Alan Irwin Abel, who was best known as a professional hoaxer, but who also had a career as a drummer and composer of percussion pieces, died in September 2018 at age 94. He was often confused with former Philadelphia Orchestra percussionist Alan Abel. Alan Irwin Abel was born in Zanesville, Ohio, on Aug. 2, 1924. He began playing drums as a boy, and when he enlisted in the Army in 1943, he was assigned to the 29th Army Air Forces Band. He won the title of “VFW snare champion” in 1946 and 1947. He earned a bachelor’s degree in education in 1950 from Ohio State University, where he formed the first-ever Jazz Forum at OSU. He then toured for a time as a one-man percussion act that consisted of playing and giving a comical lecture on the history of the drum. He also performed with Glenn Miller, Sauter-Finegan, Sammy Kaye, and did many shows with the Radio City Music Hall Orchestra throughout the 1970s-’80s.

Turning his focus to comedic satire and performance art, he became known as a professional hoaxer, including his founding of the Society for Indecency to Naked Animals, which sought “to clothe all naked animals that appear in public,” and Omar’s School for Beggars, which claimed to teach the refined art of panhandling.

With his wife, Jeanne, Abel wrote, produced, and directed two comic mock-documentaries, Is There Sex After Death? (1971) and The Faking of the President (1974). His books include The Great American Hoax (1966), The Confessions of a Hoaxer (1970), Don’t Get Mad… Get Even! – A Manual for Retaliation (1983), and How to Thrive on Rejection – A Manual for Survival (1984). He wrote an article that was published in the May 1987 issue of Modern Drummer magazine, titled “The Day I Kidnapped Krupa.”

Abel also released three LP recordings: Professor Paradiddle – Drums, Drollery and Drivel (1958), The Techniques of Percussion (1961) and The First Percussion Sextet (1962). His drum solos and percussion ensemble pieces include “Two of a Kind,” “Ashland High,” “Holiday Special,” “Allegre Muchacho,” “London Bridge,” “524 Main Street,” “2040’s Sortie,” “Peach Grove Drummer,” “Serenade to a Sand Dune,” “Hi Ho Simpson,” “Tom Tom Foolery,” “Drummer’s Debate,” “Zoom Golly Golly,” “Cincinnati Ratamatati,” “Mambo Drumbo,” and “Jennifer’s Jog.” Abel’s daughter, Jenny, once received the following note from Michael Culligan: “There is a popular, but difficult, rudimental snare drum solo called ‘2040’s Sortie’ by Alan Abel. I had bought the music, and proudly played it for my teacher, [former Philadelphia Orchestra percussionist] Alan Abel, to which he replied, ‘This is a great piece of music; too bad I didn’t write it! This was written by another Alan Abel, who is also a fine percussionist, but actually has become quite famous as a satirical writer and performer. I’m often mistaken for him and vice versa.’”

For more about Alan Irwin Abel, visit: https://abelraisescain.com/
View the documentary about his life, Abel Raises Cain: https://vimeo.com/262687089