“It was just too disturbing for most people, too weird.” | Robert Crumb | Louisiana Channel
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 22 ธ.ค. 2019
- From Fritz the Cat to Mr. Natural - meet the cult cartoonist Robert Crumb, whose artistic world is full of anti-heroes and demons from modern America and his subconscious. In this rare interview, Crumb talks frankly about refusing to adhere to political correctness, and about his never-ending urge to unravel the layers of delusion in the world - as he says: “I’m still digging.”
“I was so alienated when I was young, that drawing was like my only connection to society. That was the only thing that I could see was going to save me from a really dismal fate of God knows what.” Crumb describes his social skills as a young man as being “completely nil.” At the same time, he was driven by his “fucked-up ego,” and he had to balance those two sides. Drawing became a way for him to deal with reality, and in the 1950s, where “being a comic-book artist was the lowest level of commercial art,” he pushed toward more personal use of the medium: “At a certain point I decided I don’t want to be America’s best-loved hippie cartoonist. I don’t want that role. So I’ll just be honest about who I am, and the weirdness, and take my chances.” Consequently, Crumb alienated a lot of people with his often provocative content: “It was just too disturbing for most people, too weird.”
Crumb has an urge to question things and is acutely aware that he’s going to get hell for what he’s doing - even lose friends - but he is willing to take the heat for it. He feels that he plays with images, emphasising the word “play.” Nowadays, he argues, there’s a tendency to take everything at face value - including his artwork: “The artwork I did that used those images and expressed those kinds of feelings, I stand by it… I still think that that’s something that needed to be said and needed to be done… It probably hurts some people’s feelings to see those images, but still, I had to put it out there.” Putting down anything that stands in the way of political correctness, he feels, becomes extreme and suppressive: “I can even lead to censorial policies in the government and stuff like that. They don’t realise that they’re playing into the hands of some very bad people.”
Robert Crumb (b. 1943) is an American cartoonist. Crumb, a counterculture comic book artist and social satirist, has enjoyed cult status for his underground comic strips, full of anti-heroes. Among these is a wide range of popular characters including Fritz the Cat and Mr. Natural. Much of his work has also appeared in Weirdo magazine (1981-1993), which he founded himself, and which was one of the most prominent publications of the alternative comics era. Crumb has received several accolades for his work, including his induction into the comic book industry’s Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 1991 and the Angoulême Grand Prix in 1999. Crumb was also among the artists honoured in the exhibition ‘Masters of American Comics’ at the Jewish Museum in New York (2006-2007). In 2012 a retrospective of Crumb’s work was exhibited at the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. He has frequently collaborated with cartoonist Aline Kominsky-Crumb, with whom he is married, and the couple has made a joint comic strip based on their life together through four decades. A collection of comics, ‘Drawn Together’, was published in 2012.
Robert Crumb was interviewed by Christian Monggaard in connection with the Louisiana Literature festival at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Humlebæk, Denmark in August 2019.
Camera: Anders Lindved
Produced by Kasper Bech Dyg and Christian Lund
Edited by Kasper Bech Dyg
Cover photo: Cropped version of Crumb signing (Rejected poster for Angoulême 1999) © Robert Crumb
Copyright: Louisiana Channel, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, 2019
Supported by Nordea-fonden
#RobertCrumb #Cartoonist #GraphicNovel
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Extra clip with R. Crumb: th-cam.com/video/Bwdr9RKN3i0/w-d-xo.html
"It always puzzled me... who's buying THIS?!!" LOL.
@@AudioPervert1 the irony of it all is that a poor feeble flacid man depicted life exactly as he was capable of seeing it and not a smidge better.... and he is celebrated for it
instaBlaster.
I’m pretty sure hateful radicals will watch this and imagine a lot of clues and dog whistling, within his comments. They should just stick to less talented bottom feeders like the Elites hacks in Hollywood who _think_ they’re doing the same level of work this guy has done. It’s an insanity when you try to confirm biases based on the view from nowhere. It’s a type of madness.
It’s not that something is sexist or racially coded, _it’s what it communicates._ And those things are ephemeral too, anyway. There’s no material constant. It’s odd watching edgy Hollywood celebrities fume at strawmen and women (like internet radicals) while literally drawing their world view from the _view from nowhere_ based in the same media they work in. That’s usually the moment when these sorts _miss the mark_ and they get dragged or their sycophant’s no longer show up to bail them out. People get exhausted from the anti social bad boy or bad girl mentality with expletives without purpose or meaning _from wealthy politically motivated bigots and politically motives sex offenders with substance abuse issues._ One might think or say, _”Why are you dumb celebrities or comics or whatever subjecting the working child raising public to nonsense that doesn’t connect to the average person’s constantly evolving experience?”_
It’s about reading a room. Which Crumb did. Because there was no celebrity status with his work, especially not early on.
