Mad #78 (Albert Feldstein) - East Side Story Issue - April 1963

East Side Story was not the first (See "My Fair Ad-Man" in Mad #54) but it may have been the best musical parody ever to appear in Mad.  The combination of Frank Jacobs and Mort Drucker is unbeatable.  Nikita, Fidel et al. dance and dance with photos of the United Nations in the background.  This one is a classic.

I must confess that I borrowed a portion of this issue for a play I wrote in high school.  In the middle of The Scarlet Letter of Courage, the play stopped for a commercial break as Ed Reimers interviewed Mr. R.W. Prebble about Rayco safety belts.  It was a well-received comic relief.  The statute of limitations must be less than 35 years for a Mad rip-off. [Also, my five-year-old sister added some crayon art to the cover of my "Stamp" pad Mad.]

Women: Daring Dora & chess bather (Clarke), co-ed & centerfold (Wood), Marginal Rapunsel (Aragones) [MADlog #13]

Blocks spell Bitsko. (page 16)

Departments:
U.N., the Night, and the Music - East Side Story
Don Martin - The Suicide; In a Men's Haberdashery; In the Klondike
Great Oafs from Little Acorns Grow - How Parents Guess Wrong About Kids' Careers
Joke and Dagger - Spy Vs. Spy; Spy Vs. Spy Vs. Spy
With No Reimers or Reason - Future Group-Comparison Tests
Freedom with Speech - Speaking from Pictures
Editorial "I" - The Daily Monopoly
Berg's-Eye View - The Lighter Side of Dating
Spatial Delivery - The Darker Side of Telstar
One False Move - Modern Chess
Old Format, Frosh Approach - The Mad College Primer
Fire! - The Emergency
Playing for Bigger Steaks - If "Mardy" Were Made in Hollywood Today