Old Jewish Comedians

Every self-respecting hipster should be familiar with the splendid and surreal illustrations of Drew Friedman, whose art has graced books, magazines and album covers. His newest book, Old Jewish Comedians is just that, with minimal text (save for an intro by Leonard Maltin), followed by a series of portraits. They capture remnants of wacky razzmatazz and one-liner rim shots from the Catskills, Las Vegas, Hollywood or Broadway, seen through the wry and sometimes world-weary eyes of elderly comics. Milton Berle, Moe Howard, Sid Caesar, Jack Benny, Harpo Marx, Al Lewis and many more are shown in singular old age, with their popular stage names and their original names. Friedman’s view of them is funny and oddly haunting. It’s the best collection of liver spots between two covers.