#400: A Reuben Awards Roasting, Stand-up in San Diego & Linework in Los Angeles
How have I done 400 of these!? + Artists using AI for good, my LA twin, & more!
Welcome to Issue #400 of New York Cartoons!
Cloudy with a chance of jetlag, I’m fresh off a plane from LA and neck-deep in a bagel as I type, a steady intravenous drip of New York cream cheese flowing into my bloodstream. This week’s issue is late (sorry) but it’s LONG (woo!), so let’s get stuck in!
When I started this little weekly newsletter nearly eight years ago, I didn’t know what it would be. It was initially a way to let people know when my comedy shows would be each week, but that was about it. It has since ballooned into something I’m spending more time and creative energy on, and I’m enjoying it so much.
If it weren’t for you, I’d have stopped doing it years ago. So, thank you for reading. For replying, commenting, sending me photos of your dogs, and mailing me your latest books. I love it all. The community that has grown around this newsletter is nothing short of extraordinary. [Ok, I’m being way too earnest, and it’s giving me hives, so I’m going to stop before I get played off by the orchestra.]
Truly, I couldn’t commit to this newsletter without you. Frankly, neither could Morris. He’s such an attention whore; he asks me every Friday how many likes his photo got and then poses for the next week’s newsletter. (And let’s be honest: he’s the real reason you’re subscribing, right?)
I get it. He’s a very handsome boy. Even though he has the posture of a melted candle.
Doing Lines* in Los Angeles
I took nothing but a sketchpad and pencil to Griffith Park in LA with one of my favorite people in the world this week to sketch out ideas for a new project that has my brain doing backflips. I haven’t been this excited about a new idea for years— I’m filling pages with lines* that seem to be falling out of me by the bucketload. It’s rare, but when you find that elusive spark with a collaborator, it’s the best feeling in the world. 🤯
TJ is a fellow Aussie expat based on the West Coast this past decade and a ridiculously talented ball of energy. You would have seen him in something. I can’t say much more about the project right now, but it’s pretty special.
Roasting and Toasting @ the Reuben Awards
Despite going to San Diego for Comic-Con every year, I never really get to spend any time enjoying the actual city. It’s usually just a drunken wobble around the Gaslamp after long days drowning in cosplayer farts in a convention center. It is a beautiful city, and I actually got to enjoy it this time. The National Cartoonists Society’s annual event hasn’t been in San Diego for a decade, and this was the first time in that period I haven’t attended in some kind of official capacity. It was nice.
I was flying solo this year for the first time and got to spend a lot of time in long conversations catching up with my cartooning friends (and heroes), trading notes on what everyone’s doing to make a buck as a cartoonist these days. It seems everyone has had to pivot in one form or another. Cartoonists are very adaptable people. Some of the best advice I’ve ever received —in life and business— came from people who spend their lives at a drawing board, contorting themselves around the shape of the ‘industry’ at any given time.
We took a bus to the Comic-Con Museum for some creative workshops and tours before returning to the hotel in La Jolla for the swanky proceedings.
It’s funny seeing cartoonists get dressed up (let alone put on pants). We don’t usually wear suits and fancy dresses, so this is our once chance to prove that we can cosplay as adults for one night of the year. I had to sprint to Nordstrom Rack to get a new belt about an hour before the ceremony because I’d forgotten to pack one. Or a tie. Here’s me wearing something other than an old T-shirt for once. (Don’t get used to it.)
I was so happy to see my old friend (and previous Someone You Might Like feature),
take the big award. The Reuben Award for Cartoonist of the Year is our industry's highest honor. It is voted purely by fellow working cartoonists. It is, as Ed Sorel called it, “the best kind of award you can get.”
The award ceremony was a lot of fun this year! There were some nice moments on the stage, some great acceptance speeches, and were kicked off by Jeff Keane (Family Circus) giving a hilarious induction speech to honor this year’s Gold Key Hall of Fame honoree, Russell Myers. (Broomhilda).
I didn't win in the Online Longform category or the Magazine Illustration category, both of which were my first-ever nominations in the NCS. But my old friend, Nick Galifianakis, did. He was absent, so he emailed his acceptance speech to the awards committee to be handed to me on stage in the event that he had won, on the condition that I did not read it beforehand...
I’m afraid this is not the first time he has roasted me in absentia. This is a concerning pattern of behavior…
All-in-all, the weekend was a great success, in no small part thanks to the new NCS Board of Directors, with
at the helm. She is an organized, diligent, and passionate advocate for cartoonists and just the right person to be leading the organization through the times we’re in. My hat goes off to her and the new management team. My time as President was only ever made easier by people like Karen, and the generous army of selfless volunteers who make these things happen.
One final note on the Reubens— this year was our first time without the help of the late Latisha Moore, my friend and the heart and soul of the NCS for so many years.
gave a moving tribute to her right before the In Memoriam segment. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house. We all miss her very much.
Crackin Wise in San Diego
The folks at the National Lampoon have a comedy club in San Diego— and it’s great! The Yellow Door is a converted movie theater with tiered seating and a professional team of bookers, managers, and floor staff— I was lucky to get to perform there on Saturday night after the Reubens. (Thanks !)
After the first show, there was a late show with a naked sushi finalé that somehow made sense, and also no sense at all. Comedy is a weird trade, but one thing’s for sure— I’m well and truly back into it, with gigs lined up for the upcoming months. I’ll always post them right here, just as I did in Edition #001.
Crackin Wise in Brooklyn & Jersey
You can see me perform this coming week at:
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Monday, Sept 2nd: 8:00pm show
Paperweight Comedy Show (BK)
Details & Tix here.
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Friday, Sept 6th: 7:30pm & 9:45pm shows.
The Laugh Tour Comedy Club (NJ)
Details & Tix here.
Scribblin’ Ideas for Artists in the Age of AI
I got to live-sketch a really interesting session hosted by AllShips to develop ways to help artists get paid, attributed, and generally make a living as creative humans in an age of exponentially expanding technologies that have all the potential to render us obsolete. Yes, there will always be artists (I’m not a Doomer) but there are opportunities to parlay the new technologies’ abilities into methods for us to actually control how our art is used, bought, sold, scraped, shared, and manipulated, among a litany of other concerns.
I was really heartened to hear members of the creative community with genuine expertise on the topic discuss real solutions in earnest (instead of a cacophony of shrill Doomerism) for one of several nights at their HQ in Brooklyn. Thanks to the team for inviting me in! Keep an eye out for future updates in this space…
Garden Goblin.
I haven’t heard the term “doomed” before, and I’m not completely pessimistic, but I’m also not going to just accept AI in schools and as a replacement for any human qualities in art. I am not so naive to think AI is going away, but it’s not such a sure thing right now. The companies pushing this don’t inspire confidence.
I'm just here for the Gaslamping.