This Video is About Mad Magazine

[@jedd.0322]

If anyone has any interest in reading Mads issues during its peak. I can definitely say it's NOT on DC unlimited for whatever reason they have not made them available. Also if anyone can find the full clip of the Mad TV Jeopardy sketch involving Ken Jennings plzzzz email me. It seems the original video has been scrubbed from the face of the earth and it's not on the best of season 10 disc. 😢😢

[@iconoclast137]

I have a few very old paperback collections of the early mad comics back when the logo had the pointy font

[@jedd.0322]

@@iconoclast137 thats pretty cool dude

[@johngore7744]

I was born in 1961 and grew up with mad magazines and paper backs. I started reading them when I was 10 Cheers from Montreal

[@darkstars-torpedoes-of-truth]

I was an avid MAD reader, look for The Totally Mad Magazine 1952-1998 collection which was released as a boxed set of 7 CD's, it's hard to find, but still out there. It covers all the best years (in my opinion) of Mad, from it's beginnings up until 1998 when they had their classic satires and artists. I had it for a while and lost it over time, it's worth it if you want some excellent Early to mid MAD. It starts at around $45 US and is worth every cent. I just found a complete download in jpg format, but I don't know how to contact you and not going to post the link here. Search, it took me 5 minutes. 2nd Edit. Hint Get Comics

[@TheCarterKent]

what season and what episode of the series..spotty number of recorded episodes but I can look.

[@Rebecca-le9hn]

I was introduced to Mad Magazine in the 7th grade by a classmate named Donald Wood. I never forgot that because he was the only White boy who talked to me. I later learned that he was killed in Viet Nam. He will always be remembered by me.

[@kirbyculp3449]

o7

[@cartoonraccoon2078]

@@kirbyculp3449 Cute little picture you drew. It really shows the depth of your appreciation.

[@danielmorales1470]

Donald Wood - PRESENTE!

[@Leadfoot_P71]

Too bad they didn't promote him to major.

[@hobowithawaterpistol9070]

Nice story! Sorry about your friend!

[@robertlussier2944]

I loved the back cover for the "Fold-ins", making one picture turn into another.

[@ImaDogTrainer]

How could they not mention that!

[@nottingham2222]

I remember there was always one copy of the magazine at the store that had a creased last page.

[@intellivisionmaster7999]

Yes! I remember that! And I remember the awesome Spy v Spy part.

[@wakegary]

whoa... wait run that second part by me again, would ya?

[@mjt1517]

And that was a clever reversal of the fold out centerfold of Playboy.

[@genuinesaucy]

I remember when I was a kid, I took a vacation to Canada and tried to buy a copy of Mad on the ferry. I didn't know about sales tax (my state doesn't have it), so I ended up 25 cents short; the price tag was all the money I had, so I was just like "wait, what? Why don't they just put the real price on the shelf?" Luckily the guy behind me slapped a quarter on the counter and said, "I can't stand by and watch any kid not be able to afford an issue of Mad." Thank you random bookstore guy, your kindness is not forgotten.

[@FreyaTait]

@@genuinesaucy That was a high tax rate, unless MAD got a lot more expensive than it was in the days when I used to buy it for "40 cents Cheap"

[@martin2289]

Sweet.

[@diandian9827]

Honestly your story makes no sense. Are you sure it wasn't a nickel?

[@MajorGeneralDiscomfort]

​@@diandian9827Canada's sales tax can be pretty high

[@RadicalCaveman]

25 cents extra What, Me Cheap?

[@markfeldstein1473]

I really enjoyed your video. Al Feldstein was my step-dad since I was 9, so, a few fun facts to share. Dad named Alfred and he coined "What me worry?" He also wrote all the Alfred quotes on the Usual Gang of Idiots credit page. One of those quotes was "Hindsight is 20/20" which became part of our idiom. At exactly 18.50 in the video, Bill is walking out of his office. Behind him, on the wall, you can see a giant rug of Alfred's face with the blue background. I hooked that rug, lol. Dad drew Alfred on a blank canvas and he must have numbered the colors for me - I don't really remember, I was a kid. But I then hooked the whole thing and it ended up in Bill's office! My only Mad contribution. Every year, the Mad guys bought Bill a Christmas gift. Now, remember that Mad was housed on the 13th floor mid-town in Manhattan on Madison Ave. So, the guys bought a giant mask of King Kong and had it mounted outside the building looking in. Bill came into work and opened the curtains and there was King Kong staring in at him. Hilarious. Lastly, you mentioned the "lavish vacations" that Bill took the Mad guys on. Well, one year, they were going to some exotic place - I don't remember exactly where. Before leaving, they looked up to see if anyone on that island(?) was a Mad subscriber. There was one! So, upon arrival, the entire gang bundled into a few volkswagons and trundled up the mountain where there were only sheep and a single cabin. They all huddled together in front of the cabin and knocked on door and an old man opened it. Bill said, "Hi. We're from Mad Magazine. We'd like to know if you are going to renew your subscription."

[@martharunstheworld]

I grew up reading Mad. I can't imagine not having it. Sometimes, it was the only thing that made sense.

[@flinch622]

Best movie guide out there. A Crock of Shit Now, A Star is Bombed, etc I could always tell if something was worth seeing or avoiding by how they roasted it.

[@RadicalCaveman]

@@flinch622 Wasn't that technically called "A Crock of IT Now"?

[@martharunstheworld]

@nukKkinfigGgeR Absolutely!

[@doctorpatient519]

"Sometimes, it was the only thing that made sense." agreed! mid-seventies, watching Monty Python on Sunday night provided the same relief, getting one ready for another week of a different sort of absurdity

[@kevincotterell3644]

@@flinch622 The local Choral Society did the Sound of Music (Money) from Mad. Everyone thought they were so clever.

