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Hey there! It’s me, your old pal Obnoxio the Clown. I know it’s been a while but I couldn’t help but crawl out of my clown hole once I heard what the Dandy Fun House had planned for this episode of their show! Not only that, but they also made the incredibly bad decision to ask ME, your old pal Obnoxio to host!They would have asked the Nebbish, but he doesn’t really talk so much. Ok, by now I have to imagine about two of you are really excited but most of you are really confused, so let me bring you up to speed. I used to be the mascot for CRAZY Magazine and I’m here to tell you the story of this wacky little rag that had a pretty good run back in the 70’s and 80’s! So without further ado, Let’s step into the Fart House! What? Oh the Fun House! Yeah that’s it!

Hello and welcome to the Dandy Flop House, Fun House or whatever they call it! Video Show, Podcast and Blog! I’m your old long-lost pal, Obnoxio the Clown and I’m here to tell you the story of an obnoxious humor magazine that existed from 1973 to 1983 which yours truly was honored to be the mascot for during it’s final few years.

But first, let me show you these crazy new t-shirts from the Dandy Fun House (did I say it right this time?) now available in the Dandy Fun SHOP! It’s got a front AND a back so you don’t get too cold and comes with 4 holes in it. One to crawl your body into, one to stick your head out of and two to poke yer arms through! You can find it at the Dandy Fun House website at http://www.dandyfunhouse.com or go directly to the store at http://www.dandyfunshop.com . Now back to this glorious freaking episode!

Ok, CRAZY MAGAZINE! We were published by Marvel Comics believe it or not and were sort of in the vein of Mad Magazine, Cracked, Sick Magazine and National Lampoon.

In the beginning back in 1953, Marvel Comics was actually called Atlas Comics and they decided to try their hand at competing with the behemoth of all novelty mags, MAD Magazine. So they published 7 issues of a comic book called CRAZY! Which skewered pop culture and included gags galore. It was a nice trial balloon, but didn’t exactly take the world by storm so they shelved the idea of publishing a satire for the next TWENTY YEARS until 1973 when it was revived for the purpose of republishing some of Marvel’s more wacky bits from their late-60’s comic called “Not Brand Echh.” What the heck kind of a name is “NOT BRAND ECHH!?”

 

STAN LEE

MARV WOLFMAN

For some reason they decided to give the old CRAZY Magazine another crack at success and kept things rolling under the guiding hand of the Marvel man, myth and legend himself… Stan Lee along with Co-Editor Marv Wolfman. Lee wanted to go for a straight up Mad Magazine and Cracked Magazine vibe while Wolfman wanted something more along the lines of National Lampoon. They came to an agreement somewhere in the middle and this gave CRAZY its own unique flavor. Kind of like sardine ala mode!

It was decided that CRAZY needed a mascot, and so kicked around ideas until they came up with a small, buggy looking guy in a floppy hat and some sort of black cape-looking trench coat thing and they called this guy “The Nebbish.” Later they gave him the more proper name of “Irving Nebbish.” This Nebbish guy served as the mascot for CRAZY Magazine for seven solid years and he did a fine job I must say. I mean, I eventually STOLE his job but no hard feelings Nebby! That’s show biz!

STEVE GERBER

Wolfman wasn’t the only editor Crazy Magazine had. A man named Steve Gerber took over editing for issues #11-14 with a desire to set the magazine apart from its competition and try to convince the readers that the creators themselves were crazy. Gerber’s run as editor came to an abrupt end however when he published a very dark feature called “… And the Birds Hummed Dirges” which featured high schoolers engaged in a suicide pact. I think Mr. Gerber went back to making baby food after that!

LARRY HAMA

AL MILGROM

ALAN KUPPERBERG

CRAZY Mag did alright for a while. At least good enough to keep getting published but by 1979, sales were slumping so they brought on a new editor named Larry Hama who tried something really obnoxious and created me, Obnoxio the Clown to be CRAZY Magazine’s new mascot starting with issue #63 in June 1980! Larry wanted a mascot for the mag that would be more proactive and in your face than the other humor rags, so there I was! They modeled my face after some schmuck named Al Milgrom and I was mostly drawn by artist Alan Kupperberg. Back then I had hair. Today not so much. Too many Nair pies to the head’ll do that to ya! And let me tell you, we had the best features during my run as mascot and those days were a blast!

Some of my personal favorite features were:

The Kinetic Kids where you would flip two pages back and forth to give the illusion of animation and bring gross and violent pictures to life

Howard The Duck!

The Nebbish! My old pal! No hard feelings Nebby!

The Obnoxio The Clown Fun Pages where I would bring you stupid puzzles and parodies! It’s what I do!

Page-O-Stuff – This is where they stuck all their random ideas that didn’t work anywhere else!

Comic Book Parodies – Sendups of famous comics like Kaspar the Dead Baby, Ritchie Retch and stuff like that!

Believe it Or Else!

The Eleventh Hour Special with Behemoth Jack – Where we would parody song lyrics long before Weird Al was a thing! My favorite was our sendup of Paul McFartney and the Things!

Fantasy vs. Reality, Aunty Nuke, Gross Encounters and so much more! Ahh! Those were the days baby!

A couple decades later we even made it into an episode of the Simpsons! (ok, it was a glancing mention, but still!). Come to think of it, that Crusty the Clown’s act seems awful familiar! Get my lawyer on the phone!

I had a great time corrupting the world’s youth, but like the bright burning star that I am, I got white hot and burned fast. That’s right, even your old pal Obnoxio couldn’t save the publication from all the modern distractions the world was offering. People just didn’t have time for good old fashioned gross humor anymore.  CRAZY Magazine closed its covers and printed its final issue in April 1983 and I had to go back to twisting balloon animals in the old folks homes. We did have a reunion in 2019 for a one-off issue featuring new material and bringing back some of the best blasts from the past but that pretty much stuck a fork in us!

And now you know pretty much all there is to know about the brief but disgusting run of CRAZY MAGAZINE! We had a good run I suppose! Whaddaya want from me!? I come out of retirement to do a guest-host spot on this no-name production and I can’t even get a bottle of seltzer water in my trailer! I used to be a star! I used to be in command of million-dollar machines! I come back home and I can’t even get a job as a dishwasher! Say what? Oh yeah, you’re right. Sorry I Rambo sometimes.

Hey! You! Yeah I’m talking to you! If you have found any sort of redeeming value to this production at all, the producers of the Dandy Fun House would like to encourage you to show your support and help them afford seltzer water for the guest host trailer by visiting the Patronage Page at the Dandy Fun House Website www.dandyfunhouse.com

Supporters gain access to exclusive bonus features not available to the general public. I might even show off a few highly worn-out issues of Crazy Magazine.

And…

Super Supporters get access to the exact same bonus features as the cheapskates get PLUS we’ll mail you something special from right here at the Dandy Fun House Studios IF you provide your mailing address!Maybe a Nair Pie! Ohhhh! Nair Pie!

Podcast Listeners can donate directly from the podcast app of choice IF the app supports it (look for a button with a dollar sign on it usually)

And 5 star reviews wherever you can leave them get my undying gratitude!

THERE! Have I shilled enough for you leeches!? Give me my 20 bucks and let me go home now!

Thanks for hanging out and come back soon right here to the Dandy Fun House where everything is always… FUN AND DANDY!

Is it just me or does the Nebbish bear a striking resemblance to the Hamburglar?

Neil Dandy is the creator of The Dandy Fun House and the alter-ego of Neil Smith, the Big Cheese at Neil Smith Entertainment, musician, Emcee and Author. Aren’t you impressed?