Bad people (edgy celebrities/comics) are trapped in a time capsule and imagine time itself, to be trapped in a singularity. It’s gotten worse. Embracing nihilism is not a good excuse to be bad for the sake of being bad, and these celebrities are only in it for their enablers.
Edit: if, in his own words, here in this video, _”had to be done (said),”_ then it was _meaningful_ to do it. That’s not the anything, say anything bullsh*t from angry low-lives who have no ability to the audience they punch down towards. Not at all the same.
j
As a black kid I loved Crumb I understood what he was doing by illustrating the underlying thoughts (and not always underlying) of American culture it emboldened as a young artist to not be conventional and illustrate what is but not often articulated . Yes people will be hurt yes racist and extremist of all stripes will misinterpret your intentions .
Continue the work.
Ultimately I see Crumb and artist in general as a type of mirror for society and no one likes the image so they want to shatter the mirror.
That's exactly what makes Crumb great. Yes, he's very imaginative and a wonderful cartoonist, but it's his honesty about what's going on, both within and outside him, that makes him stand out.
Whenever I comment on a black rap artist or singer or actor or what have you...I never start out by saying "as a white kid".... What the fuck is your problem?
@Doug Bevins I think you may be referring to the Fabulous Furry Freak brothers comic book. that was not Mr. Crumbs work. it was artist Gilbert Shelton.
Very well said
@@GauntLife Calm down guy. There is a relevant justification to disclose identity in his comment, because he's trying to explain how despite his identity, and despite the natural inclination for any of us to take offense at material which may demean our identity, he realized there was more to the substance of Crumb's work than the surface. He did not just state his identity apropos of nothing. Did you watch this whole video? Near the end it goes into the controversy about perceived racism.
Crumb is easily the most honest artist of all time. He really just puts it all out there.
If by honest, you mean sick, then yeah.
Tom thx U gay
@@tomthx5804: Someone can't handle the truth.
Also Dave Rapoza
you really lived that long?
Incredible opportunity to hear Robert Crumb, and even more incredible that he has anything to say, after all he has said through his art. Thank you very much.
I'm 72, and I've totally loved R. Crumb's art for as long as I can remember. What now even more endears me to his work is hearing him describe a desperate childhood so extremely similar to my own as his impetus for cartooning. I can relate.
Crumb had a horrible abusive father and a narcissistic mother. You can see their family in gory detail in Terry Zwigoff's Crumb from 1994. Both of his brothers are totally insane and Charles committed suicide not long after the making of the film, and Max may have died also for all I know. Crumb is a pretty sick dude himself but managed to cobble together a respectable career in comics despite this. His sisters never speak publicly which is interesting also.
Yes. Enlightening
His appearance says distinguished older gentleman but his personality says endlessly curious and enthusiastic teenager.
@Venturing into the Brine Only because he never crossed that line. I'm with slybuster - his comics were often disturbing,
@@slybuster you lucky bastard.
He's a distinguished gentleman on the outside a demented genius on the inside. This guy spent the earlier part of his life trying to justify his existence. He didn't have to do it then and he doesn't have to do it know. Fck everyone else's opinion.
He’s an old dude in an old dudes body ... who’s never grown up.
@@slybuster Jordon Peterson is such a hack. Hope he's better in person. But his moralizing is so tired.
This guy is so awesome...he just takes all of the bizarre, unsavory, dark, kinky and jacked ideas/feelings/thoughts that he has (and by extension, other as well) and puts them down on paper. And when some people don't like this, he says, "I know you don't like it...I don't like some of it myself, but still...I have to do it." The guy's an original.
So was Charlie Manson
bizarre, unsavory, dark, kinky and jacked ideas/feelings/thoughts is actually mainstream, Crumb is Crumb
He's not unique. Heironimus Bosch
@@2degucitas Though they both depict strange things, Bosch comes from a completely different mindset than Crumb. Crumb is autobiographical and often depicts himself involved in kinky sexual things. Bosch never did this. He may have once painted himself into one of his landscapes (though scholars aren't sure if it's him or not), but as an observer, not a participant in the action. That's telling. Crumb draws to confess to the world about who he is; Bosch painted to warn people about the dangers of sin.
Crumb has many antecedents. He mentioned George Grosz and Otto Dix in this very interview. Another who comes to mind is Honore Daumier, but there are many, many others.
