It’s been a few years since Judah Friedlander’s role as Frank Rossitano on the hit NBC sitcom 30 Rock concluded. However the self-proclaimed “World Champion” comedian/actor has returned with If The Raindrops United, a collection of amusing yet thought-provoking illustrations Friedlander did in the last 18 months.
“I used to do a lot of art when I was a kid and into my twenties then I stopped for years,” he says from his New Orleans hotel room. “Then about nine years ago I started painting again and then I stopped. Then a couple of years ago when I was touring and doing stand-up so much I started drawing again.
“This book is an art project. It’s a passion project. It’s a comedy project. It not the money-making kind of project. This is something I was going to do regardless of whether I was able to get a book deal or not.”
Friedlander – doing two stand-up shows at Toronto’s Comedy Bar Nov. 18 – has drawings ranging from a kite exacting revenge on its user to one concerning Jim Crow laws “when black people were getting lynched and killed and murdered because of racism.”
One he’s particularly proud of involves a scalene triangle which undergoes “corrective surgery” to become an isosceles triangle.
“That’s a drawing about conformity, about societal pressure to change how you look,” he says. “If you look different it means you’re bad, it means you’re ugly. Because this is a capitalist society you need to spend money and make yourself beautiful because you’re not beautiful the way you’re born. Only through capitalism and spending money can you actually become beautiful.
“There’s a serious subtext behind it but when you look at it you laugh because you don’t even know what it is at first. Then you read it and say, ‘Oh s—!’”
When it comes to current events, Friedlander is keeping tabs on the political landscape both in Canada and the U.S.
“You got this hot new dude, you might be the sexiest country in the world right now,” he says regarding Justin Trudeau becoming Prime Minister. “It’s a big change from Harper. I mean your country just got sexier. I guess liberalism is sexy, that’s the message.”
Meanwhile he feels Republican candidate Donald Trump has an upside in some certain areas.
“For veterans benefits he wants them to get free health care with any doctor or hospital,” Friedlander says of Trump. “I don’t think anyone else was promoting that. As horrible as he is on some issues with bigotry he’s okay on some others.
As for two of the biggest pop stars (and Canadian exports) around – Drake and Justin Bieber – Friedlander is hesitant to offer advice.
“I think those are two of the greatest musicians of our time,” he deadpans. “How do you pick between the two? They’re both just amazing. I think Canada is dominating the innovation that’s going on in music these days. Very impressive. You’re becoming more American and you don’t even realize it.”
