he does I'm assuming I'm giving him the
36:12
benefit of the doubt
36:13
here he has a plan in his head for what he's trying to make
36:17
happen here but then
36:18
maybe the page is telling him something else or maybe what's
36:22
coming out of the pen
36:23
is different than what he pictured in his head but watching him
36:28
make you know an
36:29
image or a shape and then just sort of it slowly forming I
36:33
forget that not everyone
36:34
SPEAKER_00: can do that and it looks like a magic trick when it's done
36:37
SPEAKER_00: But for him, it's incredible to watch.
36:40
SPEAKER_00: Do you watch a lot of his stuff?
36:43
SPEAKER_00: Not really,
36:43
but there's one in particular that I saw on YouTube where he's
36:49
obviously teaching a
36:51
SPEAKER_02: college course.
36:52
SPEAKER_02: I've seen that one, yeah.
36:54
SPEAKER_02: Dropped in for the day.
36:58
I don't know that he has any kind of plan because it just seems
37:02
like he just goes.
37:04
yeah and it might occur to him like moment to moment that what
37:08
the next thing is
37:09
but I don't think he starts with a plan and uh the last year I
37:12
had an opportunity I
37:14
was sort of inspired and then a friend of mine who teaches at
37:17
Northwestern he
37:19
invited him in and just do some live drawing and oh cool nice
37:23
that was a blast
37:25
SPEAKER_00: Yeah,
37:25
SPEAKER_00: I mean,
37:26
SPEAKER_00: it is fun to kind of,
37:28
SPEAKER_00: you know,
37:28
SPEAKER_00: draw with,
37:29
SPEAKER_00: it's such a solitary job,
37:32
SPEAKER_00: so I'm not totally used to,
37:34
SPEAKER_00: you know,
37:36
SPEAKER_00: drawing with other people in the room.
37:37
You're really just there with your TV or a podcast or something
37:41
or an audio book
37:42
SPEAKER_00: and your ridiculous thoughts,
37:43
SPEAKER_00: you know,
37:44
to have other people in the room while you're doing it is kind
37:46
of a whole new
37:48
SPEAKER_00: experience.
37:50
SPEAKER_02: Well, look at that.
37:51
SPEAKER_02: Wow, that's terrific.
37:53
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's fun to play.
37:54
SPEAKER_00: I had no idea what the fuck that was going to be when I started.
37:57
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, there's this other one that I noticed in there.
38:00
SPEAKER_00: So do you use photo reference or do you just have a visual vocabulary?
38:04
SPEAKER_00: Is it like a corgi?
38:07
SPEAKER_00: You just put the perfect head tilt?
38:10
SPEAKER_02: When I draw animals, I'm usually using a reference.
38:13
SPEAKER_00: You are?
38:14
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
38:15
SPEAKER_02: I mean, they may not have an attitude.
38:17
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
38:19
I supply that but just the pose because one of the things I
38:25
found is that whatever
38:28
you think that's not surreal like whatever you think like a
38:33
dog's back leg looks
38:35
like that picture you go wow wow sometimes you're even kind of
38:41
disappointed you say
38:42
SPEAKER_02: I thought it'd be more interesting yeah
38:45
or it's like it's really fascinating it's like I would never
38:49
even it wouldn't occur
38:50
to me that that's how it looks or also like what's a leg on the
38:55
other side of the
38:55
body how does that look compared to the leg on the front and
38:59
I'm fascinated about
39:01
that yeah it is you know what I remember I don't know if you
39:05
ever saw the great
39:07
documentary called Lost and Found it's by it's Jim Stevenson
39:12
James Stevenson the um
39:14
the New Yorker cartoonist and he this quote really stuck with
39:18
me it's at the start
39:20
of the film and it's about kind of exactly that you know you
39:25
think you know what
39:26
something looks like but he said until you draw a picture of
39:30
something you are apt
39:33
SPEAKER_00: to be dead wrong about what it looks like yes
39:40
and it's true until you draw it you don't actually do the work
39:44
of like figuring out
39:45
the shape of the thing or how it fits or you know a dog leg is
39:49
such a weird thing
39:50
SPEAKER_00: to
39:51
to try and figure out like I when I was drawing the dogs in in
39:54
this book I had like
39:55
I thought I knew what a dog looked like I spent you know months
40:00
trying to figure
40:01
out the shape of a how a dog looks funny when he jumps up and
40:04
like catches a ball
40:05
or something I had a version in my head and then there's the
40:08
reality of what it
40:08
actually kind of looks like and then I land somewhere in
40:11
between you know like a
40:13
like a dog jumping in the air the anatomy is ridiculous so it
40:17
just looks completely
40:19
SPEAKER_00: stupid but yeah I think
40:21
until you draw it you don't figure it out but then you know
40:25
when it comes to like
40:26
cartoons especially like gag panels that you're going to be
40:30
somewhere the the there
40:33
also is a reality within the gag panel world so like you can go
40:41
all crazy trying to
40:42
get a dog right but getting a dog right may not be getting a
40:46
dog funny yes make
40:49
SPEAKER_02: sure to like
40:53
SPEAKER_02: Be mindful of genre standards.
