Cheap Laughs: Analysis of the American Magazine Humor Niche2011/12/03 · humor magazine, besides...
Transcript of Cheap Laughs: Analysis of the American Magazine Humor Niche2011/12/03 · humor magazine, besides...
Emil Steiner March 23, 2011
Cheap Laughs: Analysis of the American Magazine Humor Niche
Henry Hill: You're a pistol, you're really funny. You're really funny. Tommy DeVito: What do you mean I'm funny?
Henry Hill: It's funny, you know. It's a good story, it's funny, you're a funny guy. [laughs] Tommy DeVito: What do you mean, you mean the way I talk? What?
Henry Hill: It's just, you know. You're just funny, it's... funny, the way you tell the story and everything. Tommy DeVito: [it becomes quiet] Funny how? What's funny about it?
“Goodfellas” (1990)
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. Three magazines walk into a bar. The first has
goofy red hair and is missing his left incisor. The second has a blond mop-top, coveralls,
and a mop. The third smells so bad that tears jump to the bartender’s eyes.
“Can I see some ID?” asks the bartender holding his nose.
“What--me worry?” responds the first.
“Shut up!” mouths the second, before transforming into a LadMag and reappearing
online only.
“Tu stulus es!” retorts the third.
Don’t get it? Well most people don’t get their humor from magazines either these days
(so suck it!). Television, film and user-generated Internet content are the current
undisputed kings of comedy. However the three magazines, caricatured above,
represent a significant portion of the contemporary humor magazine niche. Their names
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are MAD, The Onion, and Cracked.com and together they’ve been keeping people
(mostly young men) in stitches for over 125 years.
In the past they competed. Today they represent three contradictory demographics of
the competitive niche. To wit (yuck, yuck), MAD is the oldest, but has the youngest
demographic of readers and is available only in print or PDF form. Cracked.com is the
second oldest, has a mostly college-aged readership, and is only online. (Cracked.com
Media Kit) The Onion is the youngest, but has the oldest readership is available both
online and in print. (Onion 2011 Online Media Kit) Their differences are reflections of
their history and indicators of the current state of the American humor magazine
market.
The Usual Gang of Idiots
Although the Harvard Lampoon may protest, Mad claims it's “America's longest-running
humor magazine, besides Time.” (The Untold History of Mad: 1952-1960) Founded in
1952 as a comic book by Harvey Kurtzman (editor) and William Gains (publisher) the
first issue's cover proffered an ethos that has remained for seven decades: Kids get it,
parents don’t.
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MAD magazine came of age in 1956, when Al Feldstein took over as editor. The identity
shifted from comic book to satire magazine. No longer beholden to rules of the Comic
Code Authority, MAD grew edgier, taking on politics and society with a juvenile
disregard for decorum. (History of MAD, Wikipedia).
That anti-establishment sentiment is reflected in the magazine’s fictional mascot, Alfred
E. Neuman, who first appeared on the front cover as a write-in candidate in the 1956
presidential election, (issue no. 30). Below a comic elephant-donkey stare-down sits the
bust of Neuman, his blasé gaze bordering on lobotomized. “What--Me Worry?” says the
subverted Howdie Doodie without ever moving his lips. That campaign slogan of
youthful insouciance grew into a counter-culture inside joke during the next three
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decades, as MAD’s circulation swelled, peaking at 2,132,655 in 1974.
(http://users.ipfw.edu/slaubau/madcirc.htm).
MAD’s writers, known as the Usual Gang of Idiots (think: Algonquin Round Table with
better cartoons and more toilet jokes) remained on the vanguard of humor throughout
the Cold War. Their self-effacing/self-aggrandizing wit engendered countless imitators --
most notably, Cracked Magazine. As the writers quip: "Soon newsstands are clogged
with competitors such as Wacky, Gaga, Bugnuts, Loco, Bonkers, Clinically Unbalanced,
The Problems of the Mentally Ill, Non Compos Mentis, Medical Candidate for Invasive
Frontal Lobe Surgery and A Danger Both to Himself and to His Community. The sheer
number of MAD imitators is so out of control that there isn't enough paper to print
them all. Soon, publishers are making deals with Brazilian land barons to raze their rain
forests. Scientists estimate that it will take at least 200 years for Earth's ecosystem to
recover fully." (The Untold History of Mad: 1952-1960)
But seriously, MAD's satirical voice has not only influenced three generations of
comedians but also activists, journalists, and musicians. Roger Ebert credits the
magazine with teaching him how to be a movie critic. (Foreword to Mad About the
Movies, Mad Books). National Book Awards winner Joyce Carol Oates called it
"wonderfully inventive, irresistibly irreverent and intermittently ingenious." (GARNER,
Dwight; Collateral Damage; New York Times; July 17, 2007) As MAD boasts in its “Untold
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History” the magazine “has affected our culture and history in such an all-encompassing
and fundamental way that it is sometimes easy to overlook our awesome influence.”
