The Nerd and I

I should begin this post by telling everyone that I reside in the greater Cleveland area. If you are familiar with American Splendor and the works of the late Harvey Pekar, you will know that Cleveland was his hometown. You will also likely be familiar with the Genuine Nerd, Toby Radloff, who gained a small amount of fame and notoriety through his appearances in Pekar's comics and later on MTV. Via Judah Friedlander's portrayal of him in the American Splendor movie, Radloff's poularity gained a small resurgence. (Note: In late 2001 I inadvertently disrupted a scene being shot for that movie in front of my apartment in Lakewood, OH. The story involves a kidney stone, the ER and lousy parking. I didn't know it was that movie being filmed until I saw my apartment on the screen while watching it a few years later. But that is a story for another post. Back to the story at hand.)

Now, if you're reading this blog, I'm guessing that you're even more familiar with Toby Radloff's work in the movie Killer Nerd and it's sequel Bride of Killer Nerd. I knew of the movies for a while but I never got the chance to see them until about a year ago, when I picked up a double feature DVD from the Troma table at the Cinema Wasteland convention in Strongsville, OH (a copy signed by none other than the great Lloyd Kaufmann, by the way, but that's also another post). So, the movies were great, and I wished I had seen them sooner, so I would have had the chance to discuss them on the several occasions I crossed paths with the Genuine Nerd himself, something everyone should have an opportunity to do. We live in the same suburb of Cleveland now, and he is a fixture at several community events, and I like to talk to him whenever I can. I can also tell you that there is nothing phony about the nerd persona. What you see in American Splendor is exactly how the man is in real life. He truly is a genuine nerd and proud of it.