BIZARRO Cartoonist Dan Piraro in Person
Only if you will attend, an
RSVP
is requested before noon, Friday, February 19. Reply to
tampa@CenterForInquiry.net
or call 813-849-7571.
Admission
: $5 non-member. There is ample free parking.
UU Church
MAP
:
http://tinyurl.com/yk9t8mw
Lunch will follow at
The Mirage
, featuring Middle-eastern cuisine, located at 2284 Gulf-to-Bay Blvd., a couple of miles north of UUC. (727) 724-3604
Restaurant
MAP
:
http://tinyurl.com/dgjclm
Dan Piraro was raised in Oklahoma but as an adult has traveled extensively throughout the world. His popular cartoon BIZARRO was first syndicated in 1985 and since then has built a steady and loyal following in the United States and Canada, as well as parts of Europe, Asia and South America.
In addition to 13 collections of BIZARRO cartoons, Piraro has published two books of prose, including "Bizarro Among the Savages" (Andrews McMeel, 1998), and a political satire disguised as a children's book recounting the Bush administration's foray into Iraq called, "The Three Little Pigs Buy the White House" (St. Martins, 2004). In "..Savages", he recounts his surreal book tour across the country, which was entirely funded by his readers and during which he stayed in the homes of oddball fans.
"Bizarro and Other Strange Manifestations of the Art of Dan Piraro" (Harry N. Abrams, 2006) is a retrospective of his careers as a cartoonist, fine artist, commercial illustrator and stand-up comic in which he offers hilarious and thought-provoking insights into his life and the world at large via his cartoons, never-before-seen sketches, photographs and paintings.
BIZARRO has won an unprecedented three consecutive "Best Cartoon Panel of the Year" awards from the National Cartoonists Society, and is a seven-time nominee for the NCS's highest award, "Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year."
Piraro regularly speaks and performs comedy across the country, and works as an animal rights and environmental activist. For his animal rights-themed cartoons, he has won numerous awards from the Humane Society of the United States. He also writes a monthly humor column for Veg News Magazine and a daily blog commenting on his cartoons.
Since 2002, Piraro has sporadically toured the U.S. with his one-man stand-up comedy show called "The Bizarro Boloney Show". The show's debut in the 2002 New York International Fringe Festival was voted "Best Solo Show," and The New York Times called it "...a shrewd tour of a cartoonist's imagination...wildly applauded."
Piraro has appeared on CNN and "Fresh Air" with Terry Gross on NPR. In 2007, Dan Piraro reached the self-proclaimed pinnacle of his career thus far when he and BIZARRO appeared as a clue on the popular game show, "Jeopardy!"
Dan Piraro resides in Brooklyn, NY with his wife, Ashley Lou Smith, who is related in one way or another to no less than five professional cartoonists.