So What If It's Broke?
If “What, me worry?” ever grows stale Mad might consider “if ain’t it broke don’t fix it”
as a backup motto. Since the 1970’s the book has consistently, some might say
dogmatically, clung to the same format. With the exception of more color, a higher price
tag (Cheap?) and four pages of ads, the April 2011 issue is nearly identical to the April
1991 issue that I still own. In fact both have covers with Neuman spoofing the latest
“stupid” haircut.
Don’t let the 1991 concept cover throw you either. It was an exception to the norm of
single image/multiple theme with three skylines as seen in the Bieber 2011 and
hundreds of others.
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Going behind the 2011 cover is a Technicolor stroll down memory lane for an old reader
like me. The FOB starts with the same smart-alecky table of contents on page 1 called
Departments which describes the content on all pages including (ha, ha) page 1 (“It’s the
list we can do Department”).
As they have been for years, pages 2-3 are called the Letters and Tomatoes Department
(letters from readers). The next nine pages are filled with small features that vary issue
to issue and usually are based on reader-submitted humor.
MAD bucks the magazine norm of building to the feature well, jumping to it on page 12,
with what remains my least favorite part of the book – the movie/TV satire. This is
always the longest feature, filled with campy jokes diagramed in comic strip style. Pages
12-13 are always a double-truck in which the main characters, beautifully caricatured,
introduce themselves.
The April, 2011 TV satire feature is titled “Sad Men” and contains such witty lines as:
“I’m Dom Dripper, creative director at Spilling Hooper! I’m a brilliant, smooth talking
hotshot ad man! In the boardroom or the bedroom I get rave reviews. I can sell floor
wax to the public and I can sell myself to women. In either case, I promise no scuff
marks! I don’t know what that means, but I don’t have to. I’m Dom Dripper. I’m a
legend.” Yeeech!
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Thankfully that department is easily skipped on route to more rewarding shorts
(typically two to four pages long) of consistently funny satire. Some departments such
as Serge-In-General (page 24) and Joke and Dagger aka Spy vs. Spy (page 30) have
managed to stay charming after all these years. Dave Berg’s “Lighter Side” unfortunately
died with him in 2002. Other departments rely on pop-culture such as “What we Really
Learned from WikiLeaks” (page 18) and “Mad’s Moronic Outtakes from Sarah Palin’s
Alaska (You Betcha!)” (page 20). Of course no issue of MAD would be complete without
an Al Jaffe fold-in on the inside back cover. SPOILER ALERT! The April issue features a
gag comparing intrusive airport security checks to X-Box Connect.
Although the magazine’s layout and formula have remained virtually unchanged, its
circulation has not. In 2010 MAD’s total paid circulation was 188,825 according to 2010
DC Comics circulation figures (http://www.comicsbeat.com/2010/12/29/dc-comics-
month-to-month-sales-november-2010/). It has cut back to six issues per year, and
upped the price to a very “uncheap” $5.99. The subscription price of $19.99 brings the
per issue cost down to a more reasonable $3.33 per issue but a more fundamental
problem remains. Can a humor magazine remain satirically relevant with two-month old
content, particularly in today’s Twitterverse?
Another challenge for its publishers is MAD’s adherence to print-(almost)-only content
that remains woefully out of touch with its audience. According to the media kit its
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primary readership demographics are 10-14 year old and the secondary is 15-18 year
old. 70% are male. (MAD media kit) They are members of a generation born into an
online world and indifferent to the antiquated niceties of holding a paper magazine. As
such, circulation within the primary readership is unlikely to rebound unless it takes on
more of web presence.
