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Jester of Columbia

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Jester of Columbia
Cover of the March 1912 issue of The Jester
EditorEric Donahue
CategoriesHumor magazine
FrequencyUp to 4 per year
First issueApril 1, 1901
CountryUnited States
LanguageAmerican English
Websitehttps://columbiajester.wordpress.com

The Jester of Columbia, or simply the Jester, is a humor magazine at Columbia University in New York City. Founded on April Fool's Day, 1901, it is one of the oldest such publications in the United States.[1] Printed continuously at least through 1997, it was revived in 2001 after a short lapse in publication and again in 2005 after another, shorter one. Jester now produces magazines and sponsors comedy events on Columbia's campus.[1]

Issues

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Excluding brief lapses in publication, the Jester has always produced issues. Jester publishes four or five times per year, with articles loosely centered around a broad theme. Issues contain a wide array of articles and jokes, such as narratives, dialogues, and articles composed of short paragraphs discussing a theme. To heighten the effect of period pieces or specific jokes, articles appear as fake documents found and scanned into the issue. Illustrations are a significant part of the magazine, with visual gags and fake ads bringing greater variety.

Jester attempts to not repeat jokes or features, except for a letters to the editor section, an editorial, called the "Editaurus," an obituary section succinctly named "Deaths," and a couple of "list" pages containing short jokes and lists. However, there are no recurring subjects, and news-style pieces rarely appear, except as "sampled" documents. Within individual issues, there are also recurring references, including ones regarding Picabo Street, the Zune, and Q-Zar.

Other activities

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In addition to publishing the magazine, the group puts on comedy events, containing sketches, improv comedy, and an event reminiscent of the antics of Andy Kaufman, where an audience was forced to watch other students eat dinner for 30 minutes while listening to madrigals.[2][3]

Jester also performs a number of pranks, most recently establishing a pseudo-rivalry with the Columbia Undergraduate Science Journal, culminating in a staged theft of issues, attached rebuttals, and a parody website.[4][5] The Columbia Spectator reported the event as an actual disappearance.[6]

Alumni

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References

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  1. ^ a b DePillis, Lydia. "Humor Comes Back to Columbia". Columbia Spectator.
  2. ^ "KCST Serves up Feast of Mystery". Columbia Spectator. Archived from the original on 2007-04-02.
  3. ^ "Prankstgrüp Makes Columbia Proud". Bwog. Archived from the original on 2007-09-28.
  4. ^ Appel, Julie. "Missing Jester Copies Found". Columbia Spectator.[permanent dead link‍]
  5. ^ "CUSJ Antics far Funnier than CUSJ Content". Bwog. Archived from the original on 2007-09-28.
  6. ^ "700 Copies of Campus Magazine Disappear". Columbia Spectator.[permanent dead link‍]
  7. ^ DePillis, Lydia. "Humor Comes Back to Columbia". Columbia Spectator.[permanent dead link‍]
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