What I think is striking is his courage and willingness to put himself on the line, for us, in our era. He clearly makes a sacrifice in popularity. Being a contemporary Otto Dix means, as for Otto Dix nowadays in bookstores, not being well-represented on the shelves.
This man just opens his skull and dumps all its content into reality through his drawings. A true unadulterated Genius.
He really seems happier and more at ease than he used to be.
He's out of the US.
He would say at his age he's not consumed by ego and libido anymore.
AND, the French are great appreciators of "Bands Dessinées" (Comics) and have no hang-ups about their "sexualité".
yeah " HIS OLD ! "
That's exactly the impression I get. There will always be problems when individuals of his demographic use their privilege to "put it out there" or "expose" harmful ideas. Zappa does it also, positing himself as a messenger who needs to reveal something under the veneer. This will always be a dangerous space, and I'm glad Crumb occupies it--and that his work has always found a way to seep out. It's a shame that Charles' work was destroyed. As volatile as it was, it would have been done so much to round out the ultimate contribution of the Crumb Family writ large. Robert's happiness seems founded in a healthy detachment that age has afforded him. He can identify his own work without pointing at himSELF exactly.
this is the best Crumb interview ever!!!! no interruption
Especially from his wife!
yeah. I can talk un-interupted for 20 minutes but boring-ly🤐
@@slickster2880 😮☝️🔥
It really is. This interview helps one become more in tune with who he really is.
Indeed
He still sounds young
Up until recently he was doing a music-based podcast, and there he sounds like he's still 20 years old!
@@Mark-fv8vt what's the name of the podcast, I'm really interested?
@@TheExtremeCube John's Old Time Radio Show... I thought they exhausted his collection a few years back but apparently not. eastriverstringband.com/radioshow/?p=3348
@@Mark-fv8vt thanks!
yeah i didnt realize autoplay was on and thought it was nick mullen
Art is art. Art can be disturbing. Art is from the heart. Art is from the depths, the airless places. From the space behind our faces.
@@ajhindalou ok buddy
I was going to roll my eyes but it took me a second to appreciate this comment good stuff
Is art just supposed to entertain people? or is it the expression of someones soul?
@@georgemartin4354 It can be both, I think.
those 2 strips he spent too much time apologizing for at the end, i wish he had just said it's the seething tribalism in human DNA we all can feel and have learned to suppress that he illustrated. he is correct as no one can verbalize it without being taken to task. it's the elephant in the room. look at gaza for a current example. 2 groups of people who share the same exact DNA AND religious practices just killing each other for the tribe which they belong. just like salvadoran gangs, same people doing atrocious things to each other because they are in a diff gang. it never stops and crumb illustrated it which offends the folks trying to keep it from view.
He never mentioned his illustrated version of the bible. I was excited to add it to my collection, can't recommend it enough. No sarcasm or humor, he just did a great job. I don't know how many other people have Fritz the Cat & Heavy Traffic on DVD or his old 'Mr. Natural' comics on a shelf but I have loved that proud weirdo forever.
I'd love to see the Bible...the Crumb Bible! If something ever needed an infusion of fresh air, it's that one.
It wasn’t exactly the Bible, just the book of Genesis! It’s great. And the oddest thing about it is it’s a pretty straightforward depiction of the book of Genesis! I suppose Genesis is mad enough, Crumb didn’t need to add anything to it!
I had two copies of it and I can't remember what the hell I did with them 😳
I'm with you: I love his illustrated Book of Genesis. My favorite part is the story of Joseph. As an aside, over the years, many illustrated Bibles have been produced - mainly to aid (largely) illiterate populations - as the saying goes, "A picture is worth a thousand words". How true!
Thanks for reminding me that I did purchase it years ago on spec . Now I have to find it .
"Humans have a lot of trouble with the truth." Yep. Children are afraid of the dark. Grownups are afraid of the light.
Pilletta Doinswartsh ⚖ TODAY is the tomorrow you worried about YESterday ; was it wORth it 🎯
Ha h ha h aaaaaa,,, That was Rich in yo Poverty Young Foolllll.
I Once too was Young... Now I am so Very old...
There are But Two Kinds of a Fool in This World Child...
One Seeking a Truth in Justly all of us...
The Other a Liar fo Hire...
What do we See when we Look into our Own Mirror...
is Never a Question yet always The Answer...
What is a Bad Child but a Good Childs Job
What is a Good Child Other Than a Bad Childs Job.
Water yo Flower Child.
Peace.
Darkness was Always Before Light...
Before Darkness was...
Tao.
A crowd always thinks with its sympathy
Never with its reason ...........
