| Joe Raiola | |
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Joe Raiola |
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| Born | Joe Raiola October 12, 1955 Brooklyn, New York |
| Occupation | Solo performer, comedy writer, producer, director and speaker on first amendment issues. |
| Known for | Senior Editor, MAD Magazine, Annual John Lennon Tribute, Theatre Within |
| Website | |
| http://www.joeraiola.com | |
Joe Raiola, born October 12, 1955, is an American comedian, comedy writer and producer. He has been a member of the editorial staff[1] of MAD magazine since 1985 and currently holds the title of Senior Editor.[2]
He is also known for his solo shows, The Joy Of Censorship and Almost Obscene,[3] and for the Annual John Lennon Tribute[4] in New York City of which he is the co-creator and producer.
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Joe Raiola was born in Brooklyn, New York and grew up on Staten Island where he attended Tottenville High School. He was awarded a scholarship to Adelphi University based on his work in the school drama class. After graduating from Adelphi in 1977, he was a taxi driver in New York City until the mid-1980s.
Raiola began his professional comedy writer career in 1984 working with National Lampoon participants such as Tony Hendra and Sean Kelly on a series of popular magazine spoofs, including Cosmoparody and Like A Rolling Stone.
He sold his first article, a collaboration with his long time writing partner, Charlie Kadau, to MAD magazine that same year. In 1985, Raiola and Kadau became MAD staffers, writing for the magazine as a team and also separately. Among their frequently reprinted MAD pieces was The Belching Dragon, a parody of a Chinese take-out menu.
Raiola honed his skills as a comic performer at Theatre Within[5] in New York City, where he had begun studying with director Alec Rubin[6] in 1979. He appeared in clubs and small theaters around New York in a series of one-man shows, including Lost In The New Age, based on his Whole Life Magazine column of the same name.
In the early 1990’s, The Joy Of Censorship, Raiola’s comic take on controversial First Amendment issues, earned him a reputation as an outspoken defender of free speech. He’s performed the show at colleges, regional theaters, libraries and professional conferences, and continues to tour with it today. It has been broadcast on C-SPAN's American Perspectives television series.
In 2002 Raiola’s Almost Obscene show was a hit at the New York City International Fringe Festival. The New York Times called it “a ruefully amusing lament for the ineradicable hypocrisy of humanity.”[7] In July 2006, at the Henry Miller Library, Raiola unveiled a new version of the show, which he also performed as part of the Woodstock Fringe, where the Woodstock Times called it “unflinchingly honest and thought provoking.”[8]
In 1981, Raiola (with Alec Rubin) created Theatre Within's Annual John Lennon Tribute, which is the longest running such tribute in the world. Raiola has produced and appeared in the Tribute for 30 consecutive years. It is a charity event whose proceeds have benefited such organizations as Why Hunger and the Playing For Change Foundation.
The Tribute has attracted many well-known artists such as Patti Smith, Jackson Browne, Cyndi Lauper, Aimee Mann, Rosanne Cash, David Bromberg, Bettye LaVette, Joan Osborne, Steve Forbert and Michelle Shocked.
Upon hearing of the Tribute for the first time in 2004, Yoko Ono invited Raiola to contribute to her book, Memories of John Lennon.
Its 30th Anniversary took place at the Beacon Theatre.
Since 2001, Raiola has co-hosted the Woodstock Roundtable radio program with Doug Grunther.[9]
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