We've all heard the shibboleth about how the French think Jerry Lewis is a genius. That doesn't mean that the average French person goes to a Jerry Lewis movie and thinks he's the funniest person they've ever seen. It means it's admired that he does of all aspects of filmmaking and has control over his material.
I don't need to tell anyone reading this of the merits of either. When I explain Nancy to the uninitiated, they don't understand the appeal. It's not a “so bad it's good” aesthetic. It's not just a cartoonist thing. But it helps.
Sam, I really like your blog, and this post is spot-on! The comparison between Lewis and Bushmiller is very apt. Thank God for both of 'em!
ReplyDeleteI have to say, I find Bushmiller a puzzle... One thing in his favor i recently learned: he and Milt Gross were very close friends... Gotta be something there...
ReplyDeleteI am also a huge, huge fan of THE MAGIC WHISTLE, Dirty Danny, The 'Brube, TV Made Me Do It, and generally all your stuff. Laugh like a loon whenever I see it.
I don't know the exact issue but a search on Google Books will have the issue of LIFE with Bushmiller and other cartoonists at a party tattooing girls with markers.
ReplyDeleteI think too many miss just how difficult it was for Jerry Lewis to do what he did.
ReplyDeleteCheers!
Steven G. Willis
XOWComics.com