Crumb is the comic book version of Thomas Ligotti and Arthur Schopenhauer.
Who needs this stupid objective reality crap when we have a much better product custom tailored to our own specs, and no there is nothing alternative about them, they are double plus super facts!
Wow, just wow. I've never seen anyone more honest, intelligent, and forthright as Crumb. This guy is not only an artistic genius, he is likely the most truthful and sincere human on the planet. Awesome work.
You should watch the Crumb documentary made about twenty five years ago.. th-cam.com/video/4FJiTCAmD4k/w-d-xo.html
He had the good LSD! LOL! It will change your mind forever! (For the good!)
@@dmmcgowan13 lsd is cheap thrills. peyote, weed and shrooms will set you free.
@@jessestreet2549 he had his own model for most of his drawings. Almost all of his artwork is of variations of him and his wife
Thank you Robert. This is giving me the opportunity to thank you, even though you’ll probably never read this....I remember finding your art, and being wowed because you spoke to something inside me, and intelligence and humor I thought was something no one else under stood. There was an edge, I couldn’t stand Archie, and Superman, I thought they were stupid...you, you have an insight that made me realize that May em I wasn’t alone. So, thank you...really. Thank you for not getting pushed under by the forces of our society that didn’t get you.
Crumb's work, especially that involving thick women and sexual anxiety, did more to help me and thousands of other young men get through adolescence than 10 years of therapy could have done. Thank you, brother.
This man makes me feel not so alone in this world...
You haven't found your people yet.
@@nprvictim2951 yeah its kinda hard to find good people who can express themselves in such an open way.
Me too . Be an artst! If you are outside, you'll see things that the herd wont.
@@nprvictim2951 yeah we are right here
We are few. We are rare. But we lurk in the shadows.
Crumb's artwork helped me get over my own social awkwardness and ambivalence towards my "normal" peers. It made me feel good about being a freak. For that I thank him.
@@redfo3009 You're not alone.
I, too, was an alienated kid. Awkward, anxiety ridden and clinically depressed. I wish I had found Mr. Crumb when I was young. But, I did find my path. One that existed outside the normies world. Crumb is an inspiration!
What did your path end up being ?
@@Heopful I spent much of my life guiding in the backcountry, both winter and summer. So I lived on the edge of designated wilderness. As the world went on its merry way, I lived in nature. It was a great life!
I was incredibly fortunate to have lived in San Francisco in the sixties. Everyone I knew was blown away by having our deepest fantasies being revealed in a comix book. Thanks for being a nice little part in my life.
"Humans have a lot of trouble with the truth." Can't argue with that!
Love his work. Thanks for posting this insightful interview.
hard to even wash down with a glass of lemonade!
“People want to be thrilled.” - People like “Happy talk”. I never understood that either.
Crumb is brilliant. He puts a mirror up - and many don’t like what they see. Some of us can laugh at
the absurdity of life, and all our flaws. It’s the truth, after all. Love you, Robert, and all your gentle neuroses.
Thoughtful interview w/all its uncomfortable, imperfect moments. Thinking out loud, as usual.
No questions asked.....an interviewers dream.
I'm 71 R. Crumb made me proud to be strange,and to embrace my love for large women ❤ 💕 💖
at 71, you will hardly have a choice, they are all ""large'' at this point... i am dating a harp seal... soft fur, beady eyes, 400 lbs...
Mr. Crumb is authentic & speaks from the heart - 1,000 years from now , his artwork will stand the test of time. An American Icon.
The best art tells the truth. Crumb will always of be one of my heroes.
ThomasNSherrod Well said, thank you
BRAVO ! BRAVO !
Nah. Good art asks you to question your truth and to challenge your perception of it.
ThomasNSherrod u sound like a CULTURAL MARXIST
The guy that draws the Reid Fleming cartoons is like Crumb .
a true original, great to see he’s still going strong
arthritis has all but stopped his drawing, sadly...
@@joshuaclark1930 I didn’t know that, sad to hear this. Well, he hasn’t wasted his years, to say the least
Through Crumb I found my alter ego. I listen to myself when I listen to him. He brings it all up - everything - with no regrets or hesitation. He helps me make peace with my subversive, honest dark side. He validates. He has courage for openly walking through his past and sharing all of it. I listen to this and don't want it to stop. It feels right. It's an ongoing dialogue with myself and everything.
This man is one of the last true warriors of art ever - he is the real deal - the real thing. any1 who rly looks into his work will know this. Thank u for a beautiful video - the words of Robert Crumb here are jam packed to the brim with wisdom.