[@RalphGuest]

My seminal moment with Mad Magazine was in 1967. Two things, the movie Fantastic Voyage, and the food Bugles, were first introduced in 1966. At 11 years old, Mad Magazine was my absolute favorite. And I’ll never forget getting issue 110 in April of 1967. I’d just seen Fantastic Voyage in the theater and I noticed they had the spoof of the movie in the magazine. So I grabbed a box of these brand new chip type things called Bugles and went home and plopped on the couch and had the best time I can ever remember with my Mad, eating that whole box of Bugles, and totally busting up over the spoof called, Fantastecch Voyage! To this day, at almost 70, I remember Mad Magazine fondly

[@kirbyculp3449]

I remember the spoof of punk rock. "Down with rules! Down with laws! Down the world, And up up yours!"

[@ranchokitty1]

good stuff!

[@BrodyJoeandBriars]

I well remember the January 1961 issue of Mad that showed on the cover that '1961' was a year that looked the same written normally or upside down! As an 8 year old, I thought that was pretty profound!😁 I still have the 1967 issue with one of my favorite parody titles...'Rose Mia's Boo Boo' with Mia Farrow in 'Rosemary's Baby'🤣

[@joeneighbor]

Yea those spoofs of movies were the best. I need to go look for a torrent file of the entire Mad Magazine collection since it's first episode. I found such for "Heavy Metal" magazine. I'd rather pay for it if that was an option though.

[@bpkliveproductions]

Yep, that was a good one. That front cover had Alfred with a magnet trying to pull coins through a street grate, only to attract another magnet. Yes, I knew that without even looking at the cover. It's all in my MAD memory bank. :D

[@jomidiam]

MAD is a big reason why I loved growing up in the '70s. Thanks to my 6 years older brother, I started reading it when I was about 6. I didn't understand most of it, of course, but things like Spy Vs Spy and the margin illustrations by Sergio Aragones didn't require any reading, and most of Don Martin's stuff worked for a kid that age. It was instrumental in shaping my sense of humor. It probably helped my reading, which always tested above grade level. It got me interested in politics very early and inspired me to always question politicians. I had the board game. I went to see Up the Academy. I bought anthologies of the early stuff, like Superduperman. I remember the scandal the middle finger issue caused in my house when I was 7. My brother had to tear the cover off and throw it away to satisfy our mom. Until this video, I had no idea how old I was when that happened. I was younger than I had thought. Thanks for this video.

[@michaelmckenna6464]

MAD was at its peak in the mid ‘60s to late ‘70s with its “Usual Gang of Idiots”. Sadly they have passed away with only Sergio Arigones remaining. Al Jaffee passed away in 2023 at 102. Other have replaced them and they were hood, but it was never quite the same.

[@ebx100]

@@michaelmckenna6464 "Al Jaffee passed away in 2023 at 102." Wow

[@kbob-n5v]

"The Poop-Side-Down Adventure" wasn't spoofing "Airport," it was spoofing "The Poseidon Adventure," which came from the same disaster genre as "Airport."

[@jedd.0322]

Oop lol that does make more sense

[@Jamaicafunk]

Right. Irwin Allen.

[@krisweinschenker598]

That issue was the first one I ever bought when I was 8!😊

[@MrButtonpresser]

There’s got to be a morning after…

[@LairdKenneth]

Yes, back then kids could afford to go to movies all the time, and so it was fun to see MAD spoof every one of them. I was a regular reader back then, and my wife thinks I haven't recovered yet.

[@catsquirrel3270]

Reading MAD in the UK in the 1970s was a great education in US culture. Some of the references were obscure to us, but with a little imagination you could work out a UK equivalent and get the joke. The movie spoofs were of course, international and Argones, Jaffe and Spy vs Spy stateless for the most part. The US was a very exciting place for British kids back then, and MAD gave you a feeling of being part of a small elite group who knew just a little bit more than those who didn't read it. LOL. Very good video Jedd

[@jonathangriffin1120]

I feel blessed for being born in 1949, we had The Goon Show, Round The Horne, It's A Square World, TW3, Mad Magazine and Books with their transatlantic Jewish humour, Mel Brooks movies and our own Marty Feldman and the Pythons. I was first introduced to MAD at Frome Grammar School, to be considered 'mad' was a badge of honour back then, nobody 'struggled with mental health issues'. We just got on with life and looked for laughs in all its aspects. What the furschlugginer hell went wrong?

[@AdamScott-k3d]

@@jonathangriffin1120 What the furschlugginer hell indeed, stranger!

[@Joseph-ax999]

"Voyage to see what's at the bottom". There's a well known picture of Sid Vicious reading a copy of Mad magazine.

[@chairmanrexton956]

Same for us in Australia. I loved the wit and sarcasm in Mad as a kid.

[@jamesodin8751]

I lived in England 1972 child, I remember reading the Beano books!! For a number of years!!

[@mesisson]

I started buying Mad when I was seven, in 1959, and learned more from reading it than any book I had in elementary school.

[@altohippiegabber]

Alfred E. Neuman > Pippi Longstocking What, me worry about Charlotte's cat in the web with the borrowers' purple crayon from Narnia?

[@harrykuheim6107]

Yeah...the vocabulary and themes in Mad and a lot of Comic Books was far more interesting than any school book

[@TheBcambron]

Word

[@rhinehardt1]

I had been reading my cousin's Mad Magazines for a few years before I bought my first issue of "MAD" Feb. 1960 (The Leap Year issue), when I was eight years old. From 1960 to 1970, I think that I bought every issue, only to discover, when I came home from college for a visit, that my mother had thrown them all out. Moms are all like that. They just never "got it".

[@DblIre]

A classmate and I got through Latin class by translating MAD satires into Latin. MAD was a major part of my childhood. Pawnderosa, Spy vs Spy (vs Spy), Morooned, and many more.

[@deeceea9488]

Best part of MAD-- The tiny little "scenes" at the edges of the page. Genius

[@giorgiopalmas7934]

Sergio Argonas.

[@kevinquinn1993]

That was called "Marginal Thinking" by Sergio Aragones. (So call because they appeared in the *margins* of the pages. They actually published a couple of paperback books with just those alone in them.

