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The '''''Jester of Columbia''''', or simply the '''''Jester''''', is a campus humor magazine. It is widely acclaimed as "somewhat funny every now and then," a major achievement for any college humor publication.

The Jester is also known for its comedic performances, which include the Andy Kaufman-esque [[Banquet in Honor of the King of Spain]], the full multimedia production [[Up Late with Jeff Julian]], the sketch show [[Finite Jest]], and [[Internship Survival Guide]], a collaboration with [[Project Bluelight]].

==History==

[[File:Jester2007.tragedy cover.jpg|thumb|The cover of the May 2008 Tragedy issue]]

Legendarily founded on [[April 1|April Fool's Day]], [[1901]], ''Jester'' is one of the oldest such publications in the US. It was revived in [[2001]] after a 12-year lapse in publication and again in [[2004]] after a shorter one. It stopped publication most recently in [[2020]] and has not yet been revived.

The magazine has occasionally tested the boundaries of satire severely. 1,500 copies of a [[1967]] issue that included phrases such as "tar babies" and "the noble savage" were confiscated by black students from around campus, and around 30 of them were burned in front of [[Ferris Booth Hall]] in June of that year.<ref>http://spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu/cgi-bin/columbia?a=d&d=cs19670605-01.2.2&srpos=3&e=-------en-20--1--txt-IN-negroes+AND+jester----#</ref>

During the 2006-2007 school year, Jester was embroiled in a [[CUSJ-Jester Feud|bizarre (and possibly one-way, i.e., as a Jester-only prank) feud with CUSJ]], the ''[[Columbia Undergraduate Science Journal]]''.

In [[May]] of [[2008]], the Jester prompted one of those short-lived web-scandals with their "Tragedy" issue, the cover of which featured the Titanic crashing into the Twin Towers<ref>http://www.columbia.edu/cu/jester/tragedy/index.htm</ref>. Some bloggers blogged about it; some commenters commented about it<ref>http://bwog.com/2008/05/13/quickjester-tragicomic-transformations-edition/</ref>. Classic sensitivity/free speech thing.

==''Jester'' covers==

The ''Jester'' has occasionally been known for its artistically sophisticated covers, a trait which reached its peak during the 1930s, when [[Ad Reinhardt]], later a notable abstract expressionist painter, was one of its editors. The cover art of the ''Jester''s of this period was considered comparable to that of ''[[The New Yorker]]''.

<gallery>
Image:Jesterrow.jpg|[[1934]] cover featuring the [[crew]] team, by [[Ad Reinhardt]]
Image:Jestergwb.jpg|[[1931]] cover celebrating the opening of the George Washington Bridge
Image:Jesterlion.jpg|Left: [[Columbia Lion]] by [[Ad Reinhardt]], Right: A [[1934]] issue featuring stories by football captain [[Cliff Montgomery]] and [[Arnold Beichman]]
Image:Jester30s.jpg|Covers from, top left, [[1931]], featuring a New Years' party in [[John Jay Hall]]; right, [[1933]], by [[Ad Reinhardt]], which served as the program for that year's [[Varsity Show]]; bottom, the [[1936]] [[Commencement]] edition, also by Reinhardt
Image:Jester07.gif|[[2007]] cover
Image:Jestermville.jpg|[[2008]] cover satirically depicting the revelation of the [[Manhattanville campus]] plan as a stained glass window
Image:JesterBuzzCoverSpread_web.jpg|[[2010]] New Yorker Style cover for the "Buzz" issue
</gallery>



==''Jester'' alumni==

*[[I.A.L. Diamond]], Hollywood comedy writer
*[[Allen Ginsberg]], poet of the [[Beat Generation]]
*[[Gerald Green (author)|Gerald Green]], writer
*[[Judd Gregg]], Republican US Senator from New Hampshire
*[[Ed Koren]], cartoonist
*[[Tony Kushner]], playwright
*[[Robert Lax]], poet
*[[Joseph L. Mankiewicz]], screenwriter
*[[Thomas Merton]], author and monk
*[[Ted Rall]], political cartoonist
*[[Ad Reinhardt]], artist
*[[Ed Rice]], journalist
*[[David Rosand]], art history professor
*[[Ralph de Toledano]], journalist, co-founded the ''National Review'' and edited ''Newsweek''
*[[Lynd Ward]], artist
*[[Herman Wouk]], writer
*[[Dan]], Dan

==''Jester'' Editors-in-Chief (2004-Present)==

*[[Sam West]], 2004-2007
*[[David Iscoe]], 2007-2009
*[[Adam Nover]], 2009-2010
*[[Michael Abraham]], 2010-2011, 2012
*[[Patrick McGuire]], 2011
*[[Eli Grober]], 2012-2013
*[[Bijan Samareh]], 2013-


==External links==

*[http://www.jesterofcolumbia.net ''The Jester of Columbia'' The Official Website]
*[http://www.columbia.edu/cu/jester/ ''Jester'' website]
*[http://www.jesterlackssoundscience.com "A thorough debunking of Jester's lies"]
*[http://www.columbia.edu/cu/alumni/Magazine/Fall2009/feature3.html Columbia Alumni Center exhibit of ''Jester'' covers]

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Student publications]]