Those who do not use artistic freedom soon lose it.
"It is no measure of health to be well-adjusted to a profoundly sick society."---Krishnamurti
A dangerous insight, but if you are brave this thought can lead you to some semblance of freedom.
“The longer I live, the more I am inclined to the belief that this earth is used by other planets as a lunatic asylum.” George Bernard Shaw
The Man.
Agreed
I have always been a big fan of Robert Crumb's work and I wish I knew where to get more. I am pleasantly surprised to learn that he is still alive.
Any comic book shop will have reprints of his work.
I was given my first mr Natural in 1979, as a christmas present. I was 9 and loved it at first sight! Crumb has been part of my growing up and I’m very thankful for it.
So happy to see RC again..when last we saw him in in the bio Crumb he was packing up his stuff for a move to France...for years I thought "well that's the last we'll see of him .I guess we will read his obit one day"...but no.. here he is ...ascerbic as always ....one of my all time favorite artists and influences .Thank you for this post ... nice Xmas gift
Yeah, but he should be going after PC culture. He always had a problem with early feminism and they went on to control American leftist culture. He should go after them but they’d have him banned.
Barbara Mulvaney Well, that was never Robert Crumb’s idea of freedom of expression. It was whatever came out of him. I don’t know if you remember Crumb in his early days of comics.
What are you talking about? He does, in this very interview
The doco on Crumb is one of the best docos I’ve ever seen. The part regarding his brother who ended up committing suicide started out amusing and ended up very sad.
The parallels of his early life and mine are amazing and heartbreaking at the same time, I wish I had continued honing my craft back in the day too.
... Robert crumb is truly one of our great artists. I am 80, and have Kept track of him through the years. I'm glad that you have too.... I am going to be recommending Louisiana Channel to everyone. Thank you so much.
I love how he doesn't give a rat's a$$ about the critics and social media weirdos.
Sometimes... Things appear ass Backwards...
I do believe The Value of Humanity is Our self...
our Deepest Desire to Be Loved and Never Hated by Others is Primary Mover of Self.
Even our very Lives become worthless as Empathy Rises from our Heart so Powerful
Beyond our very Last Measure we Give to Spare Harm From Our own caused Fate.
Why Would He Evade His Harm to Directly Share His Personal Life with anybody...
if Not for The Love He Seeks of Humanity.
His Flower cannot Bloom with out Holy Water from His Family...
Water His Flower
Guardian.
Peace.
Bet he hates SJWs. Would love to see a Robert Crumb cartoon on SJWs and Antifa. Also his views on Trump and Hilary would be great also.
I’m sure he has no love for trump or Hillary
@@minkman99 I thought he didn't hence why he should do a special of them. I've not looked at his work of followed him for a decade now. I think he retired to the South of France or something.
@@davedogge2280 I think so too. He has earned a restful retirement before all his problems end.
So much more articulate and relaxed than when he was younger. He grew a personality.
I was thinking the same thing. He appears to be more self confident and can more clearly express himself.
He seemed mellowed out and finally mature here. Hope he and his son are more connected now.
@@storyinternships9636 Crumb did reconnect with son later on -- His son (Jesse) was drawing with his father in a documentary made in 1994 -- Tragically his son passed away 3 years ago in a car crash.
Success and validation’ll do that to a fella.
Yeah, idk much about the individual but time mellows out a lot of people.
When you are young you have something to prove, be it to the world or just yourself.
When your old you don't have to prove anything to anyone, you just know what you are and role with it.
A heavenly interview. Besides the wise content, there is just Mr Crumb talking with no interviewer ego at all and nice long 10 - 15 second edits. NOTHING is more entertaining than being able to see and hear another person talk.
He's my favourite cartoonist by far and I'm amazed how much his youth parallels mine even though I don't have an artistic bone in my body (apart from the one through my nose). The honesty in his cartoons is such a comfort to me - you know: The one who says out loud what others only dare to think.
But not everything he depicted was indeed true! his truth dovetailed with the unadulterated and deranged often.
@@skyjuiceification Poetic license.
He’s way past his time! Love you Crumb! Giving us outcasts a voice is the reason I’m still alive today. Thanks R. Crumb!!
God damn. One of the best interviews I've ever heard! God Bless Mr. Crumb!!!
This is such a great interview; really what an amazing character, what a bent and beautiful national treasure Crumb is. Such honesty, insightful wit and originality is so rare.
I loved him. I was a young naive Federal Drug Investigator in the late 70s and eventually embraced the bright side. My colleagues were mostly unimaginative hypocrites.
He drew what we imagined and often salaciously desired.
