A blog whist I intern at MAD Magazine

It’s been a dream of mine to be an idiot one day. But not just any idiot, one of MAD Magazine’s “Usual Gang of Idiots.” That’s what they call their contributors.

One would think that it’s easy to be an idiot. But one would be an idiot to think that. But, hey, that was easy, right? Well not for MAD. MAD Magazine’s Idiots are an elite group of skilled and disciplined artists. Yet they’re still idiots and I want to be one.

Right now I concede that I am a species of idiot, albeit a lower species. I will be working at MAD as an unpaid intern for five weeks this summer. But that just makes me desperate to fulfill a dream, not quite an idiot.

I’ve got two days until I board a plane to New York City where I have absolutely no housing arrangements and no hotel room to stay in while I look for more permanent-temporary housing. I want to move on that but I’m sure something will pop up. And I believe that makes me hopeful, not quite an idiot.

But this plane ticket… I bought it online and printed it on my home printer. The money’s out of my account so I guess I’m set. Still, I’m not sure what exactly I’m supposed to take with me to board. I looked over the papers and they have numbers and times but no real directions like “Detach stub here and give to lady at counter” or, even more high-tech, “Scan bar code with robot that looks like lady at counter.”

And what can and can’t we take on the plane? I’ve heard they confiscate liquids and metal objects. I was hoping to take some cologne that I’m convinced females like and a big metal T-square for drawing – the latter looks kind of like a sword, at least to those Amtgard folks. My hope is that the security guard has played his fare share of D&D in his day and will know the difference.

I was also told not to take nail clippers so I cut my nails down to the quick because I don’t like biting them yet I also don’t want to look like Nosferatu after a few weeks. I guess I can slough off any gowth by scratching that giant emery board they call sidewalk cement…

I’m starting to wonder what is and what isn’t a weapon to the airlines? I’m sure with enough force one could puncture the skin with a toothbrush if they wanted to. Even soap when it’s in a wet sock can cause injury according to Hollywood. And my drawing pencils? The sharpener? Will everything need to be dull? Does NERF make a line of non-threatening toiletries and/or art supplies?

I may just risk it and take it all. What are my options? I need my possible-pinch-wound-producing nail clippers and saber-like T-square and confidence-inducing man cologne in New York, right? What can the plane people say?

Plane person: “Um, sir, don’t you know you can’t bring that stuff on board?”

Me: “Maybe.”

Plane Person: “What are you, an idiot?”

Me: “I’m working on it.”

A blog whilst I intern at MAD Magazine

The first day on any job is a bit intimidating. It’s even more intimidating when that new job is at a place with people who’s work you admire. Instant insecurity.

MAD Magazine is steeped in history. It started out as a comic book in 1952 – satirical in nature then and now. The founding fathers were editor Harvey Kurtzman and publisher William Gaines. MAD has now surpassed 500 issues (it’s currently getting ready to stock the stands with issue number 504). Come on! Every other humor magazine (e.g., Cracked) is like the freckled-face little brother to the freckled-faced Alfred E. Newman.

Throughout the years, some of the finest, smartest, and most talented artist and writers (not to mention editors) have graced the walls and halls of MAD. To be in the presence of a few of them today was a wonderful experience. I must say that they all acted with kindness, respect, and, of course, humor. I’ve never experienced that before and I’m grateful.

As it turns out, they accepted us interns for a job to (strange as it sounds) work. But part of that work was to thumb through MAD Magazines. I almost felt guilty letting the time fly by sitting in a beautiful Manhattan office laughing at MAD articles. But then I remembered that they weren’t paying me so the guilt faded away while laughter filled the air.

And these guys are funny and quick witted. I felt like molasses sitting in their meetings.

Just a side thought: I visited the Cracked site to get a feel for the competition and I’ll stick with MAD. I never bought Cracked when it was on the newsstands. I don’t buy it now.

MAD will rise again. MAD is a pioneer. MAD is stalwart. And when it comes to humor, MAD is DAD.

It’s a wonderful opportunity to be working with such an iconic image of our times. I’m grateful. I will do what I can to contribute. If they choose to run anything of mine, that would be awesome. If they do not, that’s not as awesome but still ok. After all, I’m still working with MAD. I still believe in what they do and what they’re all about.

And as for feeling intimidated? That should wear off. Life is just one day after the next. In the end, it’s all about our experiences and the people we can touch in a positive way. And it’s that type of thinking that gets me through all of life’s trials. What, me worry?

A blog whist I intern at MAD Magazine

I’m not sure how much I’m supposed to blog. I get college credit for this experience (and more importantly I get to deduct the whole trip on my taxes). To get that credit I’ve gotta blog. I’ll hear back from the director of the program soon enough. In the meantime, I’ll just blog every day that I work. If you like it, good! If not, well you’re probably not reading this anyway so who cares.

Today marks the 18th anniversary of the passing of William Gaines, the much beloved first and long-standing publisher of MAD. Much of what I do in the publishing aspect of my little business is based on the actions of Gaines. I was talking with the other intern (whom I call Beatle) about how, from what I can ascertain, William Gaines believed in MAD Magazine so much that it had little choice but to succeed. It didn’t matter that he never did any market analysis, nor sold advertising, nor tried to keep up with the other magazine Joneses. In fact, there’s one story about how he paid extra to have MAD printed on cheaper stock paper even though it was in short supply. Genius!

I don’t know if there has been, is, or will ever be another publisher like Gaines. He was notoriously cheap yet very giving at the same time. Such a dichotomy is reminiscent of the nature of MAD – seriously goofy.

William Gaines, thank you. Thank you for being who you were. Thank you for doing what you did. Thank you for acting in a way according to your beliefs in spite of what people said. And, most of all, thank you for MAD. Your legacy will live on.

On a lighter note (see music pun soon…) I camped out at my new favorite spot Bryant Park after work. And, to my pleasure, there was a live free concert being played. I worked on an article for MAD while sitting in a beautiful setting listening to the live jazz band Jeremy Udden’s Plainville. It was fantastic! The weather was nice and the mood was calm in spite of Manhattan’s after work rush hour.

The Big Apple’s a tasty place to be in summer.