If the New Yorker and Mad magazine had really bad and degrading sex, the resulting offspring might look a lot like the Lowbrow Reader. Edited by Jay Ruttenberg, who’s apparently unaware of the existence of computers, the Lowbrow Reader is a witty, wise and wonderful zine about comedy. (Yes, a printed zine in 2012!) The publication’s best writing and art from the past decade have been collected in The Lowbrow Reader Reader, a handsome bound edition. (Yes, a physical book in 2012!) Amazon.com normally doesn’t sell books, but this is such a special volume that Jeff Bezos made an exception. You can order it here beginning May 22. (Or you can pre-order it now directly from the publisher.) You’ll laugh your ass off while reading this book, and within days it will make a really crappy Frisbee.

An example of what you can expect from the Lowbrow Reader Reader is a piece by complete wiseass Margeaux Watson in which she recalls her visit to the Brooklyn home of the late, great rap star Ol’ Dirty Bastard. An excerpt:

"It was the smell of Newport cigarettes, feet, ass, food and unbrushed teeth. Just all-around funk. A bouquet of stink.”

“Lowbrow Reader: You’re probably one of the few women who has been inside Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s house and hasn’t returned with a venereal disease.

Margeaux Watson: Or a child.

Lowbrow Reader: Where does he live?

Margeaux Watson: He lives in Brooklyn. It’s an odd location–it’s not ghetto-ish, but it’s also not where you’d expect a star to live. In Brooklyn, most stars live in Brooklyn Heights, Williamsburg or Fort Greene. But he’s in more of a working-class, family neighborhood. A lot of brownstones and row houses; it’s not near a subway or an urban center.

Lowbrow Reader: What’s his house like?

Margeaux Watson: He lives in a brownstone. It’s been renovated, so it’s modern on the inside. It’s a narrow apartment, with white walls and hardwood floors. It’s surprisingly well-kept and pretty neat–except for its smell. It smelled bad.

Lowbrow Reader: Can you describe the odor?

Margeaux Watson: It was the smell of Newport cigarettes, feet, ass, food and unbrushed teeth. Just all-around funk. A bouquet of stink.”

Margeaux Watson: He lives in a brownstone. It’s been renovated, so it’s modern on the inside. It’s a narrow apartment, with white walls and hardwood floors. It’s surprisingly well-kept and pretty neat–except for its smell. It smelled bad.

Lowbrow Reader: Can you describe the odor?

Margeaux Watson: It was the smell of Newport cigarettes, feet, ass, food and unbrushed teeth. Just all-around funk. A bouquet of stink.”•

Jay Ruttenberg: Waiting for Irwin Corey to pass so that they'll be an opening for him.

Professor Irwin Corey (1914- )