My friend Dan Piraro stops by to chat about his journey as an artist as well as his journey as a human being on a bizarre planet. We discuss the joys and trials of living in Mexico. We also discuss his infamous Bizarro comic strip and his connection to animals and the natural world. This is a fun and inspiring conversation with a brilliant and humorous human being!
If you have ever seen Dan Piraro’s critically acclaimed comic Bizarro (and you have: It is published daily in over 360 papers), you know that he doesn’t see the world like the rest of us do. His single panel gems are a unique concoction of surrealistic imagery, social commentary, and witty plays on words. Indeed, if Salvador Dali, Garry Trudeau, and Oscar Wilde had an illegitimate child, that child would be Dan Piraro.Dan has been a cigar-smoking vegan, animal rights activist, atheist, NRA hater, ex-husband, father, stand-up comedian, painter, former host of FOX TV’s Utopia, and philosophizing cartoonist who makes his living writing and drawing a new cartoon every day, 365 days a year. But he’s not necessarily all of those things now.His humor is inspired partly by his own real-life situations and partly by the eccentric thoughts that pop into his overly active mind. Dan has a rare talent for ruffling feathers with scathing commentary on the mindlessness of modern life, then smoothing them down with his disarming humor, charm, and self-deprecating humility. (His permission to post this bio notwithstanding.) His intriguing perspective on life easily flows beyond the boundaries of one-panel cartoons and into an interesting, comedic conversation about a plethora of topics. He stirs up controversy, inspires revelations, and pokes fun at everyone along the way, including himself.
His fans love him, with a social reach of over 100,000 and engagement with almost 1 million fans a month. His blogs and social media sites receive tens of thousands of visitors each day. King Features distributes Bizarro on their online portal, comicskingdom.com. He has also sold a respectable number of books and won numerous awards.Bizarro won “Best Panel Feature” from the National Cartoonists Society an unprecedented three consecutive years in 2002, 2003, and 2004. And he won again in 2016.Dan Piraro won “Cartoonist of the Year” from the National Cartoonists Society in 2009.Bizarro has won multiple “Genesis Awards” from the Humane Society of the United States.Dan lives somewhere in Mexico with the love of his life, Christy, whom he affectionately calls “Olive Oyl.”
Key Moments
0:00 Intro
2:00 Growing Up
8:00 Mexico
13:00 Drivers License
20:00 Mexico Vs USA
27:00 Philosophical Journey
35:00 Living in the Now!
40:00 Peyote Cowboy
43:00 The Magic of Creativity
54:00 Appreciating Animals
1:00:00 Outro
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Dr. Alan Goldhamer | Water-Fasting & Vegan Diets | TrueNorth Health Center | #75 HR
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https://linktr.ee/ChrisJeffries
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