[@richardkrasner2544]

I remember one with a garbage truck on a nightime street and a guy with a hose spraying water from the truck onto the street. The logo on the side of the truck read, "Making the streets look like it just rained Company."kzbin.infogaming/emoji/7ff574f2/emoji_u1f604.png

[@OakLawnSpeedShop]

Fold ins were great also

[@kevinquinn1993]

@@OakLawnSpeedShop Yeah, MAD Fold-Ins were pretty ingenious. They were done by Al Jaffee. He did a good job of making it hard to see what it was going to be until you actually folded it in. Even the words in the caption realigned to say something different. Al Jaffee passed away in 2023 at the age of 102!! (RIP...)

[@77gmcnut]

I remember when they raised the price of the issues. They moved the printed price from the upper corner to the bottom corner and declared "We've lowered our price" what a great time to grow up in The United States of America.

[@teklife]

that's hilarious

[@thecrazyswede2495]

That reminds me of that science fiction publisher who paid "standard space rates". Nobody in the know *ever* accepted those rates, because they were so rock bottom even the stones didn't rock... cheers! / CS

[@JuanPerez-cs1gx]

hahaha

[@scottdavis2252]

Growing up with MAD in the he 1970's contributed to my outlook life as an adult. Thanks

[@bobjordan5231]

I'm 66 and as a teen-ager I read Mad magazine regularly. My mom would buy them for me. Always laughed and laughed. Good memories back in the 70s...

[@daveroche6522]

Greetings from Dublin. My granddad put me onto Mad when i was about 10 - didn't appreciate it at first but about 2 years later WHAMMO - the moment it became obligatory reading every issue...... FUN!

[@karlmcnealjr]

My mom would never buy them for me but with a paper route I could buy Mad and Ploop or Plop which were so much better than super heros, I did read Hulk comics. Something different, funny and scary for 15 to 25 cents. I'm 62 and couldn't wait to get the next Mad.

[@spencer1980]

I'm in my 30s and print media is dead. Still, as a teenager I bought every single issue of MAD.

[@DavidJones-pv8zu]

"The Lighter Side" irony and the back page fold-ins that completely changed the original picture & narrative always got me.

[@danielcobbins8861]

Those were my faves, too. I discovered MAD when I was twelve, and I did notice that some of the jokes were meant for adults. Even then, I understood the content.

[@randallross420]

Al Jaffee and Sergio Aragones were my favorite artists there. I loved Al's drawing style the most and Sergio's marginals were the highlight of the magazine for me. Shoutout Dave Berg also.

[@GenMasterB]

No Mort Drucker? He was the GOAT for TV show and movie spoofs.

[@randallross420]

@@GenMasterB Not bad at all, just wasn't one of my faves. I really did love all the stuff that Dave Berg put out tho. There were some stand alone books with just his stuff that were great.

[@GenMasterB]

@@randallross420 I'm surprised he didn't mention Mad's Fold-in

[@johngraves6878]

Agree, Al Jaffee was a genius, all his pudgy, preoccupied, pretentious, frilly characters prancing about on tip-toes. I loved that!

[@AdamScott-k3d]

If I hadn't fallen in love with Aragones' unique drawing style in the pages of MAD, I never would have found out about his wonderful sword-and-sorcery parody comic book "Groo the Wanderer." Hilarious in its own right, and part of the reason I got into playing D and D (and a BIG part of the reason I never took it too seriously, LOL).

[@indiana2096]

I grew up reading Mad Magazine, I was left with my grandmother almost every summer while the rest of the family went on vacations. My aunt first turned me onto Mad and my grandmother would buy them for me to keep me occupied not realizing how subversive it could be sometimes, she thought it was just a comic book! I would pick up copies whenever I had some money or trade them with friends, I did this all the way through high school and still have many of my original copies. I still pick up the occasional special issue whenever one comes out and several of the old paperbacks whenever I find them. I picked up "Totally MAD" the CD-ROM when it came out years ago with every issue up to the late 90s, if interested it works on Windows 10 and can be found cheap on Ebay! I also found an unofficial "update" that has copies of 1952 to 2018 issue 550 in CBR format. It is a shame it's no longer published monthly; I am sure in this climate there would be so much to write about!

[@xanthoastro]

Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions was one of my favorite MAD books. The set-up with some stupid question followed by 2 or 3 snappy answers and then blank spaces for one to fill in with one's own snappy answer! Genius jedi-level mind trick. Forever grateful!

[@genreynolds6685]

Remember, housewife inspecting fish, sitting on abundant ice, signs announcing Fresh Fish, asks fishmonger, “Is this fish fresh?” He replies, “No. I just don’t know how to spell ‘rotten’!” Al Jaffee’s facial expressions were part of the fun

[@LeadSurge3000]

@zanthroastro - *Yeah, I ordered ALL Jaffe's "Snappy Answers" books through mail order in 1975.* 😃

[@danielostroff8632]

The documentary mentions but does not really drive home how impactful and, in a way, sophisticated MAD magazine was. I grew up with it. It affected my way of looking at the world. When I grew up, I realized how truly clever the parodies and satires were.

[@brunosmith6925]

Agreed... this programme skims the surface and while it is a good record of the chronology, I feel it does not fully explore the cultural value of MAD - not just in the USA, but globally. In South Africa MAD was very popular - and we appreciated the humour, satire and brilliant artistry.

