Stave off your fear and/or rage with the best writers and cartoonists America has to offer! Since October 2015, The American Bystander has been publishing top-quality comedy between sturdy paper covers. If you liked SPY, Punch, or the old National Lampoon, you'll pick up what we're puttin' down. It's like the classic humor magazines you remember... only better.
Hi-ho, Bystanderisti! As the planet cooks and our Republic heaves, attempting to throw up the foreign object forced down its throat last November — we're back again, with another heaping helping of humor writing and cartoonery.
Things always look better from the middle of a pond, don't you think?
The idea behind Bystander is simple: gather a bunch of super-funny folks from places like The Simpsons, SNL, The New Yorker and so on, and print stuff they can't do for The Simpsons, SNL, The New Yorker and so on. Then put it all together in a nice-looking book that feels just like the beloved humor magazines of the past — The National Lampoon, SPY, PUNCH, and so on. This scheme has proved to be a huge success, as you can read here and here. If you crave yet more details, please go to our website.
In a time where intelligent satire is more important than ever, The American Bystander is the first successful print humor magazine in the United States in 20 years. American corporate publishing is simply not equipped to produce this type of content — so we're turning to readers. And readers have responded, pledging over $160,000 to our crowdfunding campaigns.
Every Bystander features some of the top names in comics, in our little magazine-within-a-magazine.
Scott Dikkers (The Onion) wrote an hilarious piece, illustrated by Randall Enos.
Ed Subitzky, fan favorite from The National Lampoon, wrote a wonderful feature -- illustrated by the marvelous Stephen Kroninger.
Your Bystanders are, as ever:
Michael Gerber (Editor & Publisher): The American Bystander is the culmination of over 25 years as a writer, editor, and magazine consultant specializing in humor. I've written for The New Yorker, SNL, and many other places; my books have sold 1.25 million copies in 25 languages. In 2003, Barry Trotter and the Shameless Parody fried the brains of a generation of English tweens, and now we have Brexit. Sorry.
Brian McConnachie (Head Writer): Brian began his comedy career as an editor at The National Lampoon and the Lampoon's "Radio Hour." From there, he went to Saturday Night Live, and SCTV, completing the Holy Trinity of Seventies comedy. In the 80s and 90s, Brian amassed the coolest bunch of cameos in the history of cinema. In more recent years, he has written for The Simpsons and recorded pieces for NPR.
Alan Goldberg (Senior Editor): has been making non-fiction television and radio for more than 35 years. His work includes biographies ranging from Fidel Castro to the Beatles; science programs with Dr. Richard Leakey; programs on drugs and epidemic diseases; histories of American railroads, diners, The Forbidden City and the Golden Gate Bridge -- and even live rock and roll and gospel concerts. Alan will be overseeing Bystander's podcasts and live-event programming.
Looking for more information?Check the project
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