Tattoo Arts Convention & Crazy Eddie Roast

by Alex Koppelman

For the seventh year, the Tattoo Arts Convention is coming to Philadelphia. A four-day event, the convention will feature more than 100 tattoo artists working in six different styles of tattooing. This year's celebration kicks off with a roast of Crazy Philadelphia Eddie, ne Eddie Funk, who started the Tattoo Arts Convention 27 years ago, bringing it to a host of different cities before settling it in Philadelphia.

The Tattoo Arts Convention this year will be, as it has been throughout its history, a celebration of people like Crazy Eddie, who have devoted their entire lives to the art. It was more than 50 years ago, in 1952, when he began his infatuation with it. "My uncle had a tattoo and I used to look at it and I wanted one," he says now. "So when I was 15, I spotted out of the corner of my eye a tattoo shop in Coney Island, and I went in and got my first tattoo. Two hours later, I took the bandage off like the man said, and I went and got another one."

Crazy Eddie and the new organizers of the convention, Tattooed Kingpin Clothing, have made it their goal to shed tattooing's bad reputation and turn the convention into a family-friendly event. "[The convention] shows the people that it's not the tattooing of the pirate days," Eddie says. "It's actual beautiful artwork being done. We want to make the world aware that it ain't the backward days, skid row and ships. It's a great art form done by a bunch of nice people from all walks of life."

Tattoo Arts Convention, Fri.-Sat., Feb. 6-7, noon-midnight, Sun., Feb. 8, noon-7 p.m., $15 per day or $35 for all three days; Crazy Eddie Roast, Thu., Feb. 5, 6 p.m., $50; The Wyndham at Franklin Plaza, 17th and Race sts., 800-541-8239, www.tattooedkingpin.com.

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