He’s taking calls
Britain’s Prince William has been volunteering on a crisis hotline.
Britain’s Prince William has revealed that he has been anonymously helping out on a crisis helpline during the coronavirus lockdown.
The Duke of Cambridge’s work with Shout 85258 — an around-the-clock text messaging helpline developed by the Royal Foundation — was made public to mark Volunteers Week.
Last month, he told fellow volunteers in a video call that was shared on social media late Friday: “I’m going to share a little secret with you guys, but I’m actually on the platform volunteering.”
William, who is second in line to the throne, is one of more than 2,000 volunteers who have been formally trained to help those in need.
More than 300,000 text conversations have taken place between volunteers and people needing mental health support, with around 65 percent of those texting aged under 25.
William’s wife, the Duchess of Cambridge, has also been helping others by taking part in “check in and chat” calls with people self-isolating or vulnerable during the pandemic.
— Associated Press
Second City shakeup after racism charge
Andrew Alexander, the CEO and co-owner of famed The Second City improv theater, said he is stepping down after a former performer leveled accusations of racism against the comedy institution.
In a lengthy letter posted on the company’s website, Alexander said he “failed to create an anti-racist environment wherein artists of color might thrive. I am so deeply and inexpressibly sorry.”
He vowed Friday that he will be replaced by a person of color.
The originally Chicagoand Toronto-based Second City was an early training ground for “Saturday Night
Live” players including John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Gilda Radner and Chris Redd, among other comedy stars such as Keegan Michael-key and the company produced “SCTV” TV series in the 1970s and ‘80s.
Alexander’s announcement Friday followed online criticism from Second City alumnus Dewayne Perkins, an actor, comedian and writer (“Brooklyn Nine-nine”). Perkins said the company had refused to hold a benefit show for Black Lives Matter unless half of the proceeds also went to the Chicago Police Department, and it also created obstacles for performers of color.
His posts followed a Second City online message of support last week for Black Lives Matter.
In a tweet noting Alexander’s resignation, Perkins had a one-word comment: “Oop.” The London-born Alexander said he is “fully removing myself from overseeing The Second City’s operations and policies and will divest myself from the company as it stands.”
A Second City statement Friday laid out steps the company planned to take regarding the hiring and training of artists of color, along with diversifying its theater audiences and making donations to fight oppression and support black-owned businesses and schools.
— Associated Press
Mad magazine artist retires at age 99
Mad magazine’s iconic back-page Fold-in is about to fold it in. Finito after 56 years. Because Al Jaffee, officially the longest-working comic artist ever, has decided to retire at age 99.
So to mark his farewell, Mad’s “Usual Gang of Idiots” will salute Jaffee with a tribute issue next week. It will be the magazine’s final regular issue to offer new material, including Jaffee’s final Fold-in, 65 years after he made his Mad debut.
“He deserves some spotlight outside our industry,” Mad caricature artist Tom Richmond said of the beloved elder statesman, who broke into the business during World War II.
One of the most heartfelt features in the send-off issue will be by Sergio Aragones ,afellowmad legend who befriended Jaffee in 1962 upon joining the staff. They formed a mutual admiration society — both deeply steeped in the craft of the pantomime cartoon — and were occasional roommates on the Mad staff’s storied annual trips to far-flung vacation spots.
In the tribute issue, Aragones features his cartooning idol as a character in a series of wordless strips, titled “A Mad Look at Al Jaffee.”
“The difference between Al Jaffee and every other cartoonist is that no matter how genius they are,” they typically have a specific area of excellence, said Aragones, who calls the elder cartoonist “a soul mate.”
Jaffee, on the other hand, excels in many areas, as writer and artist. From superheroes to funny animals, Aragones says, “nobody has done what he has done: take every branch of cartooning and make it better.”
— The Washington Post