Washington University’s new student-run humor magazine, The Eastern Review, offers students a satirical take on everything from campus life to world events to trivial news.

The magazine, which is currently released on a monthly basis, is published online at www.theeasternreview.com. Its content varies widely, and includes such titles as “Biology professor discovers new Pokémon,” “Something about Islam in Southeast Asia” and “Dogs look a lot like sheep, say six-year-olds.”

Sophomore and founder Josh Delman says that his ultimate goal in publishing The Eastern Review is to make a magazine that students will consider to be a staple of the University.

“We’re hoping that they’ll say something like, ‘Wash. U. is famous for good academics, a good Division III basketball team, and also a really good humor magazine,’” said Delman.

Delman cites The Harvard Lampoon as having that kind of widespread recognition and praise that he hopes The Eastern Review can one day have. The editorial board that produces The Eastern Review was recently named a category III student group by the Student Group Activities Committee (SGAC). Although the group does not yet receive funding, members hope to earn a future stipend that will go toward publishing the magazine in print.

Delman and several of his former floor-mates, including sophomores Joey Stromberg, now the magazine’s managing editor, and Josh Malina, a current contributor, conceived the idea for the magazine last year. Now, The Eastern Review has at least 10 regular contributors in its ranks.

The Eastern Review’s name, according to Delman, “is kind of in the vein of a higher-class magazine, like Harper’s or The Atlantic Monthly.”

“We thought it’d be really funny if we juxtaposed the high-brow style of a magazine like Harper’s with low-brow humor,” said Malina.

Delman distinguishes The Eastern Review from the WUnderground, the University’s satirical newspaper, by emphasizing that the material covered in The Eastern Review is more typical of that featured in a magazine.

Whereas the WUnderground generally covers news events on campus, said Delman, The Eastern Review includes movie reviews, advice columns and leisure articles as well as coverage extending beyond University grounds.

For example, the latest issue of the magazine included “Freaking awesome movie ideas!” an advice column written by freshman Danny Weltman, and an article entitled, “Butterflies are delicious.”

“The things that wander across my mind-which very often have to do with children or animals-I just put down on paper. I’ve sort of realized that you don’t really need a great topic to make something funny,” said Malina. “You get comedy when you combine the absurd with reality.”

In an effort to raise awareness about the magazine on campus, members of The Eastern Review have engaged in a campaign of what Stromberg terms “alternative advertising,” and Malina likens to the film “Fight Club’s” “Project Mayhem.”

For example, contributors to the magazine recently distributed mock Bon Appétit inserts in the plastic triangles on tables throughout University dining facilities.

The ads imitated Bon Appétit’s food spotlight inserts, which have previously highlighted the nutritional benefits of foods like apples and honey. In their food descriptions, the ads deemed pumpernickel bread “a pillar of civilization for time immemorial.”

Another time, members of the group handed out fliers in Holmes Lounge, Whispers and the Mallinckrodt Food Court while wearing hats with spinners on them and playing the musical theme from Space Jam.

Group members declined to discuss future advertising ideas, but Stromberg did warn that students should, “Be on the lookout for a big surprise.”

“A big surprise,” Malina followed up jokingly. “We’re talking Hiroshima. Times a million.”

Stromberg says he plans for the magazine to have a significant presence at the University in the future.

“Our plan is to establish a presence on campus in a lot of different ways,” said Stromberg.

Among other things, Stromberg envisions the magazine producing audio and visual podcasts that could be broadcast on KWUR and WUTV. He also imagines the magazine working with improv comedy groups on campus.

“It’d be great if in the future, people would use ‘Eastern’ as an adjective to describe our kind of humor,” said Stromberg.

Malina agreed.

“When people want to laugh, we want them to think of The Eastern Review.”

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