In October 2015, a bunch of genial weirdos unveiled The American Bystander, the first new national humor magazine in 30 years. We wanted to create a place for print humor in the 21st Century; in a dumbness-forward era, we wanted to present if not an antidote, at least an alternative. What the world needs now is therapy on a species-wide scale—but until then, there's The American Bystander.
Each jam-packed issue collects a diverse group of 65 top writers and cartoonists in a great looking, full-color, softcover format. The New York Times called us “an essential read for comedy nerds.”
Each Bystander subscriber is helping to improve our increasingly craptastic culture; you are participating in the rebirth of a wonderful type of comedy, and that’s something to be proud of. We depend on your support and word-of-mouth to give you the sophisticated content you deserve. (Well, 98% sophisticated. The other 2% was just too funny not to print.)
Here's how you can help:
1) If you haven't already, go subscribe now.
2) Buy our prior issues. The cheapest and easiest way is through our store. Bystander is also available at Amazon/B&N/Powell's, or via special order at any brick-and-mortar bookstore.
3) Subscribe to our email list (the form’s below) to stay in the loop on new issues, deals on merch and back issues, events, and online content.
Seven years of steady subscriber growth has shown us that people really love this magazine; we think you will, too. And if you do, please tell others — word-of-mouth is key to our success.
The current state of publishing has left a lot of wonderful artists and writers with no way to reach their fans — and for people just starting out, a once-difficult career has become nearly impossible. Meanwhile, the world continues to be one great big ball of screwy. We just couldn’t take it anymore, folks, we had to do something…so we created The American Bystander.
What happens next is up to you.
Michael Gerber
Editor & Publisher
Cartoon by Tom Toro. © 2015 Tom Toro.
IT’S CHEAPEST
to buy issues from us, because we are lousy at business
(Some of)
OUR CONTRIBUTORS
Charles Barsotti (The New Yorker)
Michael Ian Black (Stella)
Roy Blount, Jr. (NPR)
George Booth (The New Yorker)
Steve Brodner (Rolling Stone)
M.K. Brown (The National Lampoon)
Roz Chast (TNY)
Seymour Chwast (Push Pin Graphic)
Billy Collins (US Poet Laureate)
Larry Doyle (The New Yorker)
Liana Finck (The New Yorker)
Drew Friedman (MAD)
Tom Gammill (Seinfeld)
Jack Handey (SNL)
Todd Hanson (The Onion)
Al Jean (The Simpsons)
Terry Jones (Monty Python)
Peter Kuper (MAD)
Danny Lavery (The Toast)
Merrill Markoe (Letterman)
Brian McConnachie (SNL)
George Meyer (The Simpsons)
Mimi Pond (The National Lampoon)
Mike Reiss (The Simpsons)
Mike Sacks (Vanity Fair)
Nell Scovell (SPY)
Edward Sorel (Vanity Fair)
Steve Young (Letterman)
Alan Zweibel (SNL)
and many, many more.