Joe Raiola
Joe Raiola Since joining the Theatre Within Workshop in New York as a young comedian in 1979, Joe Raiola has had a flourishing career as a solo performer, comedy writer, producer, director and speaker on first amendment issues. His controversial solo show, Almost Obscene, had its world premiere at the 2002 NY International Fringe Festival, where it was hailed by the New York Times as "a ruefully amusing lament for the ineradicable hypocrisy of humanity." Since then, Joe's continued to perform an updated version of the show around the country, most recently at the Henry Miller Library in Big Sur, California and the Byrdcliffe Theater in Woodstock, New York, where the Woodstock Times raved “Joe Raiola is a very funny man…unflinchingly honest and thought provoking.” After two decades of touring, Joe remains a favorite on the lecture circuit with The Joy Of Censorship, his critically acclaimed lecture program on the first amendment seen at countless libraries, colleges and professional conferences, and broadcast nationally on C-SPAN’s American Perspectives. In 1981, along with Theatre Within founder, Alec Rubin, Joe created the Annual Lennon Tribute, an celebration of music, theater and dance to remember John Lennon. Now the longest running such tribute in the world, this unique charity benefit takes place every December in New York City, most recently at the Ailey Citigroup Theater and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. Joe has produced and appeared in the show every year since its inception. Upon hearing of the event for the first time in 2004, Yoko Ono invited Joe to contribute an essay to her book, Memories Of John Lennon. Named Associate Director of Theatre Within in 1990, Joe took over as Artistic Director following Alec Rubin’s death in 2005. The following year he established Theatre Within as a not-for-profit organization with the mission of “promoting artistic expression as a public service.” As a comedy writer, Joe began his career in 1984 when he teamed up with National Lampoon alumni for a series of classic magazine spoofs, including Cosmoparody and Like A Rolling Stone. The following year, with his long time writing partner, Charlie Kadau, he joined “the Usual Gang of Idiots” at MAD Magazine, quickly becoming one of their most prized contributors, churning out irreverent satire, ad parodies and inspired silliness. Joe is currently MAD Senior Editor, a title he insists “means nothing since I work at the only place in America where if you mature, you get fired.” A graduate of Adelphi University, where he developed a love for radio at WBAU-FM, Joe is a frequent co-host of the Woodstock Roundtable, heard Sunday mornings on WDST, 100.1 FM in Woodstock, NY and streaming online (live and “on demand”) at WDST.com. During his “off time,” you might find Joe bushwhacking in the Shawangunk Mountains or backpacking as “Bandanna Man” on the Appalachian Trail.