[@cmans79tr7]

I also agree. Back in the 60's ,/ 70's grocery stores gave out free matchbooks to go along with the cigarettes above the cash registers, and popular back then were matchbooks with drawings of dogs and cats and horses, etc., and yhe art studios advertising on the matchbooks suggested that you submit your own copy of the artwork, and if you were accepted as "good enough" you could be 'accepted' to their "art school". Well, one issue of Mad magazine, Mad editor asked all the Mad cartoonists to draw the horsehead from one of the matchbook covers. Well, I was shocked when the Mad artists submitted their version of the horsehead and rather than try to copy exactly what was on the matchbook cover (as i would have done), all of the Mad cartoonists drew the horsehead in their OWN STYLE, and they were AMAZING!!! I remember you could tell Don Martin's horsehead immediately because it was obviously in his style with buck teeth and big chin. I remember another artist didn't draw the horsehead as a living animal, but drew slats of wood put together in a framework to slightly resemble a horsehead, and some of the slats were falling off and some of the nails were driven halfway and got bent. I cant remember which or what the other Mad cartoonists drew, but It was at that issue that I developed a profound respect for the Mad cartoonists artist's skill. The editor of the mag humourously declared that he should fire his artists because they had no skill😛😂😂😂

[@gj8683]

One very memorable spoof in MAD was "Manic," for the detective series "Mannix." Joe Mannix was always getting into these very nasty fistfights in every episode. At the end of the spoof, someone asked him how he maintained his healthy appearance. He lets us in on a little secret, and pulls off the mask of that face to reveal one full of cuts, welts, bruises, and broken teeth.

[@libertyann439]

I loved the stickers. There was one that said, "This Car Is A Lemon." I put it on a car at the Ford Mercury dealer I passed each day on the way to school. This was before cameras everywhere.

[@wuggacrt]

I had totally forgotten about the stickers. We can thank MAD for helping its readers detect BS.

[@JoseLuisGarcia-wl6vo]

The stickers, yeah, I remember that one but in Mexico there are nonsense tu put in on windshield.

[@JoelPerri7777]

I remember being a kid in the 80s, going to a comic book store in the city, when we would go stay with my grandma for a weekend, my brother and I. He would buy superhero comics, and I would buy all the older MAD magazines from the 60s and 70s. They were like super cheap too, buck a piece or something, some were a few bucks, but they were great. I think my earliest was early 60s, but most were from 65-85. I let someone borrow them in my early 20s, and never got them back. Still burns 25 years later. But at least I had them for the time I did. Also I remember having a catalog from the 50’s, that had all the EC horror comics, pictures or all the covers and man that artwork was amazing. Vault of horror, haunt if fear, crime suspense stories…all of them and it just made me want to read them. Luckily they eventually made repro’s of the old EC stuff, so I was eventually able to see it for myself. But would love to find some originals out there in the wild. Cool video man, I really enjoyed the memories it brought back.

[@Ammo08]

You could read a MAD Magazine movie parody and not have to see the movie. I've been reading MAD since I was in the 3rd grade, 1963. One of my uncles gave me his MAD Magazines..my mom thought they were trashy...but I loved them.

[@kevinquinn1993]

So true. There were movies I never saw till years after reading the Mad parody, I think Roman Holiday was one of them, but it seemed like every iconic scene in the movie had been captured in the parody. It was like, I've seen this movie before, yet I haven't! Cool Hand Luke was another...

[@Ammo08]

@@kevinquinn1993 My favorite was Rosemary's Boo-Boo...

[@SeanFolsom]

I became a reader of Mad in 1959. I think the writers and artists taught me critical thinking through satire. I loved Mort Drucker's send ups of those popular films of the day too. Thank You MAD magazine !!!

[@franklinmakrshall5151]

When I was less than 10 years old, I couldn't wait to go to my cousin Loraine's house. She had every Mad mag there was, and we would sit on her bedroom floor while she read them with enthusiasm and sound effects for hours. These were some of the best childhood memories! ( I'm now 73!) Thanks for bringing back this memory!

[@ottonormalverbrauch3794]

I bought a lot of MAD magazines in the Netherlands in the late seventies and early eighties and they taught me more about US society than tv series from over there as well as much on US English.

[@Joseph-ax999]

Who knew that Mad magazine was responsible for improving international relations?

[@manofthetombs]

I love Mad! Read it for decades. It helped make me who I am.

[@fredfarnackle5455]

Yep, me too...

[@cmans79tr7]

Me also. I remember buying one of Mad's paperback books as a kid, and laughing my ass off so much that there were tears in my eyes and i couldn't catch my breath. And I remember reading some of the passages to my parents to explain what i was laughing at, and I was surprised that they didn't laugh at all. But they did smile politely. I do appreciate that they allowed me to have my fun laughing without pissing on my cornflakes. That was one of the few smart things that they did to/for me.

[@manofthetombs]

@@cmans79tr7 Yes! Owned several of those myself. Always a great time to read them. Sorry your parents were a bit uptight. My dad didn't really care what I did as long as I was quiet and didn't smoke pot.

[@heru-deshet359]

I came across a huge bundle of Mad someone threw on the curb in Brooklyn when I was eight in 1961. I loved comic books then. I was hooked and after I went through about 50 of them I saved up my pennies to buy it along with one or two DC comics. Major part of my "Latch Key kid" childhood.

[@Lwhale.3797]

Finally got around to watching this, and the editing (as in the documentary-sense of telling a cohesive, compelling story) and the research here is just top-notch. This video is great. Fantastic work.

[@davidtaylor5204]

My mother loathed me getting Mad Magazine. This would have been in the late 1960's. Then Mad came out with it's "All in the Family" spoof. Mom loved that show, but she read Mad's take and said it was funnier than the actual show.

[@quad5186]

They later spoofed Archie Bunker’s Place as “A Christmas Carroll O’Connor “ with the less angry Archie being visited by ghosts who reminded him of when he was funny . I have quite a large collection of Mad - will revisit that one soon. 👍

[@manuelwatts1864]

When Archie's childhood friend showed up to visit at the end, I totally lost my shyte! ... And leave us not forget the Orphan Annie pulp special ... "Shaddupp or I'll paint dots on yer eyeballs!"