Otto Dix is one of my favorite artists, it's nice to hear Crumb give him praise.
It's always great to see a popular artist share his spot light with lesser known artists, it gives them dignity.
I saw some of Dix's work in the Pompidou Museum in Paris. I can understand why Crumb would feel a kinship with him and George Grosz.
Dix was definitely one of the great artists of the twentieth century.
"Question everything. Humans have a lot of trouble with the truth, there are just so many layers of deception & delusion." I always found his cartoons to be a lurid glimpse into something true, my first taste of art as a coping mechanism.
#RobertCrumb
Yer find your own truth of life and just live your best life and help others. Just have a good one.
Thank you for highlighting one of my long time heroes.
I was bemused by how women protested the way they were drawn but many men find those body types attractive and he drew equally as many men as pigs and dogs etc
He's an American treasure
Mr. Crumb is such an amazingly authentic, thoughtful, creative, curious, considerate and insightful man who's has struggled fitting into society specifically because he is an authentic, thoughtful, creative, curious, considerate and insightful man.
I wish people like him were the norm rather than the exception.
The hope and dread of many nerds (me) is exemplified in R. Crumb.
My world has been improved with r.crumb in it.
Incredible "interview" without the usual dopey questions by an interviewer. Amazing soliloquy. I am an artist (not cartoons!) and very long time admirer and collector of Crumb. I spent 30 years in the hub of the Art World in NYC, and never met anyone as interesting and talented as R. Crumb. I was especially pleased to be able to hear his recent thoughts here, and to see that he is still the same as always. Great artist, and all around fascinating observer of humanity. I'm sure I will return to watch this again...
Thank all the gods for Robert Crumb. Someone’s got to stand up against the sanctimonious idiocies of the world. When the images came up from his adventure with “Big Kate,” I remembered reading that very comic in 1974. I was 23, I’d quit drugs and was feeling my way. I laughed so hard at that comic the neighbors came over to see if I was all right. God I needed that!!! Robert said “All the women left...” Not all of us, Robert!!
Best american comic book artist of all time!
Jack Kirby is the best American comic book artist.🇺🇸
Best of his generation?
Duterte Fan No because Jack Kirby did his most influential work in the 60s! Despite being much older than Crumb and depicting superheroes his work was arguably more admired by the counterculture, psychedelic acid tests for instance depicted Jack Kirby's Thor.
@Goggle products You'll adore Steve Clay Wilson's stuff, then.
Don’t forget Harvey Kurtzman
This is an excellent interview. Crumb is looking good and wonderfully cogent.
So glad to have found this. I have enjoyed R. Crumb since the early 70's and I love him still until this day. Great interview. Great mind.
I was at party at Berkeley, Calif in around 1977 when the hostess of the party came over and introduced Robert Crumb to me. Had a nice 30 minute chat with him, but never quite figured out why he was at the party (I got invited from connections I had with fellow students at grad school).
I think a lot of people can relate to, what Robert Crumb was questioning and revealing, with his comics.
They made me feel like, hey! there is another human being that gets it (and/or is trying to).
And the quality of the imagination, and drawing skills, made them a real treat to read.
I'll always be grateful for what you share with us R.Crumb.
Oh, and the music too.
I'm 74 and I always liked R Crumb and after this interview I like him even more, awesome dude!
i bought all the zap comix back in the 60's. they are timeless. human nature is timeless.
He can acknowledge his flawed self while knowing he’s talented. Very relatable.
Crumb masterfully captured the essence of ‘hell is other people.’ The flow of conversation that opens up in ones’ mind while viewing his work reflects the Monkey Mind in all of us. The limitless greed, tireless fear, and impassive dominance of people’s Monkey Mind is more than disturbing as represented in His cartoons. And yet we endure!
My shrink calls it The Reptilian Mind. Crumb's window to the Limbic System (?) is less fogged than ours. He can't stop showing us what he sees.
A couple of years ago, for closure, I emailed Crumb the obituary of Charles's main bully, "Skutch."
Skutch used to bully Robert too. He died after covid.
End the mind and end thinking- that's the way
had to hide my 'zap' comix as a kid, back in the day ...
one of the great artists of our time ....thanks for this interview...
remember the black and white cartoon when the family brought home the medicine man with buttons? brought some color into their lives!
@@marsdexter9852 don't remember that, but it sounds high-larious....
I had to go to a porn store in downtown Boston to buy Zap #4.
@@jonlight yea it figures. there are bigger "pop idols" that we're supposed to notice and follow. not genius artist, and the like.
I still have a half dozen stashed away.
