In this aptly titled tribute to stand up comedian Mitch Hedberg, Canadian-born, Brooklyn-based artist and fellow jokester Jason McClean combines a pared-down black-and-white illustrations with different comedy-related terminology and references. The staple-bound zine opens with a visual anagram of Hedberg’s name and is littered with allusions to or straightforward reprints of his punchlines, such as “An escalator cannot break! It can only become stairs.”
“Recording his daily experiences, observations, and personal stories in a range of media, Jason McLean has likened his work to a ‘mental map.’ He cites Ray Johnson, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Raymond Pettibon as artistic influences, though he also draws inspiration from his children’s drawings, bottle cap designs, stamp art, frozen pizza boxes, and found objects that pique his interest. Recalling the automatic drawings of surrealist artists, his bright, graphic collages and works of ink on paper feature a web of semi-connected words and themes related to pop culture, daily life, and McLean’s inner world and struggles with schizophrenia.” — Artsy