[@michaelmckenna6464]

I bought my first issue of MAD in 1963 when I was 8. But my mother got mad at me and made me return the magazine for a refund (she let me keep the quarter and allowed me to buy 2 comic books instead). Two years later, friends of my parents showed my parents an issue of MAD that they allowed their children to read, providing they got to read it, too. The next day, I bought my first issue with my mother’s approval. She assured the owner of the store that MAD wasn’t as bad as they had previously thought. 😂

[@mplsmark222]

Funny, my mother paid for my subscription for years. I do not care to read, probably slightly dyslectic,. I did read the Mad magazines though and guess she thought it was better than not reading at all. Plus, she had a good sense of humor, she herself had a subscription of the National Lampoon for years.

[@michaelmckenna6464]

@ National Lampoon? National Lampoon took satire through the roof, making fun of anything under the sun, leaving no stone unturned!National Lampoon even lampooned National Lampoon.

[@markfitzsimmons7544]

I got every new Mad issue the minute it reached the newsstand. And the first thing I did was fold the back page to see what appeared. Once it was Gonad The Mastubarian (spoofing Conan the Barbarian). Alas, that was the final straw for my mom. But then she saw my dad trying not to laugh. Bah! But he wasn't dumb and sided with mom. Ugh. Good times man, good times.

[@jedd.0322]

Thats a crazy name, lmaooooo.

[@leotroy9877]

Growing up in the 70s, I didn't have much disposable cash, but I did manage to have a few copies of MAD, and I was given older issues. I remember the send up of John Wayne's The Shootist. I never saw many of the original movies, just the MAD parodies. And I always like how the women were always busting out of their dresses! Thanks for posting this, very informational!

[@ernestpaul2484]

I grew up in the 60's/70's. MAD magazine, HOT ROD, Carcraft, Modeler Magazine were my go to reading.

[@manofthetombs]

Right on! Same here!!

[@user-handlethetruth]

I still remember my first MAD magazine. My father was enraged by the cover with Alfred E Neumann's dopey face. It contained the satire of "A Fistful of Dollars" ("A Fistul of Lasagna" , even the title spoofing the spaghetti western), but what I have to bring up was seeing the shockingly expressive art of Jack Davis. His illustrations captivated me, and even at age 12, and I would wonder how he could capture so much . 20 years later I move to the area of Georgia to which he semi retired, and then shamelessly tried to take him to dinner, but his privacy was protected (as it should be). I had a co conspirator wanting in on the dinner, and like all MAD flunkies, we knew that we had recognized an unusual expression of art, these satires. "A Berg's Eye View" was a stunning, and thoughtful comedic review of the American way of life. Always respectful, by the way. I wish I had save every one of those magazines, and at least my first one for Jack Davis to sign, if I would have been lucky enough to meet him. There is a restaurant in town, "Benny's Red Barn", and Jack would frequent the place. There was an older waiter who would walk the floor and serenade tables for tips. That waiter was drawn, singing, by Jack Davis as a gift to him, and the work was reproduced so the waiter could fund his retirement, and the art was autographed...by the waiter, in new ink, and on the reproduction by Jack Davis (not his original autograph). I remember thinking it surreal that I lived in the same area. I have that poster. There were many stories of Jack Davis' kindness, and the fount of originality in his art. He was an avid Georgia Bulldog's fan. Of course I felt I was unique in being shocked by his art, but of course he was famous for years after Mad Magazine. I would consider him a genius, but I am just one of millions. My only regret is that I did not bid high enough for one of his signed pieces of art to hang in my home, to have purchased it while he was alive to show him my respect. But I only learned of our proximity just months before his death.

[@HonestDave211]

Thanks for making this kid, made my commute home nostalgic

[@bernie472]

Still got about 295 original issues today, starting with a 1957 issue.

[@ghowell13]

A friend I met in 86, when I transferred schools, Jake, had his father's entire MAD collection. His father had passed away a few years before that, and all he had was that, and his album collection. I lost track of him after high school. I'd like to think he kept up the collection. None of us had a lot of money back then, but their family was leaner than most. It was only him and his mom, and she was disabled. But I do know that somehow, he did get a new one each month for him, and we'd carefully read it, and put it away with the others.

[@scottmckay9535]

I started reading it about then. Wish I'd have had the $$$ to buy all the issues. I'd be a $millionaire. Well, at least I'd have a lot of pleasant reading in my old age. HA!!!

[@leotroy9877]

Do you read them or are they kept in plastic and never touched?

[@bernie472]

@@leotroy9877 I read mine occasionally, but not too often

[@jonhanson8925]

Great video about a truly important magazine. Wild you don't have more views or subscribers given the quality of this content. Keep up the great work!

[@jasonblalock4429]

Extremely well-produced video, especially when summarizing so many decades into 20 minutes. You really deserve more subs. And yeah, growing up on MAD in the 80s and 90s, the quote at 11:45 is bang on. MAD (and to a lesser extent, Cracked) was one of the few products marketed towards kids and younger teens that felt like it actually had respect for its audience. And was actually giving kids a glimpse behind the scenes at the darkness of the adult world that, deep down, we all kinda knew was there.

[@twentyrothmans7308]

[@BrianRoberson-k7g]

I remember their Apocalypse Now parody, "A Crock Of Shit Now".

[@MrXyzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz]

I bouught that one too. I must have been about 11.

[@tomryan914]

The joke, war movie with an all-black cast🦍, 'A-Pack-Of-Lips Now.

[@markdorman52]

I have stacks of these at home. My dad knew Basil Wolverton pretty well. Grew up with MAD!!

[@daviddurango9562]

Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions. I based my life on it.😂 I remember in 4th grade my teacher said to me, "Bruce, I don't want to have to talk to you again." I said, "That's good, I was getting tired of hearing it." Thank you MAD Magazine.😊

[@katiekane5247]

Learned more from the magazine about life than school ever taught me 😂

[@manofthetombs]

lmbo!

[@michaelwhalen2442]

Don Martin. He made that magazine. RIP Don. Ya damn nutcase of a genius!

[@OscarLodge]

Yes I agree - his style of cartoon characters were funny to look at - even without any text,..

