Feb 4, 2009

Random Coordinates: Jay McPhillips

If you saw the movie "Smoke", you will recall Harvey Keitel's character telling one of his hapless confederates: "You know what? You need wit-therapy." If I recall correctly, that happened about 5 minutes into the film. 
Cut to: 
Scene: driving down a country road, cornfields to the left; wheat fields to the right; telephone poles recede into the distance, predicating a horizon lost in the haze 
Period: mid 1950's  
Action: 5 small, red, rectangular signs rapidly draw near, words come into focus.....

[It takes far]....[less time to learn]....[that Jay McPhillips]....[has wit to burn]....[Burma Shave]

No Wit-therapy needed by this guy. Jay is a congenial fellow with serious chops in the design business: big NYC ad agency right out of college; work appearing on buses and billboards and in Rolling Stone, the New Yorker, Details.  3 years at Comedy Central. And then, as other hopefuls clawed and scratched their way up the 'creative' ladder to assist in peddling Kibbles 'N Bits and hair goo, Jay--in serene, Benjamin Button-like fashion--worked his way down the food chain to arrive at a happier life in charming Doylestown, PA. 

I will never forget my first meeting with Jay. We were having a lively introductory conversation when I noticed that his Ivy League T-shirt spelled out 'HARVERD', which prompted a laughing jag that nearly sent me to the hospital. Jay has a unique and angular sense of humor which he blends freely with his prodigious artistic talent and productive capacity. Such an array of gems! "Art Minis" in styles ranging from the Impressionists to Jackson Pollack ("Compare with Name-brand Artists" "They're Fun-Sized"), the aforementioned t-shirts, rebus bumper stickers, and three books, including the very timely "Now Firing". 

I think he's worth a closer look, but hey, don't take my word for it....I'm just a former musician-artist-writer-marketeer-consultant-CEO guy. See for yourself at www.jaymcphillips.com.

1 comment:

  1. It's not often I get to read a blog post that gives me flashbacks. Good to know I'm not the only one who loved Smoke. (Hey, Keitel is hot.) But Burma Shave signs. Damn, I took pictures of them on a college cross country road trip through parts of the country that weren't NYC.
    Not as funny as Harverd and the minis...

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