Jim Pietsch

Only in New York City could Jim Pietsch have been a Broadway musician, published a monthly comic strip, driven a taxi, gotten a book deal in his cab, turned a book deal into a career in the television industry, and met his wife on the subway.

As a musician, Jim was thrilled to play drums with the musical legends Chuck Berry, Freddie King, Bo Diddley, the Shirelles, the Coasters, and Lorna Luft. He also played drums for many cabaret and Off-Broadway shows, as well as some Off-Off Broadway shows.

He finally did make it to Broadway, playing drums in the orchestra pit, and performing the onstage drum solo in Bob Fosse's "Dancin.' " Jim also traveled to 101 cities with the touring company of Neil Simon and Marvin Hamlish's "They're Playing Our Song."

While transitioning to a career in graphic art, Mr. Pietsch supplemented his income by driving a taxi in New York City. He started asking everyone who got into his cab for jokes, and heard so many great ones that he decided to write a book.

After a year of scribbling notes in traffic jams and at stoplights, an editor for Warner Books got into his cab. Two weeks later, a book deal was in place and "The New York City Cab Driver's Joke Book" was born, illustrated with cartoons by Jim himself. The book sold so well that Warner Books published his second book, "The New York City Cab Driver's Joke Book, Volume 2."

Mr. Pietsch also published "How to Remember and Tell Jokes," with Avon Books, which was translated into Chinese. Warner Books then published "The New York City Cab Driver's Book of Dirty Jokes." All of Jim's books have been illustrated with his cartoons, and sales of Jim's four books total nearly 300,000 copies.

Jim co-produced "Comic Cabby," an hour-long comedy video based on his first book, which starred Al Lewis (Grandpa from the Munsters). After his experience in the editing room on that project, Mr. Pietsch transitioned into the television industry. He is presently a video editor, where he combines all his writing, graphic art, music, film, and television experience into one medium. As a video editor, Jim has worked for CBS, NBC, HBO, Showtime, MTV, Vh1, Sony Pictures Television, and A&E.

Now Jim's latest book "The New York City Cab Driver's BEST JOKE BOOK EVER," combines all the funniest jokes from his first two books for a brand-new audience. There's no such thing as an old joke, if it's one you've never heard!

Jim is on a constant search for the best jokes and best joke tellers in the world. He is looking forward to connecting with more joke folk on Facebook and Twitter. Even though Mr. Pietsch now makes his living in the television industry, he still keeps a file of all the new jokes he hears, and new joke projects are always in the works.

Those close to Jim know that he proudly carries a tattered, black and white photo in his wallet of Albert Einstein holding a four-month-old baby boy in his arms. It is not at all surprising to learn that the young boy in the picture is Jim, taken in his birthplace of Princeton, New Jersey, where Albert Einstein also lived. One might say that Jim has truly been touched by genius.