I once observed that the World Wide Web is like the second coming of Public Access Cable; in the case of a program called The Chronic Rift, this is literally true. This talk and interview show about science fiction, fantasy and comics began on public access TV in Manhattan in the 1990s, ended after a few years and then was revived recently as an audio-only podcast.
David Chelsea is listening to: “Kind Of Blue” by Miles Davis.
l myself was a viewer during its public access days and even sent fan mail; reproduced above is an envelope depicting hosts Keith R. A. DeCandido and Andrea Lipinski (I also sent caricatures of them in the style of HATE cartoonist Pete Bagge; both drawings appear on the Chronic Rift website) Later l appeared on the program myself to promote my first graphic novel David Chelsea In Love and also as a presenter on their annual awards show.
Keith and Andrea host the current podcast incarnation along with regulars from the TV show such as Judith Furnari, John S. Drew and Orenthal Hawkins. Andrea interviewed me again for the podcast recently. Our talk was mostly about my new book Extreme Perspective!, but also touches on the old days in New York, Portland radio station KBOO, the 24 Hour Comics I’ve drawn, the deaths of digital puppets in animated movies like Mary And Max and How To Train Your Dragon, and two comics stories I have been working on for Dark Horse Presents, Snow Angel and The Girl With The Keyhole Eyes. You can listen to or download the audio file here.
One last artifact from the old days: a postcard sent out to friends advertising my interview which alludes to one inconvenience of public access- local cable companies could not always be relied on to play programs when they were scheduled. Fortunately this new interview is downloadable and can be played any time. The Chronic Rift crew is also making the old cable shows available in streaming video on a twenty year anniversary schedule. My first appearance was in early 1992, so that program will be available some time next year.
