More about our wonderful friend Paul...
Paul Krassner calls himself an investigative satirist. Don Imus
labeled him “one of the comic geniuses of the 20th century.” (Imus has
since apologized for that quote.) And, according to the Los Angeles
Reader, “Krassner delivers 90 minutes of the funniest, most intelligent
social and political commentary in town.”
On the other hand, a couple of FBI agents went to one of his
performances and stated in their report, “He purported to be humorous
about government policies.” His FBI files indicate that after Life
magazine published a favorable profile of him, the FBI sent a poison-pen
letter to the editor, complaining: “To classify Krassner as a social
rebel is far too cute. He’s a nut, a raving, unconfined nut.”
“The FBI was right,” says George Carlin. “This man is dangerous--and
funny; and necessary.”
ABC newscaster Harry Reasoner wrote in his memoirs, “Krassner not only
attacks establishment values; he attacks decency in general.” So
Krassner named his one-person show Attacking Decency in General,
receiving awards from the L.A. Weekly and DramaLogue. He is the only
person in the world ever to win awards from both Playboy (for satire)
and the Feminist Party Media Workshop (for journalism). When People
magazine called Krassner “Father of the underground press,” he
immediately demanded a paternity test. Actually, he had published The
Realist magazine from 1958 to 1974. He reincarnated it as a newsletter
in 1985. “The taboos may have changed,” he wrote, “but irreverence is
still our only sacred cow.” The final issue was published in Spring
2001.
His style of personal journalism constantly blurred the line between
observer and participant. He interviewed a doctor who performed
abortions when it was illegal; Krassner then ran an underground abortion
referral service. He covered the antiwar movement; then co-founded the
Yippies with Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin. He published material on the
psychedelic revolution; then took LSD with Tim Leary, Ram Dass and Ken
Kesey, later accompanying Groucho Marx on his first acid trip.
He edited Lenny Bruce’s autobiography, How to Talk Dirty and Influence
People, and with Lenny’s encouragement, became a stand-up comic himself,
opening at the Village Gate in New York in 1961. Ten years later--five
years after Lenny’s death--Groucho said, “I predict that in time Paul
Krassner will wind up as the only live Lenny Bruce.” He was nominated
for a 2005 Grammy Award in the Album Notes category for his 5,000-word
essay accompanying a 6-CD package, Lenny Bruce: Let the Buyer Beware.
Krassner rarely works the comedy-club circuit, preferring to perform on
campuses, at theaters and in art galleries.
He has been a guest on Late Night with Conan O’Brien and Politically
Incorrect with Bill Maher; on Air America Radio with Janeane Garofalo
and with Marc Maron. He hosted his own radio call-in show in San
Francisco.
Paul writes a monthly column for High Times, a bimonthly column for AVN
[Adult Video News] Online, and is an occasional contributor to Arianna Huffington’s
blogfest. His articles have appeared in Rolling Stone, Spin,
Playboy, Penthouse, Mother Jones, the Nation, New York, National
Lampoon, Utne Reader, the Village Voice, the San Francisco Examiner, the
Los Angeles Times, the L.A. Weekly, New York Press, and Funny Times.
His venues have ranged from the New Age Expo to the Skeptics Conference,
from a Neo-Pagan Festival to the L.A. County Bar Association, from a
Swingers Convention to the Brentwood Bakery, where members of the
audience were each given a free pastry of their choice. Over the years,
he has built up a cult following that has steadily been edging into
mainstream awareness.
His reviews have been highly complimentary. The New York Times: “He is
an expert at ferreting out hypocrisy and absurdism from the more solemn
crannies of American culture.” The Los Angeles Times: “He has the
uncanny ability to alter your perceptions permanently.” The San
Francisco Examiner: “Krassner is absolutely compelling. He has lived on
the edge so long he gets his mail delivered there.”
He hosted his own radio call-in show in San Francisco, was head writer
for an HBO special satirizing the presidential election campaign, did
on-air commentary for the Fox network’s Wilton-North Report, and was a
writer on Ron Reagan’s late-night TV talk show.
Mercury Records released his first two comedy albums, We Have Ways of
Making You Laugh and Brain Damage Control. Artemis Records released his
next four: Sex, Drugs and the Antichrist: Paul Krassner at MIT, Campaign
in the Ass, Irony Lives! and The Zen Bastard Rides Again.
His autobiography, Confessions of a Raving, Unconfined Nut:
Misadventures in the Counter-Culture, published by Simon & Schuster,
sold 30,000 copies.
His other books include: The Winner of the Slow Bicycle Race: The
Satirical Writings of Paul Krassner, with an introduction by Kurt
Vonnegut; a trilogy of anthologies--Pot Stories For the Soul, with an
introduction by Harlan Ellison, Psychedelic Trips For the Mind and Magic
Mushrooms and Other Highs: From Toad Slime to Ecstasy--Sex, Drugs and
the Twinkie Murders: 40 Years of Countercultural Journalism; Impolite
Interviews; Murder At the Conspiracy Convention and Other American
Absurdities, with an introduction by George Carlin; and One Hand
Jerking: Reports From an Investigative Satirist, with a foreword by
Harry Shearer and an introduction by Lewis Black.
At the 14th annual Cannabis Cup in Amsterdam, Paul Krassner was inducted
into the Counterculture Hall of Fame--“my ambition,” he claims, “since I
was three years old.” In May 2004, he received an ACLU Uppie (Upton
Sinclair) Award for dedication to freedom of expression. |