If it’s unwilling to take the cyber leap, MAD could potentially increase circulation by
capturing older readers nostalgic for paper cuts and adverse to Kindle Tunnel Syndrome
(sorry, MAD has that effect on me). Baby boomers and Gen Xers have loyalty to the
satirical pioneer and the pass-along effect to their children (and yes grandchildren)
could be significant. There is some evidence that DC Comics, MAD’s current owner, is
aware of this area for growth. A new department called The MAD Vault features articles
from old issues with loose news pegs to current news. April 2011 has a flashback to
issue #326, March 1994, reprinting "It's a Recession… It's a Depression…" feature. This
joke from it is telling: "If you like Sundays because it gives you a break before you have
to start the job hunt again… it's a recession. If you like Sundays because the newspapers
are the thickest and warmest that day… it's a depression."
The Sincerest Form of Flattery
As it brags, MAD's success spawned numerous imitations. The most success was Cracked
Magazine the predecessor to Cracked.com founded in 1958. The writers have no qualms
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admitting that their product was a blatant knockoff. According to its own history,
Cracked "spent nearly half a decade with a fan base primarily comprised of people who
got to the store after MAD sold out. Our latest incarnation of the magazine (a poor
man's version of Maxim) only came about once the old CRACKED offices were closed by
the anthrax attacks of 2001 (the poor man's version of the fall 2001 terrorist attacks)."
(http://www.cracked.com/article_14910_mello-yello-go-bots-top-10-poor-mans-
versions.html)
That LadMag vibe is still present in the current online iteration and is indicative of the
primary readership, students in their 20s. "America's Only Humor & Video Site, Since
1958" as the tagline goes, relies on its "critically acclaimed" lists, caption contests, and
strange-but-true art, rather than classic joke or satire writing. They also toss in occasion
stories that are more surprising that funny, such as the February 28, 2011 "6 Important
Things You Didn't Know We're Running Out Of." Number six is Helium… go figure.
Demand Media, which handles Cracked.com's advertising, touts the upside of the E-
zine's amateurish content: "It’s not produced by a team of Hollywood professionals. The
articles and funny videos are made almost entirely by CRACKED.com's highly talented
editorial team, individual content creators and fans, giving contributors an audience in
the millions and helping them establish a credibility and visibility they wouldn’t have
otherwise."
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The result is inconsistent and, unlike MAD or the Onion, lacks a uniform voice. The
transient appearance and tone are indicative of the Internet itself and of its readership –
85% have attended college (at one point or another) and the core age is 18-34,
according to the media kit. It "has the most intelligent, tech-savvy and sexually
attractive audience in the online humor space (We have Nielsen data to back up 2 of
those claims)," according to its media kit. Cracked.com is read on iPhones, in dorm
rooms, studio apartments, and the office cubicles inhabited by recent graduates happy
to have work. 92% shop online, 59% are male and they live in big cities. The numerous
writers cater to them by "straddle[ing] the line between high and low brow," and
therein lies the problem. Despites being the "fastest growing comedy brand online,"
(media kit), the marketplace for online comedy is illimitable and expanding every
nanosecond.
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Without a clear identity, Cracked.com would be well served diversifying. A push into
television or dynamic social media integration (Apps, Facebook games, a Twitter feed,
TV related content creation contests) could be a step in the right direction. Multi-media
is the name of the game but it takes money something, Cracked.com and its readers
don't have much of these days.
Best of Both Worlds
Founded in 1988, the Onion is technically a news satire organization and, in print,
resembles a newspaper more than a magazine. The youngest of our three players, it is
available in print (weekly), online (24/7), has its own TV news network, a TV sports
network and is distributed for free internationally. It is considered by many to be the
pinnacle of contemporary written satire and it appears quite comfortable in that
position.
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Created by Tim Keck and Christopher Johnson, while they were juniors at the University
of Wisconsin–Madison, the Onion took nearly a decade to go mainstream. That lengthy
incubation period allowed "America's Finest News Source" to solidify its deadpan voice,
and its underground cache. It was Daily Show 15 years before the Daily Show and
readers know it. Each issue expertly mimics newspaper headlines in tone, psychopathy
in content, and hotcakes in circulation. This week’s (3/17) headlines include: "Conde
Nast Launches ‘The New Yorker For Black People’" and "Pope To Ease Up On Jesus Talk."