40:58
SPEAKER_02: To get a laugh, that is.
41:00
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
41:01
SPEAKER_00: That's so interesting.
41:03
SPEAKER_00: Getting a dog right doesn't mean getting a dog funny.
41:05
It's such an interesting insight because you kind of are
41:09
caricaturing in a little
41:10
way or pulling out the thing that makes it work for the joke or
41:15
they are just funny
41:16
SPEAKER_00: looking instead of trying to make it perfectly faithful to what it is.
41:22
SPEAKER_00: There's a funnier version of that pose or whatever it is By the way,
41:27
I had a question in the chat Are you going to be returning to
41:30
your hometown this
41:32
August for the 80th anniversary of the National Cartoonist
41:35
Society at the Billy
41:36
SPEAKER_00: Island Cartoon Museum and Library?
41:39
SPEAKER_02: No
41:44
but I have been to that museum though because I went to Ohio
41:48
State and oh okay it's
41:52
so great what a great repository it is it's like Disneyland in
41:58
there it's crazy for
41:59
cartoonists oh my god yeah people think Disneyland is
42:03
Disneyland for cartoonists no
42:04
the Billy is Disneyland for cartoonists single as originals in
42:07
the flat files oh my
42:09
SPEAKER_00: god
42:10
it's amazing and you know when I was there I saw Caitlin in
42:16
behind the door and I
42:18
was going to we were you know we're like social media friends
42:23
but never met in
42:24
person and I was going to introduce myself and I just I got a
42:29
little bit starstruck
42:31
SPEAKER_02: it's Caitlin McGurk I mean come on did she take you for the tour
42:38
SPEAKER_02: No, because I chickened out.
42:39
SPEAKER_02: I couldn't bring myself to introduce myself.
42:42
SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh.
42:43
SPEAKER_00: She would have been so thrilled to meet you, Rich.
42:46
SPEAKER_00: She's a complete cartoon obsessive.
42:49
SPEAKER_00: She knows cartoonists.
42:51
SPEAKER_00: She would have loved to meet you.
42:53
SPEAKER_02: Well, maybe someday.
42:55
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
42:56
for those who are unsure about what we're talking about the
43:00
Billy Island Cartoon
43:01
SPEAKER_00: Museum Library in Columbus,
43:02
Ohio at Ohio State is the biggest cartoon library in the world
43:06
and has I think now
43:09
the biggest selection of cartoons and manga like a comic
43:13
collection as well of
43:14
SPEAKER_00: anywhere in the world
43:17
um so yeah if you're in if you're in Ohio you should go and
43:19
visit and Caitlin
43:20
McGurk is a curator there uh we have a question from Bear
43:23
Edwards Rich do you
43:24
sketch in pencil at all or just straight inkwood are you ala
43:27
prima over here you're
43:28
just diving in with a pen without any rust I just I dive in
43:32
with a pen and I say
43:34
that I have um pardon me here I have um every once in a while I
43:40
can't figure out I
43:42
SPEAKER_02: like I'll have an idea and I and I'll
43:45
SPEAKER_02: Okay, this is two intertwined bodies, and I can't...
43:48
SPEAKER_02: Right.
43:49
SPEAKER_02: ...beforehand.
43:50
SPEAKER_02: And I'll draw a couple of straight lines.
43:53
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
43:54
SPEAKER_00: Because your poses are really good.
43:57
I mean,
43:57
there's just...
43:58
And I'm sure there are several different versions of them.
44:02
Like...
44:04
Like you may have a little noodle around with it,
44:07
you know,
44:07
beforehand.
44:08
SPEAKER_00: But like, even just the casual poses of it, this is...
44:11
SPEAKER_00: Penis Craft with Walter and Marianne.
44:15
SPEAKER_00: The poses, it's like a mid, is this like a TV still kind of reference?
44:20
SPEAKER_00: Because just even the gesture is perfect.
