I used to work for Ogilvy.
I had a podcast.
The two were not related.
Somehow, I had some pretty damn cool people on that podcast. One of them was Mad Magazine’s “Maddest Writer,” Dick DeBartolo. The man is a comedy legend, writing for iconic television shows & magazines dating back to the 1960s. He’s also a well known and respected (I bet he’d say, “I don’t know about respected…”) technology journalist. I worked in ad-tech. That’s how I met the Giz-Wiz. I was fortunate enough to have Dick on that podcast twice, I think. Maybe even thrice. (I like that word. Only reason I added that sentence. Thrice.)
Since I worked at Ogilvy, I was in Hell’s Kitchen. Often. One day, as I was walking, as one does, (especially in Manhattan) I saw Jackie Martling across the street, and HAD to ask him to be on the show. If you didn’t know, Jackie has a legendary comedy resume as well. I had been speaking with many comedians, writers, and more on my show and ‘The Jokeman’ would be a perfect guest. I typically would not be the kind of dude who bothers public figures randomly on the street… but I was booking a podcast… so go GET that shit!
This was in 2013. Before YOU listened to podcasts. When every comedian didn’t have a podcast. When most hadn’t even been ON a podcast yet. So, when I approach Jackie with all this crazy enthusiasm, and ask him to be a guest on a random podcast…. I might as well have been speaking Farsi. But he was kind. He said he would check it out, and took my card.
A few days later, I got a phone call from an unknown number. We hadn’t completely stopped talking on the phone in 2013. It was Jackie. I’ll paraphrase here, but he said something like, “Hey kid. I checked you out. I’ll make you a deal. You help me with this Twitter shit, and I’ll do your podcast.” Deal. Of course.
Jackie and I became friends. He mentioned that he had read Dick’s work in Mad Magazine as a kid, and how that was influential to him. I can’t remember if it was my idea or Jackie’s, but these guys needed to meet. I was kind of surprised that they had never met, despite both being lifelong New Yorkers AND having more than 50 years of comedy gold between them.
Ogilvy. Hell’s Kitchen. DC Comics. Mad Magazine. Times Square. It was just proximity and random chance, I guess. Dick & Jackie were practically neighbors, but I was the one who randomly made the introduction. I remember thinking… make an intro with a group message, and thats it. These guys both insisted that we all get together for lunch. Tik Tok Diner. A New York City institution. Ask Jackie about the time Jackie Mason was an asshole to me for no other reason than me breathing the same air, in front of that diner. So, on more than one occasion, I got to sit and have lunch with these guys.
The dude with the mohawk? Random. Guy in the car? Never met them.
OK. Those are words. These are images.
