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Carbolic Smoke Ball takes satiric look with 'Zombies Ate My Headlines

By Regis Behe
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Nothing is sacred for the guys who run Carbolic Smoke Ball. Nothing.

In "Zombies Ate My Headlines," (Carbolic Smoke Books, $14.95, 182 pages) a compendium of the site's best work, there are items on Mother Teresa, the Lincoln Memorial, Vice President Dick Cheney, John McCain and the late Tim Russert. But they are most proud of taking a hands-on approach to the new president-elect.

"I would argue we're the only comedy outlet in the country that has yet taken full advantage of Barack Obama," says Chad Hermann, editorial director and writer. "Whether it's a skittishness, or a certain liberal bias, I don't know. And I don't use that term lightly, because I am a liberal and I am a registered Democrat. But I have no problem making fun of my own candidate or my own party."

Launched in 2005, the Web site is in the same vein as The Onion, "The Daily Show," "The Colbert Report" and other satiric outlets. But its roots date back more than 30 years, when founder and editor-in-chief Tim Murray and writer and co-creator Bob Haas had a show on a cable access channel in Homestead.

"We were doing a fake news program then," Murray says.

The Carbolic Smoke Ball site has received media boosts from the New York Times, the Trib P.M. (which runs a feature on Mondays) and the WDVE Morning Show, where they make weekly appearances on Fridays. The book is an effort to expand the Carbolic Smoke Ball brand, but because the Web site is so topical -- everyone works between two and three hours a day doing updates in addition to maintaining full-time jobs -- some of the best material couldn't be included.

"This is the best-of (material) that is more timeless," Murray says.

There are subjects that are ready-made for satire, notably the Pittsburgh Pirates and Sarah Palin. But the trio takes pride in satirizing the less obvious -- U.N. arms inspector Hans Blix being summoned to search for matter in the universe, or a guy who is upset that vernal equinox celebrations have lost their luster.

"That's part of the challenge, and part of the reward when we pull one off," says Hermann, who started contributing to Carbolic Smoke Ball about a year-and-a-half ago. "For the same reason that we have grown tired of the Luke (Ravenstahl) jokes -- we could crank them out in our sleep, we could crank them out in a coma -- but there comes a point where you can only have so much low-hanging fruit, and you want to aim a little higher. "

Link: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/living/s_600927.html