From guy's mag to stag mag? This would seem to be the case for Die Evan Dando Die author Jeff Fox, who has just published Highball -- a glossy whose provenance is explained as follows in its press release (which comes accompanied by cocktail coasters and matches):
**Press Release**Press Release**Press Release**Press Release**
"If you can't be nice, why don't you just shut your stinking mouth because you'll never get anywhere being as big of an asshole as you obviously are."Well, doesn't the contrary seem to be true? The quote is an excerpt from the voluminous hate mail sent to Jeff Fox regarding his self-published Die Evan Dando Die magazine. The magazine...soon became news (Time, Entertainment Weekly, US, Rolling Stone, Sky, Vibe, etc), the first printing sold out in one week and articles were even excerpted in Harper's. It was quite a suprise, seeing as how Fox didn't even own a touch-tine telephone.
Soon after, DEDD's notoriety got the attention of Gyro Advertising. They approached Fox and asked him to create and edit a completely new magazine. They approached Fox and asked him to create and edit a completely new magazine. Fox put together a staff and articles, then glommed off of the ad agency's legitimate status, using it to convince professional photographers and models to become accessories in making his odious vision a reality. The result of that unholy alliance is HIGHBALL magazine.
HIGHBALL hearkens back to the swank stag magazines of the 1950s. It combines a new, bored-by-cynicism attitude with a facetious nostalgia for the good old days of pleasantly mischievous playboys.
So...being an asshole will get you knowhere? It got Jeff Fox his own glossy magazine, a staff at his disposaL, and just enough cash to tell his day-job boss to go pound sand...actually, it sounds like every American's dream.
Well, it does beat British guy-mags like Loaded...and it IS a great mag about booze, cars and girls....just like DEDD had a great guide to shaving. Plus it is glossy and, though design could be thought of as a weak point, it has all the flavour of a period men's mag, with a tad more sauciness. Full marks for sheer fun; available from Jeff Fox, contact:
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