Jester of Columbia

The Jester of Columbia, or simply the Jester, is a campus humor magazine. Legendarily founded on April Fool's Day, 1901, it is one of the oldest such publications in the US. Revived in 2001 after a 12-year lapse in publication and again in 2004 after a shorter one, Jester has once again begun to produce magazines as well as sponsor comedy events on Columbia's campus. It is widely acclaimed as "somewhat funny every now and then," a major achievement for any college humor publication.

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

Jester covers

The Jester has always been known for its artistically sophisticated covers, a trait which reached its peak during the 1930s, when Ad Reinheardt, later a notable abstract expressionist painter, was one of its editors.

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  1934 cover featuring the crew team, by Ad Reinhardt

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  1930s cover celebrating the opening of the George Washington Bridge

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  Left: Columbia Lion by Ad Reinhardt, Right: A 1934 issue featuring stories by football captain Cliff Montgomery and Arnold Beichman

Jester alumni

• I.A.L. Diamond, Hollywood comedy writer
• Allen Ginsberg, poet of the Beat Generation
• Gerald Green, writer
• 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
• Ralph de Toledano, journalist, co-founded the National Review and edited Newsweek
• Lynd Ward, artist
• Herman Wouk, writer
• Ed Koren, cartoonist

External links

• The Jester of Columbia The Official Website
• Jester website
• "A thorough debunking of Jester's lies"
• Columbia Alumni Center exhibit of Jester covers