44:23
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it is.
44:25
SPEAKER_02: Because I was,
44:27
SPEAKER_02: one of the things I found,
44:29
SPEAKER_02: I'm kind of into,
44:32
SPEAKER_02: there's a,
44:33
SPEAKER_02: PBS has a channel called Create,
44:36
SPEAKER_02: and it has lots of really nerdy shit.
44:40
SPEAKER_02: Like Nozzle Talk?
44:49
You went by one with Vlad the Impaler and I have always
44:55
wondered how much I revere
44:58
SPEAKER_02: your Vlad the Employer cartoon and I was thinking like
45:05
we have we have similar sensibilities yeah well that was such a
45:10
stupid joke I mean
45:11
honestly I was I don't know if you did this but in a batch that
45:18
I would submit to
45:19
the New Yorker each week I would have like A material B
45:21
material C material I have
45:22
like a silly a funny one that I was like oh this is a banger
45:26
this is gonna be great
45:27
SPEAKER_00: and then it never sells and then
45:30
I have these ones that I throw and I'm like I drew this one
45:32
just for me I mean this
45:33
is just a silly idea I don't think this is gonna get up but Bob
45:37
Mankoff he saw that
45:39
one and immediately was like that's it yes that's a yes I'm
45:42
like what the fuck that
45:44
SPEAKER_00: one really
45:46
and I was such a silly and I guess it is a very rich sexist
45:50
thing is like Vlad the
45:51
employer and I then went to a crazy amount of effort because I
45:55
saw your Vlad in
45:56
here I was like nice props you got the head where exactly right
46:00
the face the
46:01
mustache and I went to such a great amount of effort because I
46:05
knew that they have
46:06
these fact checkers and I wanted to make him look exactly as
46:11
and all his costuming
46:12
SPEAKER_00: and jewelry and his spear correct
46:17
and I didn't know if it needed a caption it's just this guy you
46:21
know at the desk
46:23
being interviewed for a job but the caption ended up just being
46:26
you start Monday
46:27
like but he's like standing up and like nearly knocking shit
46:30
off his desk and
46:32
it just I don't know it was a very silly idea I thank you it's
46:35
kind of you to say
46:36
that but that I was so nervous about that being something that
46:42
got published
46:43
because you don't really get to choose what they like you just
46:46
put it all in there
46:47
and hope for the best you know yeah yeah I was hoping that one
46:51
would make the other
46:52
ones look good oh yeah I know I know how that is sure you put a
46:58
sacrificial word in
46:59
SPEAKER_02: yeah exactly that's what that was
47:01
that's the one they wanted like at airmail Bob I feel like if
47:09
he had stayed at the
47:10
New Yorker I'd probably be have more of a profile at the New
47:15
Yorker but at airmail
47:17
SPEAKER_02: right
47:24
SPEAKER_00: Sorry, I lost you for a second there.
47:27
Yeah,
47:28
Airmail,
47:28
when it first came out,
47:29
I think Bob went from Esquire to Airmail.
47:31
SPEAKER_00: It was in Esquire for a few seconds.
47:34
And I did wonder what it was going to be like because Vanity
47:38
Fair was such a high-end...
47:41
SPEAKER_00: You know,
47:41
SPEAKER_00: the clientele was so different,
47:44
SPEAKER_00: you know,
47:44
SPEAKER_00: it was all very like,
47:45
SPEAKER_00: ooh,
47:45
SPEAKER_00: David Yeoman,
47:47
SPEAKER_00: you know,
47:47
SPEAKER_00: ads,
47:47
SPEAKER_00: and then all of a sudden there's a Rich Sparks cartoon next to it.
47:51
SPEAKER_00: It's like the aesthetic is very different, but it works.
47:54
SPEAKER_00: Somehow it just works.
47:55
The irreverence of it next to the very serious,
47:58
you know,
47:58
Tiffany's ads and the article.
48:02
SPEAKER_00: It just kind of works.
48:03
SPEAKER_00: It's nice.
48:03
SPEAKER_00: It's a good fit.
48:04
SPEAKER_00: I think you're a great fit there.
48:08
SPEAKER_01: America's most beloved pornographer.
48:12
And now all this is to say,
48:13
by the way,
48:14
that this book is available to buy.
48:17
SPEAKER_00: What's the best place that people can go to get this?
48:20
SPEAKER_00: Is this available online through Weekly Humorous?
48:24
SPEAKER_00: What's the best place to go to get this?
