Humor magazine Drollhouse to debut
Written by Stefanie Neuman | | sneuman@toledofreepress.comErin Kanary and her best friend, fellow designer Kate Komuniecki, made a pact to be self-employed by the time they were 30. After a few ideas such as a quirky greeting card company and a cover band, Komuniecki suggested the two begin a magazine. Kanary quickly agreed.
Erin Kanary, left, and Kate Komuniecki.
“We just want to put a goddamned smile on people’s faces, you know? Especially in these times, everyone needs to smile,” Kanary said of the creation of the upcoming humor magazine Drollhouse. “Like that bitter lady that you work with — give her this magazine.”
The two will include their own work along with the work of others they’ve recruited in the magazine. According to Kanary about 80 percent of contributors to the magazine are from Toledo, though it will include work from artists and writers from around the country in places such as San Francisco, Houston and Brooklyn.
“We want it to be a Toledo thing but we also kind of want to spread it out. Toledo rules, you know?” Kanary said. “The arts here are just blowing up. I feel like something is happening. This city is just crazy talented.”
Each issue will be themed, Kanary said; the first issue’s theme is “home.” Stories, essays, interviews, cartoons and drawings will be included in the magazine with anything else Kanary and Komuniecki find humorous and applicable.
“The point of it was everyday humor,” Komuniecki said, “like things that you would laugh about or notice with your friends. What I’m realizing once we’re getting all this stuff in is that my inspiration comes from just these awesome people. When people say, ‘yeah we’ll contribute’ … it’s very touching because it feels so generous.”
“One of the guys … used to write for ‘Saturday Night Live’ and another guy does voices for the Comedy Central cartoon ‘Ugly Americans.’ They’re just so cool about it,” Kanary said. “Either we’re really on to something or people are just really cool — or both.”
To offset printing and other costs, Kanary and Komuniecki created a Web page on kickstarter.com. The site allows new entrepreneurs can use to raise money for their project by posting a page explaining their idea and asking viewers of the page for donations. Financial supporters receive rewards for their donation depending on the amount. Rewards range from hand-delivered copies of the first issue to a spot on a supporters’ page on the Drollhouse website. They hope to raise $3,000 to fund their publication.
“We’re really just going to take this first issue and see where it goes,” Kanary said. “Eventually I’d like to be a millionaire off of it just so I can get my teeth whitened, because I’ve been drinking a lot of coffee doing this.”
Tags: Drollhouse, Erin Kanary, Kate Komuniecki
