'Punchline' not a complete joke

If the smudgy, sheisty Yale Daily News and big, boring New Haven Register have left you unsatisfied, and the phrase "Oochie Wally" means something to you, you might get a kick out of the new monthly magazine, Punchline. "The Urban Alternative" can now be found for free in black boxes all around the state.

Like Maxim, it covers the crucial areas of everyday life that are not terribly unpleasant to read-and-drop-a-deuce to: entertainment, fashion, music, hot pe-ople, and beer. Actually, Maxim is the only magazine that actually covers beer, but Punchline has some things that the glossy men's mag doesn't, like the heart-wrenching drama "This Love of Mine," by Cecilia Campbell-Livingston. This month, Sharon leaves the man she loves, Otis, to live with Dave, who asks her to marry him because she's preggers. Then Otis comes over "as cool as you please" and starts harassing her about who her baby's daddy is. So she tells him it's Dave...but in fact, Otis is the dad. "Next issue: Will Sharon tell Otis the truth?"

On the table of contents page is the customary editor's note. Where Cosmo's bitchy editor-in-chief usually rants about how this month you really will learn how to have that "killer orgasm," the editors of Punchline have "Punch Bag," which opens with the question that's on everybody's mind these days: "What's up with the rappers vs. the law scenario...in the Hip Hop world lately? Should we call it being a victim of playa hating or is it just plain defiance of the law?" It goes on to discuss some of those who have recently had trials, like Tupac, Snoop Dogg, ODB, and of course, Puffy. Conclusion: "It goes to show we could have all that Bling-Bling, the cars, the house, the designer clothing, and all the glitz and glamour in the world. But it still gives meaning to the old saying, `You could take the person outta the Ghetto, but you can't take the Ghetto outta them.'" Until the part about the ghetto, you could have been reading Cosmo.

Punchline's not all fun and games though. Unlike Cosmo's token after-school-special true story (example: "I have this obscure disease" or "I almost couldn't find my left Manolo"), Punchline offers a story on rappers Capone and Noreaga, entitled "C-N-N: From Incarceration to Celebration." If it sounds inspirational, it's because it is. Interestingly, it sits right next to an article on empowering adolescents using specific guidelines: "Empowered people make informed choices...Em-powered people consistently ask themselves, `Am I making safe choices?' and then that is exactly how they make them." If only Punchline had gone to press before Capone and Noreaga illegally possessed unregistered firearms and violated parole!

The back of Punchline features the "On the Scene Photo Page" by Dave Goodsen, with pictures of black athletes and entertainers accompanied with extremely amusing captions. Next to a photo of Wesley Snipes: "Damn! Wesley looking good, looking good." A picture of Venus Williams reads: "Yeah, show 'em how it's done! Venus at Reebok endorsement signing: Make that money!"

Probably the best feature of Punchline is its album review section. The ratings system goes up to five stars for "A Stunner"; four for "It Bangs"; three for "Straight."; two for "Aww-ight."; and one star for "Garbage!" Alyse Cooke rates nine records, including the new Monifah, which "could easily be disregarded because of its early '90s Shanice-like flavor," and Jaheim's "Ghetto Love," which includes "soft harmony and hard beats that will keep the ladies and the fellas interested." The absence of mature adults attempting to praise over-processed teen-pop shit is really refreshing, as is the variety of hip-hop and R&B albums that the average Yalie probably hasn't heard of but could definitely get into.

Punchline hits a more serious note with a short article called "Black Ink" by Sye Thompson that opens, "What do you do when you come from a place where sports, money, drugs, women, hip-hop, and the streets rule?" The piece pinpoints the gap in publications that Punchline is trying to fill, as well as the different audience and point-of-view it targets—almost definitely a change from the one in periodicals you, the average Yalie, are used to. Thompson writes, "I just had to print it the way we live it. That is why I'm a part of Punchline, so I can give it to my ladies and duns raw and uncut. Crashin' you with it from the rip 'cause this is a part of our life." The uniqueness and honesty of Punchline contributors like Thompson, and its point-of-view as a whole, definitely make it worth checking out. Beyond offering us a chance to step outside of Yale's ivory towers and take a closer look at a segment of a population and aspect of American culture that usually doesn't get the recognition it deserves, Punchline is just a consistently cool read.

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