SHECKYmagazine maligned on film site UPDATE

by Brian McKim & Traci Skene on November 6th, 2006

Editors note: FilmThreat.com has removed the offensive passage cited below. We thank them for their quick response. Mr. Goebel’s response is included below.

Paul Goebel, writing for a popular film review website, says the following in his review of NBC’s Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip:

COMEDY CLUBS DO NOT HAVE LOCKER ROOMS! And I definitely would never leave my valuables unattended in a roomful of comedians (in case you don’t read Shecky Magazine, Andy Kindler has sticky fingers.)

We would like to state for the record, that SHECKYmagazine has never implied that either a) Comedians are untrustworthy when it comes to leaving valuables around or that b) Andy Kindler has “sticky fingers” (literally or figuratively).

(This gives us an opportunity to re-run our interview with Kindler, from our August ’02 issue… back when we had “issues.” And, what the heck, it gives us an opportunity to link to The Male Half’s definitive review of the horrific movie, “Punchline.”)

Goebel responds:

It is with a debilitating sense of irony that I write to inform you that my refernece (sic) to Andy (a friend of mine) having sticky fingers was a joke. Sorry to bum you out, but in the future if you want a link or some kind of credit when invoking the name of your magazine, don’t be so touchy.

Film Threat decided just to remove the reference altogether.

I’ll be careful to never mention Shecky again in my blogs, on my podcast, in my live shows or in any of my TV appearances.

From the King of TV
Paul Goebel

To which we reply:

Though you may have a personal relationship with Mr. Kindler, the reader would not know it from your reference.

We are a magazine about standup. We try not to say bad things about comics. Any comics. Some folks who read your review may not be so understanding of your “sense of irony.” We put ourselves in the position of one who isn’t in on the gag (or aware of your debilitating sense of irony), and we read the following:

SHECKYmagazine.com says Andy Kindler has sticky fingers.

You can make all kinds of ironic jokes about your friends, but when you drag us into the conversation, you run the risk of besmirching not just Mr. Kindler, but us as well. Our email was an attempt to prevent that.

As for your not mentioning us ever again, we would say that you take your own advice: Don’t be so touchy.

Further beyond that, we seem to recall that you’ve been a reader of the magazine since its inception in 1999. It would be tragic if your readership were to cease over such a small incident. Stupid though it may have been, your “botched joke” has been corrected. The damage has been minimized. We hope that you continue to be a SHECKYmagazine.com reader.

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