2B — Thursday, February 12, 2015 Arts The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com “You can’t just write some- thing that’s funny,” said Engineering freshman Peter Flanagan, a recently hired E3W writer. “You have to write something that’s funny and fits the guidelines of a standardized paper, so we’re actually parody- ing something. It’s difficult in that regard, getting used to it, but all the editors are really tal- ented, so they all know how to reformat a joke to fit the guide- lines, so they’re really helpful to new writers.” The combination of humor and a standardized format is an ideal one for students for whom writing is usually not one of their favorite activities. “It’s a good experience,” Fla- nagan said. “Engineers have to take a couple of English classes, so might as well get it in a club, too.” While the Every Three Weekly does have a distin- guished and recognizable style, it’s not immune to innovation. The publication is constantly trying to think of other ways to reach out to students and gain new readers. In addition to pub- lishing its articles on a website, the paper has recently unveiled The Click House, a section of the website that satirizes online click-bait articles, similar to The Onion’s ClickHole. “(New formats for the Every Three Weekly) are still up in the air and being debated,” Flana- gan said. “With any form of web content, there’s also the oppor- tunity to create videos, which is vastly out of our realm and scope right now. But it’s been talked about, because there’s a lot of joke opportunities to be made there.” The writing process at the Every Three Weekly begins with a meeting between the writers and editors where they pitch concepts for articles. “We all just bring ideas to the table,” said Flanagan, describ- ing the writing process. “We all listen to each other’s ideas, and we all vote on which ones are good.” Verbally pitching ideas is essential in to determine which ideas seem to work the best. “It’s just which one gets the most laughs,” Flanagan said. A week later, the writers and edi- tors meet to edit the articles. The paper does not publish every article the writers pres- ent to them, both due to the paper’s insistence on quality and the physical limitations of the newspaper format. “I’ve submitted two (arti- cles),” said Flanagan. “I feel like both of them have an OK shot of getting in the paper.” Any given issue of the Every Three Weekly brings a variety of laughter, from the “Oh yeah, that’s something silly that I can relate to,” chuckle to the “I can’t believe I just read that!” guffaw. Topics range from personal relationships and fraternity antics to serious social issues such as Ebola and the Keystone XL pipeline. Given the publica- tion’s predilection for subver- sive humor and controversial topics, one might wonder if there are any topics the Every Three Weekly won’t write about. The answer is yes. “We’ll never approach rape jokes, under any circumstanc- es,” Michels said. But humor based on race and political issues is fair game, with a condition. “We try to always make sure that the joke is pointed at the system of oppression and not the victims of oppression,” Michels said. A recent example of that tenet is the article “Unarmed white teen gets brutally slapped on wrist,” which was written in response to the Michael Brown shooting and subsequent con- troversy. “We wanted to make a joke on something as newsworthy as these murders,” said Michels, “but we knew that under no circumstances could we alien- ate the victims. So instead we pointed the joke at this oppres- sive system and the controversy surrounding it.” By setting up a fictional sce- nario and writing about it in a mock-outraged tone, the Every Three Weekly managed to use humor to deliver their com- mentary on a tragic, controver- sial event and draw attention to the absurdity of the situation. The publication is dedicated to insightful political commentary in addition to laughs. Not everybody appreciates the joke, however, which has led to moments of controversy for the publication throughout the years. In 2005, the paper pub- lished an article titled “Phelps to major in pussy,” which led to an associate athletic direc- tor appealing to the Univer- sity Activities Center executive board to limit the newspaper’s funding. Briarwood Mall took objection to the paper when it accidentally referenced the mall by name in an article about a pedophilic Santa, titled “Mall Santa tells child exactly what he wants for Christmas.” The paper was repeatedly protect- ed from censorship by various Supreme Court precedents and University initiatives. While satire can be protect- ed on paper and through laws, there are some things that can- not be protected against, as made terrifyingly plain after the Charlie Hebdo attack in France. As proponents and practitioners of satire, the Every Three Weekly staffers were shocked and saddened. “In our meetings, we’re constantly laughing,” Michels said. “We’re constantly joking about things that, honestly, we shouldn’t be joking about. In all of our discussions about Charlie Hebdo, there wasn’t the usual joviality.” However, this did not slow the paper down, and they com- mitted themselves to paying tribute to the victims of the attack through humor. The result was an infographic titled “How satirical newspapers are dealing with the Charlie Hebdo tragedy.” The infographic per- fectly captures the paper’s per- fect mixture of humor, social commentary and sense of mor- als. The Every Three Weekly’s agenda is not a political one, but a populist one, seeking to reflect the opinions of the student body and show there is someone out there who understands their concerns, while the University administration may not. One of the paper’s most notable achievements in that regard occurred beyond the scope of the newspaper format. “We created a fictional can- didate to run in the CSG elec- tions,” Michels said. “He won. He could not be installed in the student government because he didn’t exist, but we created a little bit of a wave there.” The candidate for the 2011 elections was Karlos Marks, with Joseph Stallone as a run- ning mate. Even though the fictional candidate couldn’t be installed, students saw Karlos Marks as a symbol of their dis- satisfaction with the student government, and the numerous votes for him were a clear state- ment of that. Moreover, the stu- dent support of Karlos Marks illustrated the Every Three Weekly’s ability to establish a meaningful connection with University students through its