Paul Krassner

“The FBI was right,” says George Carlin. “This man is dangerous--and funny; and necessary.”

Paul Krassner (April 9, 1932) was the founder, editor and a frequent contributor to the freethought magazine The Realist, first published in 1958. With the radical humor of his publication shattering taboos and breaking barriers, Krassner became a key figure in the counterculture of the 1960s.

Achievements

Krassner was a child violin prodigy (and was the youngest person ever to play Carnegie Hall, in 1939 at age six), but his career took a different turn in the 1950s when he became an important figure in many aspects of politically edged humor and satire in the U.S. Krassner was a founder of the Youth International Party (Yippies) in 1967, and a member of Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters, famous for prankster activism. He was a close protege of the controversial comedian Lenny Bruce, and the editor of Bruce's autobiography. He also worked on early issues of Mad Magazine.

The Realist

Main article: The Realist

The Realist was published on a fairly regular schedule during the 1960s, then on an irregular schedule after the early 1970s. In 1966, Krassner published The Realist's controversial "Disneyland Memorial Orgy" poster, illustrated by Wally Wood, and he recently made this famed black-and-white poster available in a digital color version. The Realist also distributed a red, white, and blue parody Cold War bumper sticker that read "FUCK COMMUNISM". Perhaps Krassner's most notorious satire was an article following the Kennedy assassination that depicted LBJ sexually assaulting JFK's corpse.

Krassner revived it as a much smaller newsletter during the mid-1980s when material from the magazine was collected in The Best of the Realist: The 60's Most Outrageously Irreverent Magazine (Running Press, 1985). The final issue of The Realist was #146 (Spring, 2001).

Awards

Paul Krassner is the only person to win awards from both Playboy magazine (for satire) and the Feminist Party Media Workshop (for journalism). He was inducted into the Counterculture Hall of Fame at the Cannabis Cup in Amsterdam, received an ACLU Uppie (Upton Sinclair) Award for dedication to freedom of expression, and, according to some sources, was described by the FBI as "a raving, unconfined nut." In 2005 he received a Grammy nomination for Best Album Notes for his essay on the 6-CD package Lenny Bruce: Let the Buyer Beware.

Krassner remains a prolific writer and lecturer. He has been a frequent speaker at both the Starwood Festival[1] and the WinterStar Symposium. Currently, he is a columnist for Disinfotainment Today, AVN Online, and High Times Magazine, and a contributing blogger at The Huffington Post. He was featured at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with Wavy Gravy during their exhibit entitled I Want to Take You Higher: The Psychedelic Era 1965-1969 [2]. He often appears as a stand-up comedian, and he was among those featured in the 2005 documentary The Aristocrats (film).

Bibliography

Books

• 1971 - How a Satirical Editor Became a Yippie Conspirator in Ten Easy Years (Putnam)
• 1981 - Tales of Tongue Fu (And/Or Press)
• 1985 - The Best of the Realist: The 60's Most Outrageously Irreverent Magazine (Running Press) ISBN 0-89471-289-6
• 1994 - Confessions of a Raving, Unconfined Nut: Misadventures in the Counter-Culture (Touchstone) ISBN 0-671-89843-4
• 1997 - The Winner of the Slow Bicycle Race: The Satirical Writings of Paul Krassner Introduction by Kurt Vonnegut (Seven Stories Press) ISBN 1-888363-44-4
• 1999 - High Times Presents Paul Krassner's Pot Stories for the Soul compiled by Krassner with a forward by Ellison, Harlan (High Times) ISBN 1-893010-02-3
• 1999 - Paul Krassner's Impolite Interviews (Seven Stories Press) ISBN 1-888363-92-4
• 2000 - Sex, Drugs, and the Twinkie Murders (Loompanics Unlimited) ISBN 1-55950-206-1
• 2002 - Murder at the Conspiracy Convention: And Other American Absurdities introduced by George Carlin (Barricade Books, Inc.) ISBN 1-56980-231-9
• 2001 - Paul Krassner's Psychedelic Trips for the Mind (High Times Press) ISBN 1-893010-07-4
• 2004 - Magic Mushrooms and Other Highs: From Toad Slime to Ecstasy (Ten Speed Press) ISBN 1-58008-581-4
• 2005 - One Hand Jerking: Reports From an Investigative Satirist, Foreword by Harry Shearer, Introduction by Lewis Black (Seven Stories Press) ISBN 1-58322-696-6

Articles

• Life Among the Pagans in The Nation, Aug. 29, 2005.
• The Blame Game in The Huffington Post, August 26, 2005.

Discography

• 1999 - Sex, Drugs and the Antichrist: Paul Krassner at MIT (Sheridan Square Entertainment)
• 2000 - Campaign In the Ass (Artemis Records)
• 2002 - Irony Lives (Artemis Records)
• 2004 - The Zen Bastard Rides Again (Artemis Records)

External links

• Art Buchwald, Barry Crimmins, Paul Krassner, Kurt Vonnegut - Beating Around the Bush: An Evening of Satire recorded on 10/06/05 at The New York Society for Ethical Culture, 63 min., mp3 format
• Official site
• The Realist
• Paul Krassner profile at imdb.com (The Internet Movie Database)
• RU Sirius Show #53, guest Paul Krassner (podcast, .mp3)
• Interview with Paul Krassner
• Bio