You know that feeling when you’re a little intimidated by someone on the internet but also feel like you’d probably become good pals if you just sorta talked to one another?
That’s how i felt about
. Besides being a funny as shit comedian, he’s also a cartoonist for the New Yorker and, as this conversation confirmed, an all around great human being.ALSO HE DREW THAT CARICATURE OF ME WHILE WE WERE TALKING HOW THE FUCK DID HE DO THAT.
Full video above. Recap below.
But first:
Jason just published a new book called You're Not a Real Dog Owner Until… !!! The answer to his riddle of course is You’re Not A Real Dog Owner Until…You’ve Bought Jason’s Book.
Jason is doing a DMA (Draw Me Anything) live today at 11a EST with
. Looks sick as hell.
I was going to write a recap but Jason already did in his post so I’m going to steal it I hope that’s ok Jason
The two Funniest Fuzziest Guys on Substack:
Newsletters, Comedy, and the Future of Art
Today, I had the pleasure of chatting with fellow bearded, bespectacled writer/comedian Alex Dobrenko` for his publication “Both Are True” to compare creative insecurities and Substack blunders (as one does when you're both just internet-famous enough to be recognized at your local coffee shop but not famous enough for anyone to care.)
We kicked things off by me admitting I made pretty much every mistake with my Substack journey. Like a true professional, I launched three separate newsletters before Sophia at Substack essentially told me, "Stop being an idiot and combine these." I listened, and shockingly, it worked. He, too, had created multiple joke Substacks. We're basically twins.
When Alex asked what I enjoy about Substack, I confessed I enjoyed the "lack of noise" compared to platforms where "everyone just started being a dickhead." (This from the same man who once spent three hours crafting the perfect dunk reply to a stranger's derogatory tweet about my comic strip.)
Our conversation took a thrilling detour into ADHD territory, where I bragged about getting THREE SEPARATE psychiatric evaluations, as if collecting mental health diagnoses like Pokémon cards is something to brag about. Nothing says "I've got my life together" like doctor-shopping until you find someone who'll confirm your brain is officially borked.
I explained my evolution from "a comedian who cartoons" to "a cartoonist who does comedy," which is basically like saying I've gone from being bad at one thing to being bad at the same thing but in reverse.
After a question from the chat, the conversation inevitably descended into some light AI doomerism, where I confirmed that after 20+ years of cartooning, I'm being replaced by Rosie from The Jetsons. "I've lost tens of thousands of dollars worth of regular work. It’s not terrific." We briefly brightened up by concluding our work might be too mediocre for AI to bother copying – the artistic equivalent of being too ugly to kidnap.
Alex again - hi.
Also - look at this!
did a doodle of Jason and I and I gotta say, he looks like The Daily’s Michael Barbaro while I look like a drug addled gamer!!Also, I love the last line in Jason’s recap - dumb online artists are going to be too ugly to kidnap re: AI theft - there’s no money in it! We do not make enough for any of this to be worth it for AI. Our suckiness shall save us!
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