MAD Magazine, a semi-secret history

MAD magazine has been called revolutionary, subversive, surreal, and hilarious. That a single publication could fill all of those roles for millions of readers, and thrive, across six decades says a lot about both the human appetite for satire and the unique vision of MAD's founder, William Gaines. John Ficarra shares some personal photographs of - and lively stories about - Bill Gaines, according to LIFE.com. Above: Two counter-cultural touchstones, Jimi Hendrix and MAD, circa 1968.

Famous Fans

"We've had so many famous visitors come through our offices," Ficarra tells LIFE.com. "You know, J.J. Abrams is a big MAD fan." Above: Robert De Niro and his son Raphael visit MAD in the mid-1980s. That's Ficarra on the far left.

Desk Accessories

According to LIFE.com, Bill Gaines was a complex, contradictory figure, and Ficarra delights in recounting his idiosyncrasies. "Back then, if you made a long-distance phone call, you had to fill out a little slip of paper that was part of what we called 'Bill's Bills Department.' If it was a business call, no problem. But if it was personal, Bill would come around and collect that 73 cents it cost, or whatever it was. Bill was as crazy and cheap as he was generous and kind."

Art imitates MAD

For years MAD has offered a free subscription to anyone who sends in a picture of a celeb holding an issue of the magazine. The greatest of all these by far, Ficarra told LIFE.com, is one sent in by Harry Hamlin in 1987. "We did this L.A. Law cover, and a little while later Harry Hamlin calls Nick [Meglin, editor at MAD] and says, 'I'm sending you something. Keep an eye out for it.' A few days later, this photo arrives - and just blows us all away."

Art imitates MAD

Ficarra continues, "Apparently, they stopped production on the set to make this picture. That

Marx Brothers on the High Seas

"This," Ficarra says, "was on a cruise to Bermuda. We decided to recreate the famous stateroom scene in the Marx brothers' Night at the Opera with Bill. We roped in a lot of the people who worked on the ship and agreed to meet outside in the hallway. We even arranged for housekeeping to show up. And Bill's in his underwear through the whole thing," per LIFE.com.

MAD Facebok

With all of the hype surrounding Mark Zuckerberg between the explosion of the social networking platform "Facebook," and the award winning movie "The Social Network," MAD magazine of course had to poke a little fun. If you're interested in more, be sure to check out the rest of LIFE.com's gallery here.