Charlie Kadau, is an American comedy writer and editor. Along with his writing partner, Joe Raiola, Kadau has been a member of the editorial staff of ''Mad'' magazine since 1985 and currently holds the title of Senior Editor.

Early life

Born in 1956, Kadau grew up in Staten Island, NY, graduating from Tottenville High School in 1974. He attended

Hofstra University Hofstra University is a Private university, private research university in Hempstead, New York, United States. It originated in 1935 as an extension of New York University and became an independent college in 1939. Comprising ten schools, includ ...

from 1974 through 1978, graduating with a degree in communications.

Writing career

After graduating from

in the late 1970s, Kadau found his niche in 1985 when he his long-time writing partner, Joe Raiola sold their first article to

Mad Magazine ''Mad'' (stylized in all caps) is an American humor magazine which was launched in 1952 and currently published by DC Comics, a unit of the DC Entertainment subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. ''Mad'' was founded by editor Harvey Kurtzman an ...

, "The Mad "Don't" Book - Chapter 1: What Not to Do at a Funeral". Shortly after, the two became members of "the Usual Gang of Idiots", eventually rising to their current positions of Senior Editors. To date, Kadau (along with Joe) has appeared on the masthead of the magazine over 250, a total surpassed by only 5 other people. Kadau, writing for the magazine as a team with Raiola and separately, has been responsible for over 130 articles and covers. Among his best known MAD pieces is ''The Belching Dragon,'' (written with Raiola) a parody of a Chinese take-out menu. The targets of his comedic wit have included the

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, cigarette warning labels,

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, "

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, and "

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kadau, Charlie Mad (magazine) people American comedy writers American humorists American parodists American satirists American satirical comics writers Hofstra University alumni Writers from Staten Island 1956 births Living people