Sketch O’The Week
December 18th, 2024 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
I was definitely not driving a train high on cocaine when I did this week’s sketch, but it might have turned out better if I had been. We return to our “classic rock” series theme this week with a sketch of the late “Grateful Dead” frontman. I’m not sure how grateful he is about it, but he’s most definitely dead. I have to admit I have never really listened to “Grateful Dead”, although I have enough friends who love them to know it is “Grateful Dead” not “THE Grateful Dead”. I try to avoid the all-too-often pessimist’s sneering dismissal of pop culture phenomenons that they… READ MORE
December 4th, 2024 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
Holy Huge Eyeballs, Batman! This week’s caricature sketch subject is the doll-like acting dynamo that was one of the main reasons “The Penguin” tv series was so good… Cristin Milioti! It’s no secret I am a big fan of Batman. While I can appreciate most takes on the character and his rogues gallery of villains (except 1997’s “Batman and Robin”, that was a gigantic piece of steaming garbage) I thought “The Penguin” TV series might be the best depiction of any of Batman’s nemeses to date. The Penguin is an essentially silly character. Attempts to make him formidable or truly villainous outside of a cartoon exaggeration… READ MORE
November 27th, 2024 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
I was on vacation last week in Orlando with no access to a scanner, so I did my SotW entirely digitally. Here’s Sir Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter from “The Silence of the Lambs”. READ MORE
November 20th, 2024 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
Brad Pitt makes his second appearance in our “Famous Movie Moments” series as Tyler Durden from the 1999 film “Fight Club”. This sketch is all about exaggerating body posture and physicality. In sharing last week’s sketch of Rutger Hauer as Roy Batty from “Blade Runner”, I mentioned that film was the one I absolutely insisted we include in CLAPTRAP. “Fight Club” was the other one I really wanted to do, but it just missed the cut. It’s one of those movies that actually would be tricky to spoof, because it is already a satire of consumerism and toxic masculinity. But, figuring that stuff out that… READ MORE
November 13th, 2024 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
When Desmond Devlin and I decided to do CLAPTRAP Des made a list of significant films that MAD never did a parody of for one reason or another. There was one movie I knew would be on that list, and it was the one movie I insisted we include in the book- Ridley Scott‘s 1982 sci-fi masterpiece “Blade Runner”. Actually I did not have to work very hard to convince Des to do it, the movie was high on his list as well. Why didn’t MAD spoof “Blade Runner”? No one knows for sure but it’s likely because the movie didn’t do all that well… READ MORE
October 23rd, 2024 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
“You Shall Not Pass!” I’m not sure this movie moment stacks up to the Rosebud reveal in “Citizen Kane”, but it’s a favorite of mine. Sir Ian McKellen‘s casting as Gandalf in Peter Jackson‘s “The Lord of the Rings” films was pure genius. There are lots of stories about other actors who were considered for the part, including another KBE by the name of Sir Sean Connery, but McKellen made the role so much his own that it’s now next to impossible to imagine another actor in the part. I do a video of me drawing these sketches every week, and paid subscribers to my… READ MORE
October 16th, 2024 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
This sketch is still available in the Studio Store! I don’t know if this qualifies as a “famous movie moment”, but it’s one of my favorites. “Airplane” was released in 1980, and quickly became the gold standard for spoof movies. Leslie Nielsen also found his calling as one of the great camp actors of all time. He’d go on to start in the “Naked Gun” series, “Spy Hard”, a few of the “Scary Movie” films and, of course, “Dracula: Dead and Loving it” where he teamed up with another great parody film master, Mel Brooks. I loved his take on Dracula so much, I had… READ MORE
October 9th, 2024 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
Here we go with a sketch of yet another acting legend who has recently left us, and this one was a real witch. And a countess. And a nun. And an Oscar Winner (twice). And an Emmy winner (four times). Three Golden Globes. Five BAFTAS. A Tony. In other words, a true acting legend. She had an incredible career well before the Harry Potter films and “Downton Abbey” cemented her legacy in blockbuster films and high profile TV shows. Farewell, Dame Maggie. As always, Premium Subscribers to my Substack are able to watch me do my weekly sketch in real time, while I bather on… READ MORE
