Funny Times (newspaper)

Funny Times (FT) is an American humor newspaper founded in 1985, and still published as of 2023, by the wife and husband team of Susan Wolpert and Raymond Lesser. Wolpert and Lesser were inspired by The Comic News of Santa Cruz, California, "a monthly journal of progressive editorial cartoons" founded in 1984 by Thom Zajac.[1][2][3][4] FT's political content is often subversive and has a progressive/liberal perspective.[5][6][7]

Funny Times
EditorMia Beach
CategoriesHumor magazine
FrequencyMonthly
PublisherRenae Lesser and Gabriel Piser
Total circulation
(2020)		55,000[1]
Founded1985 (1985)
CountryUnited States
Based inCleveland Heights, Ohio
LanguageEnglish
Websitewww.funnytimes.com
ISSN1045-0491

In 1997, Sandee Beyerle came across the office of Funny Times while trying to escape inclement weather.[8] She became managing editor,[4] and when Ray Lesser retired as editor, Beyerle replaced him. After Beyerle's retirement in 2022, Mia Beach was hired as the new editor.

Format and subscriptions

The monthly Funny Times publication is printed in the format of a daily newspaper, on newsprint paper, with each of the 24 pages[4] measuring 11 X 17 inches. The only ads it runs are for its own FT-related merchandise. FT subscriptions were $26 a year from 2013 to late 2018, when they increased to $28.[4][9]

Content

Each Funny Times issue is organized into sections such as "Relationships", "Dogs", "Politics", "Current Events", and others, with the section categories varying somewhat from issue to issue. Each issue includes cartoons, columns and essays that derive humor from pop culture, current events, politics and day-to-day living. A full page in each issue is devoted to the syndicated column originally developed by Chuck Shepherd, News of the Weird, which features dozens of bizarre true stories from around the world. Publisher Ray Lesser frequently contributes his own humorous essays. As of the early 2000s, each issue contained choice selections of such offbeat comic strips as This Modern World by Tom Tomorrow, Bizarro by Dan Piraro, Zippy the Pinhead by Bill Griffith, Too Much Coffee Man by Shannon Wheeler, Tom the Dancing Bug by Ruben Bolling, The K Chronicles by Keith Knight, and Slowpoke by Jen Sorensen.

Other contributing writers and cartoonists have included, circa 2000:

[4][10]

As of 2021, works by a few of the above cartoonists and writers still appeared regularly in the Funny Times.[11]

Other publications

In 2002, Funny Times published the book Funny Times: The Best of The Best of American Humor: The Funniest Cartoons, Columns, and Essays from the Funny Times Newspaper (Three Rivers Press, ISBN 9780609809198).[6] As of 2018, the book is no longer offered by FT but is still available elsewhere, secondhand.[12]

From January 2007 to September 2013, the Funny Times website featured the "Cartoon Playground", in which anyone with Internet access could create and instantly post their own comic strips using artwork drawn by Matt Wuerker. Some of the more frequent contributors to the Playground Cartoon section included individuals going by such names as: CIAgent, Claustrophobic, cta, Danger Dan, Demosfoni, Ducky, Earthmuffin, Elephant Man, Ellie May, Eric Per1in, Fracturedfish, Hal, Just Bean, Konrad Schwoerke, Lo Bottomy, Mr Smartypants, Queen Bean, Rick Dickulous, Sophie, Yankees with Hope, and Zack. These people communicated with each other using cartoons, turning the 'Cartoon Playground' into somewhat of a social networking site.[13][14] Some reader-created cartoons were, for a while, featured in the monthly print edition.

As of 2020, for several years the Funny Times website has featured the "Cartoon of the Week", which is also emailed weekly to subscribers.[15]

References
  1. "About Us". The Funny Times. 2020. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  2. "Funny Times: How It All Began". The Funny Times. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  3. "The Comic News". The Comic News. 2018. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  4. Schnall, Sharon (April 8, 2013). "Humor can pay the bills: Locally produced Funny Times has national following, $1.6M gross revenue". Crain's Cleveland Business. Retrieved June 7, 2018.
  5. Johnson, Steve (January 25, 1991). "Cleveland paper begs to be laughed at". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  6. Hoffman, Kevin (March 5, 2003). "Laughing Through the Apocalypse: At Funny Times, being liberal's never been so fun". Cleveland Scene. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  7. Warren, Roz (February 11, 2020). "Looking for a Terrific Paying Market for Humor and Cartoons?". Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  8. June, 2018
  9. "Subscribe..." The Funny Times. Retrieved June 7, 2018.
  10. Sigwald, John (August 9, 2002). "Liberal Laughs: Funny Times publishes comic and anecdotal gems". Unger Library. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  11. "Funny Times". Funny Times. December 2021. Retrieved January 2, 2022.
  12. "The Best of the Best American Humor: The Funniest Cartoons, Columns, and Essays from the Funny Times Newspaper". alibris. Retrieved June 7, 2018.
  13. "Make-Your-Own-Cartoon Gallery". The Funny Times. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  14. "The Infinite Blogstream: Playground Gallery". The Funny Times. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  15. "Cartoon Treasury: Cartoon of the Week for..." The Funny Times. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
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