So sad to find out a legend, a word I don’t use lightly, passed but he made it to 102! No Boomer or Gen X upbringing would be complete without Al’s contributions to MAD via his two major contributions: the Fold-in joke on the back cover of every issue since 1964 and Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions. He would even throw in other bits such as pranks to pull on house guests or inventions we really need. Given how many Texas assholes with elevated pickup trucks love to shine their lights/brights into my rearview mirror, I want the reverse brights to blind them back. The material wasn’t always gut-busting but Al’s viewpoint was spot on.
What I miss and will always love about MAD through Al’s material and the usual gang of idiots is how the humor transcended ages. All those people who claim the magazine was just for tweeners and kids are dead wrong. There were jokes/references above a kid’s head and sometimes they weren’t age-appropriate. I remember my mom confiscating an issue from my brother because it did an article about the “History of Sex.” Was it really dirty? No. Was it funny? When I first read it, I just didn’t get it nor did my brother and me find prurient neither, it wasn’t. When I got to be a teenager and an adult, hell yes, I understand what they were mocking.
This was the same with Al’s Snappy bit. He didn’t hit a bullseye on every shot. He did make his point on how we all ask some really dumb questions out of courtesy, routine, protocol or outright stupidity. The answers were a way of shaking up the status quo since many were unwise to use, especially if the stupid question came from your boss or someone with fist-happy bodyguards.
Thanks for everything Al! All of us who loved your subversive humor miss you already! You helped make so much of Modern humor possible: The Simpsons, The Onion, The Hard Times, The Daily Show, Spy (RIP), adult swim and teaching Gentiles like me key Yiddish words.