The Estate of Ernie Kovacs and Fantagraphics books announced a Dallas in-person event in support of a new career retrospective "Ernie in Kovacsland: Writings, Drawings and Photographs from Television’s Original Genius" at The Wild Detectives bookstore-bar-venue (314 W Eighth St. Dallas, 75208, Oak Cliff) on Monday, Sept. 30, at 7 p.m. Full details on this book event can be found here.
Hosted by noted Dallas publicist Kelly Kitchens, the Wild Detectives book event will be a conversation, discussion and Q&A live event for fans of both Kovacs and comedy. It is also an extension of additional live events spearheaded by the Dallas
VideoFest who are presenting the Ernie Kovacs Award to Devo’s Gerald Casale in-person at the Texas Theatre the night prior on Sunday, Sept 29. On Saturday, Sept. 28, VideoFest will screen the 2024
Devo music documentary at 7:30 p.m. also at the Texas Theatre. Tickets available for both events can be found
here and
here.
“Ernie Kovacs brilliant “high” meets “low” hijacking of mid-century television programming ignited a spark in my teenage brain and the fire spread fast,” said Devo co-founder Gerald V. Casale. “Could Devo have ever existed without the Nairobi Trio? I think everyone knows the answer.”
Since the book’s release in 2023, a renewed interest in the work of Ernie Kovacs has taken hold with a rave review in NPR’s
Fresh Air who called the book “…a combination art museum and treasure chest”, the
Los Angeles Times, the
Saturday Evening Post and more. A UCLA Film & Television Archive in-person event in Los Angeles on July 22 sold out the 285 capacity venue.
The 284-page
Ernie in Kovacsland coffee table book celebrates the cockeyed genius and prolific career, life and creative output of never-before-seen material from the Ernie Kovacs archive. Kovacs fans, including entertainer Ann Magnuson and musician Ron Mael of Sparks both contributed new essays for the book. Additional essays from co-authors, Joshua Mills, Ben Model & Pat Thomas round out the book. To purchase the book, click
here.
Best known for his wildly imaginative, gleefully absurdist television show in the 1950s, Ernie Kovacs (1919 – 1962) was also a notorious illustrator, novelist, essayist, newspaper columnist, and poet. In celebration of this off-kilter genius and his prolific creative output, Fantagraphics presents a career retrospective featuring never-before-seen photos from Kovacs' archive; excerpts of his magazine articles, columns and books, hand-notated TV scripts: a smattering of his "illustrated profuselies," the wacky improvisational sketches he drew on air; and more. Curated by Josh Mills (son of
Edie Adams, Kovacs' wife and a performer on his show), Edie/Ernie archivist Ben Model, and counterculture historian Pat Thomas, the book offers a unique glimpse into the mind of a pioneering comedian.
Ernie Kovacs inspired countless comedians, musicians, humorists, and writers in the latter half of the 20th century and beyond. He is cited as a direct influence by the creators and stars of such innovative comedy series as Saturday Night Live, Monty Python, and Mystery Science Theater 3000. An award in his name has been granted to uproarious humorists like Amy Sedaris (Strangers with Candy) and Harry Shearer (This is Spinal Tap) at the Dallas VideoFest. A true visionary, Kovac’s iconoclastic approach has forever made its mark on the world of comedy.
Ernie Kovacs was an influential figure for late night entertainers such as Steve Allen, David Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel and Conan O'Brien, whose work has been cited appreciatively by Martin Scorsese, Harold Prince, Matt Groening (The Simpsons), Robert Smigel (Saturday TV Funhouse, Triumph: The Insult Comic Dog), Joel Hodgson (Mystery Science Theater 3000), Paul Reubens (Pee-wee Herman), Andrea Martin (SCTV), Alec Guinness and author Jonathan Lethem, among others.
A pioneer in early television whose inventive use of the medium inspired countless performers, directors, and video artists, Ernie Kovacs created indelible characters such as Percy Dovetonsils, Matzoh Hepplewhite, and Uncle Gruesome, Kovacs invented a distinctly modern form of comedy that playfully subverted the television medium. Edie Adams was his on-screen partner as well as his wife. After his death in 1962 Adams was instrumental in not only saving but also preserving Kovacs’ body of work during the 1960s when she bought all existing Kovacs materials - including the masters that the television networks were planning to destroy them due to cost and storage issues. It is through her efforts that this book exists.