Scott Dikkers, founding editor of The Onion, visits the university on Feb. 23, 2016, to share stories about the nationally acclaimed satirical newspaper and website that lampoons everything from sports to politics. Preview his visit in a Q&A he conducted with Elon freshman Brooke Muller.
Scott Dikkers, “The Funny Story Behind the Funny Stories”
McCrary Theatre, 7:30 p.m.
Free and open to the public. No tickets are required.
In his hysterically funny way, Dikkers will tell of the struggles to launch The Onion, the University of Wisconsin student-run newspaper that became one of America’s longest-surviving humor publications.
Elon University freshman Brooke Muller, who manages social media for Elon’s Office of Cultural and Special Programs, spoke with Dikkers in advance of his visit. Her Q&A on the office’s blog is republished here.
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“Peeling Back Life’s Layers”
As a sophomore in high school, I was assigned one of the most difficult styles to write in. Comedy. This type of writing takes a special talent, a talent I lack. I was instructed to write an article in the style of The Onion, a premier comedic website where the headlines are fake but the humor is real. For decades now, The Onion has been eliciting laughs from its readers while taking critical looks at areas such as politics, sports and entertainment.
Scott Dikkers, writer, animator, comedian and much more, founded TheOnion.com in 1995 after the creation of the original Onion newspaper a few years earlier at the University of Wisconsin. Since then, Dikkers has shared his multitude of creative talents with the world. He has inspired a new generation of comedic writers and audiences everywhere wonder what he’ll do next.
I was fortunate to hear from Dikkers prior to his visit to campus. Below is a sneak peek of what promises to be a great talk on February 23rd.
Q: In high school I had to write a piece in the style of The Onion and found it very challenging. Was comedy writing something that always came naturally to you?
A: “Comedians and experienced comedy writers make comedy writing look easy. Sorry about that! It takes a lot of years to get good at just about everything, I think. Comedy writing is no exception. Wanting to do it and enjoying it definitely came naturally to me early in life, but I was pretty bad at it for the first 10 years or so, just like anyone else. You have to keep practicing!”
Q: For many people, humor is a way to deal with difficult emotions or situations. Have you found that to be true in your life?
A: “Absolutely. Humor saved my life when I was in the third grade.”
Q: What advice would you give someone who wishes to pursue a creative career such as writing or animation?
A: “People come to me for this advice a lot and I tell them all the same thing: practice. Start working. Keep working. Get your work out there as much as possible. Get feedback, adjust, improve, and keep at it. With the Internet there to distribute any kind of creative work, there’s no excuse not to do it. All the people I know who have successful careers in comedy, entertainment, or the like (animation), have done that. So many people have the desire, but not the drive, and they don’t put in the hours, months, and years necessary to get good at it, so they fail. I’ve never seen anyone succeed who didn’t continue practicing their craft to an almost obsessive degree. It’s the best advice I can offer.”
Q: What has been the most rewarding part of your career thus far?
A: “Talking to young people and inspiring them to succeed is by far the most rewarding part of my career. I started doing it when I first got into the comedy business in my early 20s — I was a professional cartoonist (this was before The Onion), and I used to go to high schools and talk to kids. There’s really no greater feeling that lighting a fire under someone whose full of potential and big dreams, igniting their passion for whatever it is they want to do in the world, and then seeing them go off and succeed in it.”
Q: Can you give us any inside scoops on upcoming projects?
A: “I just wrapped up a big one — a comedy book about what life will be like if Donald Trump becomes president. It’s called “Trump’s America: The Complete Loser’s Guide.” It just came out this week and is available at http://mpmstore.com/trumps-america-the-complete-losers-guide/ — I hope to bring some copies to Elon, too. Other than that, I do a podcast where I talk to people in the comedy business about how they do what they do, it’s called the Comedy Insider Podcast. And I run the “Writing with The Onion” training center at the Second City in Chicago where people can come and learn how to write comedy. If anybody wants to pursue a career in comedy, that’s a great place to start.”