Cold Cuts, Hot Nights, Lukewarm Success

Food For Thought

My first mistake was choosing whole wheat instead of “Italian Herb” for the roll. My second mistake is trying to pick healthy selections for a 12” hero in QuickChek. I’m holding a rainbow milkshake. Spicy Italian always sounds like a good idea — capicola (or as purists would say, or gabagool) is the Mercedes of cold cuts — but always, about half way through the sandwich, I’m thinking of an escape plan, usually doubling down with muenster cheese to cut the heat but then it’s too cheesy.

For those asking how we keep things heated between us, I’ll share those three words my wife likes to whisper to me; “Stop lecturing me.” I just heard them again today when a chat about an episode of Hacks spiraled into a discussion about comedy today. There’s nothing that screams separate bedrooms faster than a one-way sermon on a subject the other could care less about.

In my defense I was just listening to a couple of podcasts talking about comedy today, specifically Bill Maher was chatting with John Cleese and then later Jerry Seinfeld. They were all, more or less, of the opinion that their generation is funnier (even once stating the younger generation doesn’t have a sense of humor, kind of an ongoing North Star on Hacks. I am stuck in Season Two but plan to first see the Steve Martin doc whenever I go back to watching anything aside from the New York Ranger’s Stanley Cup run and the Hush Money Trail (great title), which has whet my appetite for more trials in the Fall season.

For those thinking, ugh…old, white, straight men complaining more about being an old, white, straight man, I am actually not a fan of Bill Maher’s and didn’t know he had a podcast. My iPad queues up the next show without warning and I can’t stop it. I usually have on a headset, protective googles and work-gloves, deep in the woods with a chain saw/weeder/splitter/food scraps, contracting poison ivy and, the last time, a tick. I listen to all sorts of good and bad podcasts around the clock, even using them to fall asleep to. My favorite was True Stories with Tig Notari and Cheryl Hines (which ended when it combusted from the weight of politics — the Curb Your Enthusiasm star is married to RFK, Jr.).

But I did enjoy hearing this new Bill Maher podcast if just to hear them gripe that they are getting less attention/work/$ now. Misery loves company.

Is it just competition? Are they less funny? Am I? I don’t know and I’m guessing you’re thinking, “Please don’t lecture me,” so I’ll stop there (I have included links below where I talk about comedy today on a podcast.).

I hate my voice and I’m tired of my own soap-boxing. I want to hear from you. I’ll cutback on the lecturing and name-dropping if you promise to complain here and share your stories from the wild (gossipy, name-dropping from you and your brushes with fame). Get political, if you wish. Let’s start political (but baby steps). A congresswoman from Connecticut declared New Haven the city with the “best pizza in the country” on the House floor. Where is your favorite pizza? Just to get the ball rolling, I will share mine and then post your answers in the next issue of The Bob.

Exclusive Pizza on 181st, Manhattan. To borrow a Dangerfield joke, the place should have two paper bags over it — in case the first one breaks. It’s a hole in the wall and I’m being nice. But it is the best pizza I have ever had and everyone I drag there has agreed and makes it their new go-to pizza place. It’s got everything Famous Ray’s had but tastes more homemade and there’s more sauce, a sauce that has a hint of sweetness. A great pizza slice should not be edible while walking and making a total mess of yourself. This slice needs a plate. There. I said it.

My Revised Dream Dinner Party

Bill Murray

Jennifer Coolidge

Scarlett Johansson

David Spade

Stormy Daniels

Jon Bon Jovi

Richard Kind

George Santos

This was an excerpt from a lively interview with humorist Jessica Delfino on her newsletter, Museletter. For more, go HERE.

For those who read The Bob for the writing and humor advice, you’re in luck. I have for you long-form conversations with three of the most knowledgeable minds in publishing. Each chat has it’s own bent and is different:

1. I did a deep dive into my writing and thought process with writer, editor and publishing guru, Tiffany Yates Martin. Our conservation can be read HERE but you can see and hear the whole conversation on this YouTube channel. It was a great talk about how I think visually, even in my writing, and how to incorporate the same process in different mediums. I’m confidant it will be helpful to creatives. (and check out Tiffany’s great book on finishing your book, Intuitive Editing: A Creative & Practical Guide to Revising Your Writing)

2. I had another truly great conversation with award-winning journalist and writing coach, Estelle Erasmus (Writing That Gets Noticed). We discussed advice for writing stories from a different lens, pivoting in your career to discover new forums for your work, emerging into a state of playfulness with your work and we shared our actionable tips for writers. Watch it here. 

3. If you’re serious about succeeding as a writer, than you already know Jane Friedman, who some call the Queen of Publishing. Our talk is coming later, June 7th, Fri. 1pm ET, and what’s special about this event, is you can join us during the Q & A. I expect to cover alot of nuts & bolts about publishing, but definitely nuts. It’s FREE but you need to register HERE.

(For cartoonists, I did the podcast Pet Peeves, mentioned below again.)

The renown travel site Atlas Obscura published a large feature of my new book called: 10 of the Weirdest, Wildest Museum Stories You’ll Ever Read: Illustrator Bob Eckstein Shares His Favorite Strange Stories from Some of the World’s Most Famous Museums. Support you local bookstore, “the intellectual hub of Main Street,” and order yours there (or click on the book below to see the options available online).

As I’ve mentioned before, nowadays any book’s success is driven by word-of-mouth and reviews. So, if you enjoy the book, I would greatly appreciate any love you can give my way.

“The most delightful book I’ve ever held in my hands.” — Brian Carso, author of Gideon's Revolution

Thank you to all the bookstores who have choosen Footnotes from the Most Fscinating Museums as their Staff Pick (like The Bookstore in Lenox, MA).

I am doing a FREE virtual presentation for a group of libraries later today (Wednesday, May 29th) at 7pm ET called New Yorker Cartoonist and Bestseller Bob Eckstein Shares His Favorite Museums and Cartoons.

New Books! New Great Books!

Global bestselling historical novelist Tracey Chevalier has come out with a long awaited new book, called The Glass Maker, about a family of glassmakers from the height of Renaissance-era Italy to the present day.

Fun fact: I’m such a fan, Tracey makes appearances in a couple of my books and will be featured in my next book, Inspired by Cats: Writers and Their Feline Muses, written by Nava Atlas and illustrated by me.

Hey, we were just talking about this. Man Poems is written by humorist Jonathan Stone and illustrated by the bestseller Ron Barrett and guess what, Father’s Day is around the corner. Take care of that now here. It’s published by Humorist Books, so you know it’s funny.

For anyone interested in learning more about Ron, the publishing icon appeared on my podcast, The Cartoon Pad.

CJ Peeves is Nerd Dad! is now out. By Dave London & Pete Chianca. This is the third “Pet Peeves” comic strip collection, collecting strips from 2021-2023, a must for any Pet Peeves reader. I loved the running commentary and inside baseball stuff. 

More Fun Facts: I just appeared on their podcast Pet Peeves and we discussed cartooning and museums. Podcasts not your thing (especially those with me on them), our chat can be READ here on Boston.com.

If you were expecting to get a shout-out in this section because we talked about it, please let me know. I will get you in on the next issue and I just need a reminder — I lose a lot of emails and texts in the flood of political spam texts.