combination of laughs and truth. Above all else, the Every Three Weekly represents the idea that humor can be a very valuable aspect of life. “My favorite thing that humor does is allow us to take a second look at the things that surround us, the choices we make, the ways that we act and the cultures we participate in,” Michels said. “We can take a second look in a way that doesn’t startle or offend. It’s a humor- ous look, and we can challenge ourselves and challenge the way we perceive things, all while sharing this humor that we can all really relate to.” Sharing his perspective on the topic, Flanagan described the experience of seeing ComCo perform in Angell Hall. “They filled one of the Angell Hall rooms, and they were charging admission, too,” Fla- nagan said. “College students on a budget, who could do any- thing else on a Friday night, decided to go to ComCo. So clearly, University of Michigan students value humor.” “And there are so many dif- ferent forms of it,” Flanagan continued. “The Every Three Weekly and ComCo are com- pletely different types of humor. But you go to the source that you find to fit yourself bet- ter, so we’re filling that void if you will.” It is true that there are many humor-based organizations throughout the University, each with its own style. While one person may prefer the structure of the Every Three Weekly, another may be taken by the rapid-fire unpredict- ability of ComCo, the inspired weirdness of the Gargoyle or the straightforward jokes of the LOL ROFL Comedy Club. Whatever a student may prefer, the Every Three Weekly exists to provide its unique version of humor, and the writers’ dedica- tion to their craft has ensured that they will remain an insti- tution for as long as University students want a laugh. Nobody can predict the Every Three Weekly’s next move, what subjects it will tackle and what new formats it will explore. But there is one thing people can be sure of: sometime within the next three weeks, another issue of the Every Three Weekly will be completed, rife with fake news and laughter, and the staffers will once again set out into the Diag to try and get the paper in as many hands as pos- sible. “We figured just being in people’s faces, being loud and aggravating is the best way to do that,” Michels said with a smile. MUSIC VIDEO REVIEW The rodeo-centric “Liv- ing for Love” video features Madonna as matador sur- rounded by a flock of bulls, however these aren’t just any kind of bulls. They are ripped male danc- ers rocking rhinestoned facemasks and horns. Throughout the video she is circled by these glamor- ous horror-film reminiscent creatures, tempting them with her cape and fending them off with awkward cho- reography. She rides one in typical bull fashion, fights one in plank position and finally dances in tandem with them. The message here is clear: The rhinestone-masked bull- dancers represent unhealthy relationships. They may appear shiny, but in the end they are only destructive. Madge tempts these relation- ships and struggles with their allure (see her near make-out with a horned man). In the ends she dances with a group minus their masks, embraces positive relationships and is “gonna carry on” while “liv- ing for love.” Great song, but an overly stylized video. Several outfit changes for a single-scene video, well because a Madon- na video cannot simply have one or two outfits. The red and black tones work in the first half of the video, but they eventually digress into some- thing similar to an Instagram filter everyone avoids. Upon defeating the final bull-dancer, roses fall to the ground and Madge throws her cape. The video closes with a Friedrich Nietzsche quote: “Man is the cruelest animal. At tragedies, bull- fights and crucifixions he has felt best on earth; and when he invented hell for himself that was his very heaven.” Ultimately, the video takes what is a phenomenal, uplift- ing song, twists it around and shoves it into a metaphorical box. Consequently, the song loses much of its original glory by the video’s attempts to be more than a music video. -CHRISTIAN KENNEDY B- ‘Living for Love’ Madonna Boy Toy Inc. BOY TOY INC WHAT’S NEW ON FOR INTERVIEWS, TV RECAPS, FILM RETROSPECTIVES AND THE LATEST ENTERTAINMENT NEWS CHECK OUT VIRGINIA LOZANO/Daily The Every Three Weekly staff writers pretend that they’re not taking Buzzfeed quizzes. E3W From Page 1B EPISODE REVIEW This week’s episode of “Archer” saw the spy gang stuck in an elevator on their way to an early morning meet- ing. This meant that we got one of the few times in the series where all of the principal cast with the exception of Malory (Jessica Walter, “Arrest- ed Develop- ment”) were together for the entire episode. The idea was a novel approach — relying on dialogue while maintain- ing a single setting. Even if it wasn’t exactly ground-break- ing or original, the characters brought a flavor and humor that was enough to carry the episode. Particular high- lights were Pam (Amber Nash, “Frisky Dingo”) channeling Omar from “The Wire” while drinking malt liquor early in the morning. In short, another entertaining installment in the excellent espionage comedy. -DREW MARON FX B ‘Archer’ Season 6, Episode 5 Thursdays at 10 p.m. FX The E3W’s agenda is not a political one, but a populist one. TRAILER REVIEW It’s those eyes, those big, crazy eyes — when you look into them, they don’t so much as look back, but stare deep into the soul. You’re trans- fixed, lost in an abyss. It doesn’t mat- ter that one of them might be lazy, or they often appear puffy; rather, it’s what the eyes, those big Buscemi eyes stand for. They’re the eyes of a man who knows what he wants, who thinks big, who, when he orders coffee, demands it be filled no less than six times. But how many secrets do they hide? How far must we wade to get to that most base layer, that darkest shade of Mr. Buscemi? It’s most refreshing to see a more fleshed out charac- ter in Mr. Grey, as portrayed in supercut by Mr. Buscemi. He’s now less a cardboard cutout, barely able to stand on his own, than a round- ed character with faults, desires, even limits to that dark, erotic nature. When the going gets rough, he demands it stop. This Mr. Grey oozes power, maybe not the kind of power you were expecting, but a greater power all the same. Just look into his eyes, they’re calling … “Mr. Busce- mi will see you now.” -JAMIE BIRCOLL A- ‘Fifty Shades of Buscemi’ HBO “... clearly, University students value humor.” “... just being in people’s faces, being loud and aggravating ...”