One of my all time favorite artists. In a way, this man invented a whole new genre of pop art, and I just can't get enough of it. Like flipping through a painting where you can turn a page, and the painting changes and it has so much more to give. So many new angles. New revelations. For me, this is all about the superb visual arts, but then there is, of course, the storytelling too, but I am not that much into books or words. It is all about the visuals for me, and this is as good as it gets.
yes for me too ....
he is a superb figurative artist ....
good storytelling probably has to be visual, has to create images in the head of the reader
@Axel Stabursvik No, I was talking about my experience, not yours. There are plenty of songs too, where I could not quote more than a word or two from the lyrics, or perhaps only the chorus at best. And I still like them, sometimes even for the lead vocals. I sometimes simply like the way they sound. Example: th-cam.com/video/sOmuFTk1tLk/w-d-xo.html by Ryouchi Sakomoto and with lead vocals by Iggy Pop. I could not even tell you a single word from that song, except for the name - "Risky".
Glad you like Crumb for other reasons than mine, Jan.
@@bebop54 Yeah, and have you ever watched him WHILE he is drawing? He STARTS with the details, and work from there. I do it the other way around, otherwise I get the proportions all wrong. I do not know how on earth he pulls that off, but to me this man is pure genius.
loved his art.. started seeing his art when i was in my teens.. and to this day its still part of my life,,
what a beautifull human... not a hypocrite not hiding his head in the hole not wearing a mask to face the others and his artwork magnificent ..
Crumb is and has been America's most courageous artist and social critic. Also I love his line quality.
Fascinating and honest individual. Love his art and perspective. Brilliant.
Zap comix and R Crumb were such an important part of my youth....thank you Robert! Cheers...
R. Crumb was one of my earliest artistic influences. Forever grateful.
One of my all time favorite artists of any format. If I could choose any superpower I would with for the ability to be able to draw like Robert Crumb
Thought provoking, revealing with some very good points about the harm in "political correctness." Thanks for sharing.
Great interview. Loved it. I have always loved R. Crumbs work and predict that one day he will be viewed as a force that gave us great art, filled with truth and uninhibited observations. Freedom of expression must be protected at all costs. Crumb is ultimately a veritable force for good. The book "Genesis, comes to mind as a fantastic exploration of one's view of it. He allows himself to ruminate without restraint and share one man's view of the world with a fertile and creative imagination. It is obvious he is a gentle and kind person, never intending malice towards anyone. I give praise and thanks.
Crumb's art has often a very touching side to it, human and soft. Like someone wrote here, it helped growing up, cause being young everyone can relate to social awkwardness, in one way or another. Great honest Artist.
I'm sorry I'm just in stitches listening to him because he's so matter-of-fact and depressing and self-deprecating, so self-loathing that it's hilarious because we all are to some extent. It's just that Mr. Crumb has to a huge extent and he really shouldn't.
He's one of the greatest artists of the 20th century! Get real.
My sister got me one of his sketchbooks for Christmas. By far the best gift of the season. Have already gotten many hrs of enjoyment from it.
I've always loved his art. Being very young in the "hippy years" I was sometimes shocked at the sexual content but learned a lot from it anyway. I always thought his big-ass women were unreal until I went to the usa, where I saw they did exist in the flesh!
Crumb is one of my favorite artists ever. He makes wonderful shadings with cross-hatching. He drew a very old village in France painstakingly; where every cobblestone and every detail has the ring of truth and of love.
Honestly - it can sometimes be very challenging to read Crumb's work (my tastes are admittedly too "soft" for much of his material). That being said, what a great talent, and listening to the man speak is a pleasure.
In 1972 I took a commercial art class at a community college. I thoroughly enjoyed Zap Comix and was influenced by R.Crumb and my teacher didnt like my taste in my choice of art. I would copy Flakey Foont drawings and Mr. Natural, but my teacher hated it and it discouraged me to the point that I quit college. And I continued to draw Absorbine Jr. and Eggs Actly on my cars and any other surface I could find. I just loved Crumb's characters and their inexperienced sexual adventures.
I mean if you were merely copying the art, your teacher had a point. Even if you tastes didn't align.
@@oz_jones Point well taken but in my defense, at 18 yrs old, who really has an original style?
I discovered Crumb when I was a kid in the 1970s, it was weird but I could not put it down. As I got older his work was disturbing, but it was disturbing in a good way. Never knew he was raised Catholic, have that in common with him. He is an artist and he did art that was honest and vulnerable. I don't think too many artists exist like that today, because of cancel culture and safe space culture which are antithetical to honesty and vulnerability. Thanks for the video.