[@cmans79tr7]

Yep - Fester Bestertester and Carbuncle.😂

[@BobFromSeattle]

I can't leave this topic without referencing something that I thought was so funny, and totally MAD. It was National Lampoon's own satire of MAD magazine. Remember that? The funniest section was a parody of the jokes MAD used to do with cliches, like "Burning the candle at both ends", or "Walking on eggshells", where they would have an illustration of the phrase that you didn't quite expect. In this case, it was a simple picture of a public restroom stall, and you could see the feet of someone who was on their knees inside, with the caption "Blowing a joke".

[@IrishStock3]

My favorite part was the back cover folder, revealing a twist.

[@Lorigrape17]

In the early 70's, I would get my allowance, .go to the store to get my MAD magazine and some candy. My mom would meet me at the door and take it away from me. Not for the reason other mom's did. She wanted to read it first. (she wanted candy too) I used to have a snapshot of her, barefoot in jeans and t-shirt, sitting sideways in my dad's chair (THE dad chair) reading MAD magazine and laughing.

[@ranuelthebard3751]

Mad was so outrageous that one of my classmates in high school thought he could get away with plagiarizing a poem parody from it for English class because of course adults would never catch him. To be fair our teacher didn't read Mad but she did recognize that there was no way this kid wrote that poem and knowing that I read a bunch of different things. She showed me a copy of the poem without the kids' name and asked me if I'd seen it before and then admitted that someone had turned it in and asked me to bring in that copy of the magazine. I really wished that I could have found out who it was and seen the look on his face when she produced that copy of Mad.

[@magnutz9086]

I am amazed that you have less than 800 subs at the time of me typing this, your video was of a higher quality, interesting, and concise. I'm subscribed now and I can't wait to see what you have for us next✨✨✨✨✨✨

[@cliffwheeler7357]

I used to collect the MAD paperback books which were compilations of best bits from the magazine.

[@scottdavis2252]

Captain Klutz

[@bunnspecial]

I might still have some of those books. My uncle bought them for me. At least I was reading something.

[@thereunionparty]

I used to collect the paperbacks too. For some reason in the UK in the late 60s and 1970s all the seaside souvenir shops would have a carousel of Mad paperbacks. I would often become familiar with a movie by reading the parody in Mad long before I ever saw the actual movie. I used to love Don Martin and would try and emulate his drawing style.

[@Philtration]

As a kid, I went from the Three Stooges to MAD to National Lampoon. I loved all three and they fed my twisted sense of humor at different moments. It just felt like a natural progression. I'm Grateful for having had them in my life.

[@RWildekrav66]

Do You remember the National Lampoon Yearbook issue ?

[@BenSussmanpro]

Me too, but also liked the Marx Brothers movies, which used to play at my local 2nd-run theater in the 70s.

[@teetoo3790]

Everybody was into Marvel and DC. Not me, Mad Magazine, and Peanuts paperbacks.

[@edwinwise6751]

My mother and I would read it together in 60s and howl with laughter when I was ten

[@RadicalCaveman]

That's what I would call a Great Mom.

[@theokkali467]

Which MAD issue was the best (for what you can remember)

[@soopahsoopah]

MAD was nothing less than a national treasure. God bless Bill Gaines for running the ship for as long as he did, and especially keeping advertising at bay.

[@mykelengieza7057]

Dude... calorie free water ad was the funniest thing in print ever ...they got thousands if not hundreds of thousands of people asking where to get it!

[@tedmich]

As a 1970s kid I found someone's MAD stash in the trash one fine garbage day, over 100 issues dating back to 1962. What a great find, kept me entertained for years!

[@adrianmonk4440]

Mad Magazine & National Geograpic got me to puberty. National Lampoon got me thru me my teenage years.

[@Ekatjam]

Back in the 1970s, I was in my room laughing so hard that my father came to see what was going on. When he saw I was reading MAD, he said, "That's what those idiots read back in the army; I never understood it." I replied, "Of course you wouldn't; you're from Germany!"

[@ronniesandoval8254]

As a kid in the sixties I read Mad Magazines I still have a couple of milk crates a Mad Magazines that I saved in my garage

[@martin2289]

I saw old copies of them selling in a comic store the other day for $15/each. Could be some Xmas money laying dormant there...

[@ronniesandoval8254]

@martin2289 thanks for the info

[@waltereaton4420]

Essential reading for youth in the 60's and 70's!

[@alfredrodriguez4215]

"What me worry?" - Alfred E. Neuman

[@FreyaTait]

@@alfredrodriguez4215 Please excuse a nit pick? It's spelled Neuman. My maiden name is Neubaum, and people frequently spelled it with a "w".

[@alfredrodriguez4215]

@@FreyaTaitAs a fellow Alfred, I grew up being called Alfred E Neuman for most of my childhood and most of high school. I know how to spell it! And yes, I did edit it!!

[@wakegary]

"I eat cats" - ALF

[@alfredrodriguez4215]

@@wakegary ​ I am not from Melmac and I also have been referred to as Alien Life Form...

[@JosephRusso-z7i]

YES SOMEONE ALWAYS HAD A MAD MAGAZINE ROLLED UP IN THEIR BACK POCKET THE BEST BETTER THAN CRACKED AND P.S. I WENT TO ERASMUS HIGH SCHOOL IN IT'S FUNNY HOW YOU STARTED TO SEE A LOT OF KIDS WHO LOOKED LIKE ALFRED E. NEUMAN.

[@DrTedEsq]

Excellent video. I was entranced. I grew up reading MAD in the 1980's. I remember being in high school in the early 90's, walking around with a copy and one of the math teachers said "MAD Magazine used to be really edgy, they've softened up." As a young teenager, it was one of those realizations that teachers are people too. I still buy the occasional "Special Collectors Issue" although I see right through their plan of extorting money out of at least Gen X and late Boomers.

[@buckodonnghaile4309]

In 1992 my teacher walked in to class with his sunglasses on and an obvious hangover. When we asked what he'd been up to the night before he said "playing football (soccer) with Iron Maiden". We thought he was joking, til a week later when he showed us the photos. It made me realize that not only are teachers people, but some of them are legends also.

