Dick DeBartolo is an American writer, most famous for writing for Mad. He is occasionally referred to as "Mad's Maddest Writer," this being a twist on Don Martin's former status as "Mad's Maddest Artist." DeBartolo served as the magazine's "Creative Consultant" from 1984 to 2009.
Career
Mad has long spaced out DeBartolo's articles to ensure that at least one appears in every issue. As of his byline in issue #547 in 2016, new DeBartolo material has appeared in 445 consecutive issues, dating back to 1966. This is the longest such streak, nine issues ahead of runner-up Sergio Aragonés., traces his first 30 years at Mad and details his friendship with publisher William Gaines. Featuring contributions from other Mad writers and artists, the book recounts memorable anecdotes, notably the ascent that DeBartolo, Gaines, and Gaines' wife Annie once made through the arm of the Statue of Liberty. DeBartolo was also the author of numerous non-reprint Mad paperbacks, including MAD-vertising, MAD Murders the Movies, and The MAD Book of Sex, Violence, and Home Cooking. DeBartolo also scripted several of Don Martin's "Captain Klutz" adventures, which appeared in Martin's series of paperbacks.
In February 2006, Dick DeBartolo and Leo Laporte began producing a podcast called , a short, daily discussion about technology and gadgets appearing on TWiT.tv. Each episode features one gadget chosen by DeBartolo, except for Tuesdays, when Laporte chose it. Many times, the gadget is not a fancy mainstream one, but a weird, odd, or extremely simple device. For the Friday episodes, DeBartolo picks the gadget from his Gadget Warehouse, an actual storage facility in NYC he rents for keeping his old gadgets. For its on June 27, 2008. DeBartolo traveled from NYC to Petaluma, California to do the 600th show with Laporte on ; the gadget was "Fred Lanes" third hand. A shorter, weekly version of "The Daily Giz Wiz" had formerly appeared on Laporte's syndicated radio show , but was discontinued after a radio network request to make way for more live callers. But, as of mid-2010, Dick comes on Laporte's radio show on Saturday to discuss a gadget. In 2011, the daily netcast program was refactored into a weekly netcast, therefore retitled "The Weekly Daily Giz Wiz." On July 24, 2012, "The Weekly Daily Giz Wiz," changed its day, format, and show title. Currently appearing on Thursdays, "The Giz Wiz" features DeBartolo and Chad "OMGChad" Johnson sharing gadget reviews, a random gadget, and a pick from the "Gadget Warehouse." A new segment, in connection with "Turn the Table Turkey," started on July 31, 2012, features "Crap We Found in Skymall," where the viewers vote on the gadget they want reviewed on the next week's show. This segment ended in mid-2013. DeBartolo appears as a monthly guest of , which is heard in over 30 markets including New York and Boston, as well as a streaming broadcast on the internet. He also has a periodic "gadget" segment on ABC World News Now. DeBartolo made over 100 appearances on Live with Regis and Kathie Lee, offering purchasing advice about various devices and products. On April 23, 2015, it was announced in Episode 1515 that The Giz Wiz would be leaving TWiT.tv and continuing the show solo with Chad "OMGChad" Johnson, utilizing Patreon for funding.
Personal life
On August 23, 2012, DeBartolo married his partner of 32 years, Dennis Wunderlin.