"cancel culture and safe space culture which are antithetical to honesty and vulnerability"
Understatement of the year.
I love Crumb as an artist and I don't know why. He adds something to the world...
thats it!
He's different. You pay attention to what's different, and the world is changed by what's different.
How wonderful to hear Crumbs thoughts. I totally relate in my own work. I understand why Frank Stack was so fond of you.
Crumb is a genius!
Imagine where he would be without our 1st Amendment!
His original thought provoking humor would have been quashed as Hate Speech when it never was.
Exactly. It's the kind of raw authenticity and honest mirror of ourselves that we would lose completely.
@@juancpgo You know it!
I believe at least some of his work was banned in my country. I remember reading one larger compilation book of his comics as a teenager that a friend had imported and it was unlike anything I'd ever seen. Sick, twisted, beautiful and strange as Homer Simpson once said.
Barbara Mulvaney
Can they ncorporate, @ their leisure, n these otha countriez?
I am weird and i love your work.
You are also pretty pretty, can I see your knees?
thank goodness for the weirdos.
yeah i'm weird, whaddaboutit?
A worthwhile video. Robert Crumb may be crazy, but he is also amongst the best cartoon artists ever.
No good deed goes unpunished. Thank you for all you have done for us.
Artists don't work because they want to, its because they have to. The medium doesn't matter.
great comment..
Your not an artist.
The medium is all that matters.
That's true only of some artists.
all of me old friends still get a big laugh from his works. they guys is so down to earth, only snobs wouldn't get the twisted humor. our fave is Free Wheelin' Franklin.
That’s not a Crumb character. Gilbert Shelton created Freewheelin’ Franklin, one third of the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers. Shelton wasn’t as prolific as Crumb, but the Freak Bros. are true classics.
@Tim Mentzer nonetheless his illustrations and story telling are tops. episode "Fat Freddie gets the munchies", the candid camera story with a royal BELCH!
mars dexter 👌
@@DanFrizzell Gilbert Shelton's nephew is collecting material in hopes of making a film of Gilbert's art and life. Gilbert's old pals are providing him with material from Austin, NYC and SF, art and photos spanning many years.
I've read and enjoyed many of his works. When it comes to print "comics" and video, Robert Crumb is one of the most brave, courageous and expressive of them all. This is what freedom of speech in America is all about, or should be. If you don't like what you see, don't watch or look at it when it comes to print or film/video or otherwise someone will censor YOU because they don't like your message.
God bless you Mr Crumb, for pushing beyond assumption, and speculation, as a human: for using art as a self therapy / survival strategy and constantly evolving as BOTH artist AND human.
"Crumb" is my favorite documentary. We get to see into the lives of some unusual, brilliant, and hilarious people, and perhaps realize the line between a famous artist and a virtually homeless man sitting on a bed of nails, passing a ribbon of linen through his bowels, can be very very thin. Odd persons have some solace in this world.
Robert Crumb is America's greatest artist.
Joseph Magil Jack Kirby is the Best, R. Crumb is pretentious.
So cool to finally see Mr. Crumb himself. I used to love his stuff when I was young. Still have Mr. Natural in my shelves
The honesty, is so refreshing...as an artist, I have a great deal of respect for Crumb
This is a great interview! Nice to have this since Crumb has been considered hard to interview. I'd love to interview him someday!
He speaks to so many of us...feels odd to have shared feelings with someone of stature like Crumb. Reassuring. Connected and like me he's a blues fanatic and musician.
Crumb is great! I love his stuff for its irreverence of everyone! Way more disrespect for the establishment than anyone else, but plenty for everyone! He did the best stuff before the age of political correctness. He went places where no man had dared tread with his art, and humor. He is number one in my book as an artist, and I am an artist myself. He, and Robert Williams are my top two favorite artists in this genre. Courageous genius', and damn good artists!
In general people are extremely resistant to any criticism of the cultural myths we are all brought up with. Challenging these myths is tantamount to calling into question their identity as people. Crumb had the ability and willingness to tear up all the cultural conditioning and represent the under lying truth of life for better or worse. A real hero for people who want to get to the bottom of things.
I love listening to Crumb talk. Actually he's my favorite artist. And I completely agree about the lurid, cheap appeal of early comics. I love that cheap swarmy appeal.
Somehow I received a copy of “The Sad Book” as a small child. I’d like to think it had some impact on forming my warped sense of humor into what it is today.
Mr. NATURAL... WHAT A HUMAN HONEST PERSON. I RELATE SO WELL IT, MAKES THIS MOMENT ...OF WATCHING HIM SPEAK...A COMFORT!