[@josephj6521]

Growing up in the 70s-80s was the best with Mad. Loved it! Telling the truth in a satirical method. I’ve never forgotten that magazine.

[@jerryjazzbo2845]

I loved Don Martin and Spy vs Spy, but the twisted humor of Sergio Aragones was my all-time fave from Mad's glory years.

[@genreynolds6685]

Aragones inspired Gsry Larson.

[@mark_beastpriest5539]

I started reading Mad in the 70's when I was a kid. I felt the magazine was at it's peak during this decade. With artists like Don Martin, Al Jaffee, Dave Berg, Sergio Aragones and Jack Davis, I couldn't wait to get to the corner store each month to get the latest issue.

[@cmans79tr7]

In one issue, the editor of Mad asked his artists to draw a horsehead that was on matchbook cover advertising for an art school back then. You would submit your drawing of the animal on the matchbook cover, and if the art school thought you were "good enough" they would "accept" you into their "art school." Each one of the Mad cartoonists drew amazing versions of the horsehead in their own style. You could recognize Don Martin's version immediately, of course. One of the Mad artists drew a version that was an assemblage of wooden slats resembling a horsehead, with some slats hanging on by one nail, and some of the nails were driven in halfway and bent😂 the funny thing is the editor said they had no talent and would flunk the art course😂😂😂

[@robertshorthill6836]

My mom hated MAD and said if she ever caught me reading it or even having one, she would disown me. I guess keeping a couple PLAYBOY under my bed was okay.

[@figmo397]

What killed Mad Magazine was the moving of its headquarters from NYC to Burbank, CA. The staff writers and editors who had been keeping the magazine going didn't want to relocate to California, so they wound up with a mostly new set of folks with nobody experienced to mentor or oversee them.

[@michaelmckenna6464]

MAD lost its appeal when it’s Original “Gang of the Usual Idiots” got replaced one by one. The only one still alive is Sergio Aragones. Al Jaffee passed away in 2033 at the age of 102.

[@vir2ul1]

@@michaelmckenna6464 passed away in 2033?? Yet another way he was ahead of his time :)

[@bigantplowright5711]

Mad in the 60's and 70's.... Roger Kaputnik was my hero.

[@charliesimar7541]

Wow! Thanks for the memories! Mad Magazine was a staple as I growing up in the 50s and 60s.

[@robertsmith3672]

Can you remember ""Botch casually and the Somedunce kid ""

[@RayFromLUCKYSHADOW]

Today I learned Dave Berg looked just like Roger Kaputnik.

[@hagerty1952]

And that Don Martin looked...normal! Whoda thunk?

[@michaelmckenna6464]

Roger Kaputnik was Dave Berg’s alter ego and a regular character who always appeared somewhere in his Lighter Side feature.

[@KornPop96]

I remember getting Mad magazine every week back in the late 80s and early 90s. I got into it because I found a few old Mad paperback books at my grandfather's house and read them cover to cover. They were compilations from their old magazines from the 60s. I probably didn't get a lot of the old pop culture references, but I loved all the cartoons.

[@matthewoconnell114]

I’m 60 years old and growing up in the 70’s, MAD was by far the funniest magazine I’d ever read. There was nothing like it. Epic.

[@mcresearch]

I loved Don Martin's work in Mad.

[@JoeBuck207]

I got in trouble for bringing in my MAD magazines to school.

[@michaelmckenna6464]

So did I. My study hall teacher confiscated mine. But he later returned them to me after “reviewing the material” for a week. 😂

[@sammytheface8821]

I loved the artists of MAD, back in the 60's and 70's...Don Martin was HILARIOUS, I would copy drawing his characters. like Fester Bestertester...And blown away by Jack Davis, his knowledge of drawing hands, feet and faces ...Mort Drucker....The caricatures of famous people inspired me to draw more, paint more. And the moto of the magazine, referred to themselves as "The Usual Gang of Idiots"......They were not idiots, they were funny and talented.

[@markdorman52]

ABSOLUTELY! Don Martin characters all over my Pee Chees!!

[@johngore7744]

Dave Bergs the lighter side of. The Fold ins.

[@hobowithawaterpistol9070]

Ha! Ha! The fold ins! I completely forgot about that and I’m surprised this video didn’t touch on that! I remember that was the one thing I look forward to the most when I bought a new copy!

[@scottnix4991]

I owe my entire, world renowned, and much beloved sense of humor to Mad Magazine.

[@scottcampbell-vy2tv]

I saw a MAD special issue today, 11/14/24. It was priced at $14.99. Ouch!

[@jedd.0322]

@@scottcampbell-vy2tv yeah it's crazy how expensive they are now when you look at the costs of a majority of the issues throughout the years

[@Doug-nr3gh]

I doubt they write cheap any more I think mad s were 60 cents when I started buying them

[@nealrepetti2396]

I have bin reading MAD for decades. At 66 years old, I just bought a MAD special. My grandfather got me my first one, thinking it was a regular comic book, and I was hooked. Great magazine.

[@howyoudurrinhunneh]

Seeing a new Mad in the grocery store was a special thing

[@davidfairless1028]

In around '67, when I was in 5th grade, I was asked by my teacher how I knew so much about current events. I told her I read MAD Magazine and got my info from there.

[@markdorman52]

We snuck MAD into our PeeChees!!

[@donaldmaxie5264]

Alfred E. Newman for president.

[@handyrus]

Given the situation today, Alfred E. Newman would be my first choice for POTUS!

[@Bargle5]

I saw a story where the middle finger cover was explained. At the time the magazine was being sued by someone claiming to have invented Alfred E. Neuman. They didn't use him for that issue due to the court case. They eventually showed that the character dated from, I think, the late 1800s or very early 1900s. I think this might have also related to a broadcast of Monday Night Football where a player gave the middle finger to the camera and one of the announcers said, "He's saying they're number 1."

