Hello Ham! Hello Eggs!

If you’re like most Angelenos, your Wednesday morning starts off with a “buffet breakfast, sing-along songs, silly traditions, and an interesting presentation from a guest speaker” like Gary Baseman. Perhaps you even do stretchy calisthenics in a big group that includes Leonardo DiCaprio’s step mom, Peggy. Maybe you show up in costume, since Halloween is less than a week away, and they’re passing out candy at The Los Angeles Breakfast Club. The Club is nearly a hundred years old, the “Shrine of Friendship.” No strangers here, no, just old friends and new, completely at ease, on a first name basis. The newest member is initiated. Blindfolded, in a wizard’s costume, Chris stands at the front of the room, all eyes on him as the ritual begins. Somewhere along the way, he loses his hat. Silly songs are sung. The Pledge of Allegiance. Secret handshakes and cryptic phrases. And then the main event, Gary Baseman and his “Nightmares of Halloween Past.” Baseman is an extraordinary artist, and a collector of old photos. He shares some of his favorite photos, many of which he uses as reference for his drawings. The subject matters of the photos are sometimes bizarre juxtapositions of characters that make no sense being together. But they’re people in costumes, so of course they’re haphazard, and that’s what makes them fun. Gary wears a beanie cap, like Jughead. He might wear it for a reason, but I don’t know why. He gets away with it. Signs books and other swag at the end. Draws instant masterpieces on the books and other items as he signs them with personal messages. Watching him make art so naturally and easily makes me happy, even happier than the breakfast ham and eggs.