48:26
Yeah,
48:26
if you go to Weekly Humorous site in their book section,
48:29
it's there.
48:30
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
48:31
SPEAKER_02: So, you know, I also put out a calendar at the same time I put this.
48:36
that's also available in the shop on Weekly Humorist but it's
48:40
this character of
48:41
mine called Apple Snyder who's a guy who sleeps on his sister's
48:45
couch and I don't
48:48
know how well the calendar did I just always wanted to do it so
48:52
again I have to
48:52
SPEAKER_02: thank Mark for putting out a calendar
48:57
SPEAKER_00: Right, and I think it's humorist media, right?
49:00
SPEAKER_00: It's humorist books,
49:01
SPEAKER_00: humorist media is technically the publisher,
49:04
SPEAKER_00: but it's the weekly humorist,
49:05
SPEAKER_00: and it's the store for the weekly humorist.
49:08
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
49:09
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, great.
49:10
SPEAKER_00: Well, that, I mean, honestly, I feel like it's taken like five seconds.
49:15
SPEAKER_00: I could talk to you forever about your work, which I'm a big fan.
49:19
SPEAKER_00: I love,
49:20
SPEAKER_00: every time I see one of your cartoons pop up on my feed,
49:23
SPEAKER_00: I just like,
49:23
SPEAKER_00: it's one of those,
49:24
SPEAKER_00: I zoom in,
49:25
SPEAKER_00: you know,
49:26
SPEAKER_00: I'm obsessing over how you did it.
49:30
It's such a nice opportunity that I had today to kind of put a
49:34
face to a name.
49:36
SPEAKER_00: And why couldn't you be an asshole?
49:38
SPEAKER_00: I was hoping I would meet a hero and then you'd be a complete dick.
49:41
SPEAKER_00: I am an asshole.
49:43
SPEAKER_00: Oh, trust me.
49:48
if I'm in Chicago I'm gonna come and see your band if you guys
49:51
are playing I am
49:53
doing some lectures on something called lectures on tap where
49:57
we do these sort of
49:58
presentations and lectures but in like bars and big you know
50:01
venues where people
50:02
just like drink and you end up doing a presentation to them so
50:05
it's not a stodgy
50:06
SPEAKER_02: lecture hall well let me let me know if that's I'll come to that
50:10
SPEAKER_00: Yeah,
50:10
SPEAKER_00: so I'm going to do one of those in Chicago,
50:12
SPEAKER_00: so I'll let you know exactly when that's going to be so we can hang out.
50:14
SPEAKER_00: And I'll check your dates for your band.
50:18
SPEAKER_00: If people want to follow you, what's the best way to do it?
50:20
SPEAKER_00: Is it Substack?
50:20
SPEAKER_00: Is it Instagram?
50:21
SPEAKER_00: Or your website?
50:23
SPEAKER_00: What's the best place to point them to?
50:24
SPEAKER_02: I'd say Instagram or Facebook.
50:28
SPEAKER_02: That's where I put a lot of stuff.
50:30
SPEAKER_02: And for the band, just go to Bandcamp.
50:33
SPEAKER_02: Bandcamp, yes.
50:35
the last afternoons on Bandcamp so you got all your dates on
50:38
there and all the and
50:39
people can buy albums and download tracks and stuff like that
50:44
I'm losing you here
50:46
okay oh sorry yeah the internet is conspiring guesses this is
50:50
this is the this is
50:52
Substack doing what Facebook does to cartoons with dicks in them
50:56
so we're getting
50:57
cancelled but I really appreciate you making time to talk today
51:03
and this has been
51:03
SPEAKER_02: really really fun I really
51:05
it's great to meet you great yakking with you yeah me too and
51:11
uh yeah please stay
51:12
in touch uh if anyone wants to follow you there's a button
51:15
right here on your
51:16
Substack just button right here say subscribe but uh go follow
51:19
rich on instagram and
51:21
facebook and go pick up his book at the weekly hubris all right
51:25
uh i think i'm
51:27
gonna start a Substack oh great but you should you should i
51:31
think i will right after
51:32
SPEAKER_00: this
51:33
Excellent Alright well everyone subscribe to Rich's Substack Hit
51:36
the little orange
51:37
subscribe button up here Alright thanks Rich I appreciate it
51:40
Thanks everyone for
51:41
tuning in We'll see you next time Austin Klingon will be the
51:44
next guest With his
51:45
new book called Don't Call It Art So I'll see you all then
51:48
Thank you Rich Great to
51:50
SPEAKER_01: see you Cheers