[@jedd.0322]

Thats awesome dude.

[@bobtaylor170]

That happened at a Houston Oilers game in 1972. I was watching it. The Oilers were getting macerated, and the camera operators were directed to look for people in the crowd who might be good for a reaction shot. They found this disgusted guy sitting by himself in the end zone. He realized a camera was on him, and without a shift of position or expression, shot the finger at the camera. The ABC crew, Howard Cosell, Dandy Don Meredith, and Frank Gifford screamed with laughter. Cosell, his pompous self, tried to make some social emollient of a comment. Meredith: "Howard, he's just trying to tell the country his team is still #1 with him." Great wit, right? Later, word got out that the director had been the wit, giving Meredith the line through his headset.

[@Bargle5]

@@bobtaylor170 Yeah, now I remember the bit about the director giving him the line. Thanks for the reminder.

[@hobowithawaterpistol9070]

I just assumed that cover was made after some religious group or moms or something like that came after them! I am surprised they were able to get away with that!

[@KempoWarrior1954]

Memories of the 60s. I recall the pot plant with Arthur written on it :) "What, me worry?"

[@curian1286]

Madtv was pure gold

[@curian1286]

@nukKkinfigGgeR shame it was taken off air and SNL went to crap, but stayed. They should bring it back with much of the cast

[@leotroy9877]

@nukKkinfigGgeR You beat me to it!!!!

[@ernestblock4801]

I was surprised when he said it ran for 14 years. That's quite a stretch. And I used to watch it all the time, too. For a sketch show, it existed on a Ho-Weell NuhBerr LehVowll😁

[@CC-hg9un]

Snappy Answers To Stupid Questions!

[@mrdarrensethe]

Mad doesn't only still exist digitally. I still subscribe to it and get issues in the mail. It is about 90% reprints of old material, but there is some new stuff and the covers are always new.

[@GilmerJohn]

I don't see it on the newsstand. For some crazy reason, the editors didn't want to make fun of Obama and this wokeness caused me to lose interest. I read it on and off in the 50s. I bought it for my kids in the 2000s.

[@bunnspecial]

I did see a special issue at the supermarket a few months ago. I used to read it back in the day, so I bought it. I think I still have some paperback books.

[@manuelwatts1864]

My fav was 2001: A Space Idiocy ... "Excuse me! ... Are you Roddy McDowell? Nope! Maurice Evans? Nope! Isn't this 'Planet Of The Apes' ? Nope! What do I do? Act bored ..." "Is that our space station, stewardess? I certainly hope so. Last week our pilot tried to land us on the giant ferris wheel at Coney Island." "What's for dinner? A glass of steak, a glass of peas and a glass of potatoes. Nothing to drink? Ohyeah, a piece of coffee." "HAL ... Prepare my space pod." HAL : "Prepare your own %$@# space pod!"

[@johnbrowne2170]

Mad's movie parodies were my favourite, especially Mutiny On The Bounty.

[@jeans.5252]

Yeah! I still remember it. Marlon Brando all gussied up carrying an umbrella when he first arrives at the Bounty.

[@johnbrowne2170]

@@jeans.5252 Right, lol.

[@Russell-x8w]

I'm in my sixties. Mad Magazine gave me a lot of pleasure in the '70s. I wish I had hung on to a stack of issues.

[@fernandonavarro3839]

There were also international editions! I got a collection of old MAD magazines in English and some from Spain and Mexico, of course in Spanish. I know there were also in German, I don't know about other languages.

[@michaelmckenna6464]

There was an Italian edition of MAD that had reprints of the US edition, translated into the Italian language, of course.

[@michaelharrison3602]

Really started getting into reading thanks to Mad magazine in the 60s

[@Whootzie]

This is a great video. I always wanted a stand-alone Spy V.S. Spy cartoon. It could air Thursday at 8:30 P.m after The Simpsons.

[@Whootzie]

In the early 1990s Simpsons was only on once a week on Thursdays at 8:00 PST

[@ENDTIMEsVideoLibrary]

Great Mini Doc!! Very detailed Research with so much I never knew!! Thank you..

[@KIDROCK-oq7um]

BACK IN THE 70'S MAD AND NATIONAL LAMPOON WAS THE ONLY THING I READ.

[@ironjade]

I used to have MAD on regular order from the local newsagent when I was still at school. It was the UK edition which was edited by the late David Climie, a prolific TV comedy writer. US spelling would be turned into UK spelling and sometimes a parody of something totally unfamiliar to UK reader would be replaced, e.g. a long-running US soap opera would become "Consternation Street", a parody of the equally long-running "Coronation Street". I loved Angelo Torres' TV parodies: "How Are Ya Five-O?", "Clodumbo", "Make Millions and Wife", "Longshot", "Ironride", to name but a few.

[@GaudiaCertaminisGaming]

I remember the UK version did a spoof of 'The Professionals' once. The drawings were pretty rough tbh.

[@DrChimRichells]

Great Vid! would like to see some more MAD content: maybe highlighting some of the different artists, such as Sergio or Jaffee

[@Dallas-Nyberg]

My humor and art, are thanks, in part to my, long-time love, and addiction to Mad Magazine. My parents were worried when I started to bring home magazines with titles, Mad, Cracked, and Sick. The brilliance of artists like Mort Drucker, Al Jaffee, Don Martin, and so many others, inspired me to create art that told a story. I am now 72 and still creating art. - and, I still have a big collection of those wacky magazines. What, me worry? - Nah, not a chance.

[@fashiondolldreamer]

Thanks so much for this! My older brother had the biggest collection of Mad magazine throughout the 70's and early 80's and I spent many hours devouring them as a kid. I so loved the subversive humour of those issues... there was nothing out there like them. The movie parodies were always a favourite as well as 'Spy Vs. Spy' and I also loved the 'Fold-ins'. Great memories!

[@AaronLitz]

You missed an opportunity to title this video _This Video is About "Mad Magazine" Magazine_ so it would fit in the Department of Redundancy Department.