Page 2, my favorite section, features national news briefs: “‘I Make My Own Hours,’
Says Man About To Get Fired.” (Onion, 3/17/2011) Page 3 has the Infographic and the
Statshot – a parody of USA Today polls. The middle of the book always has a fake
horoscope, American Voices (a people on the street feature asking the most banal
questions imaginable), a human interest story, a sports page, and an opinion piece—this
week’s was “penned” by Justin Bieber and titled: “Your Obsessive Love Or Hatred Of Me
Means Nothing In the Grand Scheme Of Geological Time.”
The second half of the print issues are a weekly tabloid on local music and pop culture
called the A.V. Club. The A.V. actually contains real news and reviews and is written by
local writers in the cities where the Onion is distributed. It is this strategy of
diversification that has allowed the Onion to grow when most other print publications
have shrunk. What makes it “arguably the most popular humor publication in world
history," (New Yorker-via Onion media kit) is its local feel and global reach. The Onion is
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the best kept secret that everyone who’s anyone knows about. Not everyone can get
the Onion and not everyone gets the Onion. As Conan O’Brien put it, “the Onion is
laugh-out-loud, go-tell-your-friends, get-angry-you-didn’t-think-of-it funny.” Simpson’s
creator Matt Groening called it “the funniest thing in news since Dan Rather's spooky
stare.” (http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/weekly/aaprtenthcircle.htm)
The humor alone cannot account for the Onion’s success, but it’s a big part of it. While
MAD avoids advertising choosing to mock consumerism, the Onion encourages sponsors
to make fun of themselves and, (having been born in the 80s) has no qualms about
materialism. The New York City edition of the March 17, 2011 issue features a quarter-
page ad from the Union Reform Judaism. The tagline reads “Judaism… more than just a
bagel.” Sponsors get that the readership of the Onion can’t take seriously any business
that takes itself too seriously, and they write copy accordingly. As a result, much like
Vogue, the ads are a part of the reading experience.
Furthermore, the Onion’s humor is perfectly suited to the current state of news
consumption. On all stories the headline is the punch line. In fact, Onion stories usually
lose steam or become redundant after a couple of paragraphs -- the ideal length for
today’s attention spans and handheld readers. People can send a headline like “ACLU
Defends Nazis' Right To Burn Down ACLU Headquarters” and their friends don’t even
have to open the link to get the joke (but if you want it:
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http://www.theonion.com/articles/aclu-defends-nazis-right-to-burn-down-aclu-
headqua,1648/).
The Onion has a print circulation of over 400,000 with ads more than offsetting its cover
price of $0.00. Online it boasts 15.3 million readers, nearly double that of Cracked.com
with an identical male/female ratio (60-40). The major difference is that 31% of Onion
readers are over 35. This not only increases the average household income of readers,
which sponsors like, but it also gives the Onion credibility. It’s the bawdy humor for
grownups who read the New York Times. But it doesn’t need to brag. Instead it
seamlessly exudes the honest, childish whimsy that adults pay psychoanalysts to get in
touch with. To be seen reading the Onion is a sign that you belong to an elite club whose
only cost of membership is getting it. The Onion is what MAD used to be and what
Cracked.com wished it was, realized it couldn’t be and over-compensated for with low-
brow, gross-out lists.
Nonetheless all three magazines do appeal to unique demographics. Each has its place
in the niche market which they share and each owes something to the others. As Nikolai
Irtenev maintained his core personality throughout Tolstoy’s Childhood, Boyhood, and
Youth these humor magazines are similarly illustrative of the maturation process of
humor. Culturally they represent Piaget steps in the growth of American comedy – how
we learn what is funny how. MAD is the elementary school, Cracked.com is the junior
high, and the Onion is high school.
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Sources
http://www.dccomics.com/mad/about/?action=about1
http://mediakit.theonion.com/audience/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cracked_%28magazine%29
http://users.ipfw.edu/slaubau/madcirc.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_%28magazine%29#cite_note-slau-3
http://www.demandmedia.com/properties/cracked/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Onion
http://mediakit.cracked.com/traffic-and-audience.html
http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/weekly/aaprtenthcircle.htm
http://www.comicsbeat.com/2010/12/29/dc-comics-month-to-month-sales-november-
2010/