The Joe Show at Club 57 and the Museum of Modern Art
The History of JOE Chapter 10
I always wanted to be a cartoonist, which is different from being an artist. Fine artists paint large canvases that appear in art galleries, then purchased by rich people who need something to put on their wall that matches the carpet and drapes. Cartoonists draw little sketches printed on cheap paper, then sold to middle class people at low prices. Once in a while someone rescues my stuff from the garbage recycling bin and it ends up on display in an art space.
As I mentioned in last week’s newsletter, Patricia Ragan first told me about Club 57, which was like the Mudd Club without music. (More about Patricia in upcoming episodes.) They showed a lot of movies there, including some truly amazing (and awful) animated cartoons that I also mentioned last week. Patricia encouraged me to ask the club’s manager, Ann Magnuson, about doing The Joe Show there. We agreed on a date: Wednesday, April 23 (1980).
Ann Magnuson moved to New York City in 1978 and hung out at CBGB, and like many people went on to bigger and better things. She started out directing The New Wave Vaudeville Show with Susan Hannaford and Tom Scully before managing Club 57. She’s been in several rock bands (notably Bongwater and Vulcan Death Grip as well as a couple of solo albums), staged many art exhibitions, appeared in a wide variety of feature films and TV shows (always in an interesting role) and has done a lot of other stuff too numerous to count here. To see more: ANN MAGNUSON: This is my happening and it freaks me out.
The Joe Show at Club 57 attracted a decent-sized audience and it went over OK, but not well enough to make it a regular thing. It was fun to appear there just once.
Fast forward to:
Club 57: Film, Performance, and Art in the East Village, 1978-1983
Oct 31, 2017 — Apr 8, 2018
The East Village Hotspot That Launched Keith Haring and Jean Michel Basquiat
Below: Advance promotion for a podcast I will be a guest on soon.
