In the 1980’s, all of us at The Practical Theatre Company were very lucky to meet and work with an artist named Gary Whitney. At the time, Gary was partnering with Jay Lynch on the strip Phoebe & The Pigeon People which appeared in the pages of the Chicago Reader – and all of us recent Northwestern University grads had been fans of Gary’s artwork and Jay’s jokes for years before the incomparable Ron and Sydney Crawford introduced us to those two fascinating and talented artists.
Connecting us with Jay and Gary was yet another important social and artistic contribution made by the Crawfords to the PTC. Soon, I will undertake to express the full measure of our collective gratitude to Ron & Syd by blogging the story of their impact on my life, the history of the PTC, and the musical adventures of The Rockme Foundation. I’m pleased to say it’s an ongoing story.
From the moment I first met Gary, I liked him. We all did. Gary was a relatively quiet guy, but he was also very open and warm. He had a big beard and a big sense of humor. I can easily picture him at any number of gatherings at the Crawford’s house or at the John Lennon Auditorium laughing and enjoying the scene. Few of us knew who Gary Whitney really was (other than the guy who drew Phoebe) and Gary wasn’t the kind of guy to toot his own horn – but he, like Jay, was already a fixture in the wild, wild world of underground and alternative comix.
Gary had already been very active in the underground comic scene in the 1970s, contributing to many titles, including Bizarre Sex, Dope Comix, Kitchen Sink Press, Flying Fungus Funnies, and Windy City Comix, among many others. In the 1980’s, we at the Practical Theatre were blessed to have Gary lend his wit and talent to our efforts.
I can’t remember what the first event was for which Gary drew one of his great posters or flyers – but he drew a lot of them. He created a whole series of fabulous flyers to promote appearances by our house band, Riffmaster & The Rockme Foundation. Gary’s posters for the band’s gigs always created excitement, especially within the band. It was so cool to have the guy who drew Phoebe & The Pigeon People make our next gig look so exciting, offbeat and…cool. There’s no better word for it.
Gary also did the poster for The Practical Theatre’s production of Soapbox Sweepstakes, an ongoing satirical look at the 1984 Presidential election, which ran at the John Lennon Auditorium for 30 weeks, from May of ‘84 through election day.
But the collaboration that I enjoyed most was working with Gary, Brad Hall, Gary Kroeger and Ron Crawford on the one and only issue of Practical Comix.
Practical Comix was a childhood dream come true. I’d been an avid reader of comic books since I was a small boy — and in high school during the groovy early 70’s, I became a big fan of underground comics. I even went to Cleveland’s Cooper School of Art one summer in a vain attempt to develop my artistic talents so that I could draw a comic book of my own. Alas, I never became more than a rudimentary cartoonist, but the dream of my own comic book never died. In 1983, Gary Whitney helped to make that dream come true.
What follows is an excerpt from Practical Comix: Special Family Ties Issue. The story is adapted from a sketch that Brad Hall, Gary Kroeger and I wrote for Saturday Night Live. The sketch didn’t make it to air on SNL – but Gary Whitney made it come alive in the pages of Practical Comix.
Paul's Voyage of Discovery & Etc. 
Well Dick’s not funny, and he’s never been funny. Now he’s giving Conan grief.
Thanks for weighing in, Mr. Mo!
At least Dick gave us a great opportunity at SNL. And he did put 22 of my sketches on the show that year. There are lots of hurdles between writing a good joke and managing to get it on the air. Someday I’ll write about the process in more detail. It’s a lot like passing legislation and sausage making.
BTW — today’s “Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)” make no sense at all. The word “Gary” seems to be the only connection. I still can’t find the switch to turn that annoying feature off. Patience, good friends.
And if somebody (that’s probably you, Syd!) has Gary Whitney’ e-mail address, can you forward the post to him?
Thanks.
Ron & Syd are the dreamiest.
Oh, where are Gary and Mary now?
SNL could use this right now.
Wow, that takes me back. Can’t wait for the Ron & Syd post.
Yes, where are Gary & Mary now? If anyone knows, please send ’em a link to this post.
Meanwhile, work on the Ron & Syd Crawford post continues. Just getting all the artwork together and scanning it has triggered so many great memories. And when you consider that Ron has been chronicling our (and his) adventures from 1981 thru 2009 — it’s a staggering wealth of material! Of course, Ron & Syd’s creative work began long before ’81, but even if I confine my post to Ron’s drawings of Evanston, the PTC, the Rockmes, and his world travels with Syd since 1981, it’s an immense trove of treasure.
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Many years ago I was a street performer in Chicago under the name, Destiny Quibble. I knew Mary Whitney and also enjoyed Gary’s cartoons, as so many did! I was remembering those days, wishing I could say a new hello to Mary one day! Best – Destiny aka Cynthia
Thank you, Paul, for your kind words. It’s taken me a while to respond to
this, but life has been difficult. Mary passed away in January of 2015 from
complications due to ovarian cancer, surgery, and chemo. I am still working
as an animator, and am periodically in touch with Ron. He told me about
“Becoming Us”, and I have been keeping up with the episodes – an excellent
show! It was great seeing all the Crawfords in Episode 5, and I only wish
that Mary were here to watch it as well.
It’s good to hear from you, Gary. So sorry to learn of Mary’s passing. We miss you both. I’d love to see you one of these days. We enjoyed some great times together. Thanks for all the art, fun and friendship.
It would be nice to see you again! Please let me know if you are
in Chicago and have some free time.