RIP JCD
I discovered the No Agenda podcast on February 26, 2017. I know the date, because I heard the segment where they described the selection process for the previous episodes listener (nay producers) cover art submissions, and I immediately began submitting. The show hit so many notes for me, it was the least I could do.
I knew of Adam Curry from MTV and John C Dvorak from Tech TV but would not have expected either to be so deft at media deconstructing. They were documenting the things that I’d gotten quizzical looks for pointing out to people since the second Gulf War: media outlets intentionally distracting, miscontextualizing, and lying about ever topic they covered. And they were having a great time doing it (John and Adam, not the media… they seem miserable) and peppering in screaming goat noises. I found my show and could go on about it for pages, but sadly this post isn’t about that.
When compiling my ten year collection of comics in 2020, after a few years of crushing show art, if I do say, I’d I’d gotten to know JCD a bit outside of the show, through emails and Twitter DMs, and knew he could write me a killer blurb for the back of the collection.
Within a few hours of me asking, John came back with the most glowing blurb I could have imagined. It might have made me blush.
"… one of the most creative and inventive humorists of the era…" from a guy that hangs out with hundred-millionaire cartoonists? Not the only measure, but get outta here and also WOW! Exaggerated or not, I couldn't wait to print those suckers and be able to point to his words.
Fast forward several hundred episodes to episode 1771 where John reveals his philosophy on blurbing books. “if someone asked me for a blurb for their book I don't care how crappy the book is, I'll give them a blurb.“
John has repeated his approach to blurbs, adopted from Alan Watts, on subsequent shows but strangely, it didn't make his endorsement of my work any less meaningful. If anything, I treasure it more. A classic JCD punchline that took a few years to land immortalized on my book. “a collection that should be on everyone’s bookshelf and is great for the coffee table for sure!”
<— The cover art for episode 1249 that John asked me to sign and send him for display in his fabled studio.
No Agenda producers generally recognize John's mind for technology, chemistry, media deconstruction, burn creams, leather care and cleaning products... but I think artistically-inclined producers will especially recognize the mind he had for art and comedy. And the mind he had for the psyche of artists and comedians. He had the ability to be perfectly blunt on these topics, in a way that seemed like it should hurt, but never did. My game was elevated every time he and I worked together on an illustration for his Substack.
So I want to send my love and condolences to Adam, John's family and dinner-at-the-house-kind of friends, but also to the veterans of the No Agenda show-art golden era (before AI took our jobs), my friends Darren O, Nick the Rat, Roundy, Tante Neal, Kenny-Ben, Mountain Jay, Net Ned, and many more. I'd even hug the non-cybernetic human half of Comic Strip Blogger right now if I could.
I currently have two unsent emails sitting in drafts for John, both about human cloning with clips! I wanted to tighten them up before sending, because I can be a rambler. I don't have the heart to delete them. I'll hang on to them until Brennan gets his feet under him for the Crackpot & Deadbeat show.
Still my days will never be the same without John's voice.
Thank you and farewell to the great JCD.
