Here are some mentions UsedWigs has received lately. Let us know if you see UsedWigs mentioned anywhere, only positive stuff though, we have thin skins and are prone to massive fits of depression.
phillyBurbs Interview with UsedWigs
I would like to thank Dave McGurgan and the nice folks at phillyBurbs.com for this swell little interview they did with me: UsedWigs.com: The phillyBurbs Interview.
You can learn important things like:
Q: Name the thing you’d like to see happen the least in Philadelphia?
A: Tidal wave or a John Mayer concert.
Used FAQS Featured on Yahoo TV
A big thanks to the fine folks at Yahoo TV who found our new web endeavor quite entertaining! Please check out the show. Used FAQs is a random roundup of Frequently Asked Questions taken from random websites — some funny, some interesting, some weird, all 100% real.
Edmonton Journal
When Canadians need keen insight on Hollywood teens, they ask UsedWigs! Lord knows why. Read Story>
Smoking Good Shout Out!
UsedWigs gets some quality ink in Unlimited magazine thanks to our pal Joel Stein (TIME Magazine). Unlimited is brought to you by the kind folks at Marlboro cigarettes, so fire one up (just not around us) and check it out!
UsedWigs Rolls Up on VH1!
Yes, we take liberties with the truth every so often, but this time we promise we’re not fibbing. Your good buddy Jeff Lyons will be appearing on VH1’s new “All Access: Sexy Single Babes” doing some commentary with a bunch of other folks. Please watch him possibly disgrace his family’s good name and violate his parole (he crossed state lines for the filming) as he explains why some of Hollywood’s hottest babes are still sans hubby. The show debuts Tuesday, September 30th at 11:00am, 5:00pm and 9:00pm (EST). Tune in and try not to confuse Jeff and his girly legs for one of the single babes.
Here’s all the VH1 Show info and Air Dates you could ever want.
The UsedWigs Take on Life
from Netsurfer Digest
The Onion-esque satire of UsedWigs will exercise your brain by defending its concept of truth over fiction. The authors at the site dub their funny stories “completely worthless news and distractions”. The movie reviews by Cap’n Cranky are qualified by the warning that the review may have been written prior to actually seeing the film. Ignoring that proviso, however, the reviews are generally honest and helpful if you’re interested in the opinion of someone titled “Cap’n” before going to the cinema. Regular interviews top it off, with celebrities - OK, the celebrity offering unedited responses to questions both silly and serious. The barrage of news in the media today can lead you to crave something less packaged or processed. UsedWigs is pleasantly fresh and creative.
Used Wigs: Not Your Father’s News
from Zap2it.com
Used Wigs is a worthy addition to the ranks of satire on the Web (think The Onion and Modern Humorist). Its tongue-in-cheek take on the news is quite funny; however, the true gems of the site are the funny bone tickling movie reviews of Cap’n Cranky.
Screed All About It
from Philadelphia Weekly
by Katie Haegele (condensed)
In a series of business stories about online media produced last year by NPR’s All Things Considered, correspondent Rick Karr chose Salon as an Internet business “loser” because of its near nonexistent Nasdaq presence. Since then, Salon — the Internet’s most prominent original content site — has had to seek large infusions of cash and beat down rumors of its demise.
Still, word of the death of the Web as a publishing medium has been greatly exaggerated.
In fact, Philadelphia boasts a few independent online publishers that are doing well enough in terms of readership — if not profitability — that their approaches are at least worthy of a closer look. Jeff Lyons, 33-year-old founder and editor of another local site called UsedWigs, says maintaining a clear identity is the key to making a site successful.
“Salon just tried to be too many things,” he says. “Their focus was too expansive. Our site’s tagline is, ‘Where the Focus Is Fuzzy,’ but we do focus,” he says. He defines his site’s focus as “culture-based humor.”
UsedWigs (www.usedwigs.com), which gets between 65,000 and 80,000 page views per month, features parody news pieces (à la The Onion) along with interviews and regular humor columns. Although UsedWigs doesn’t make money, Lyons is hoping to start publishing small books (”pop culture, fun stuff”) under the UsedWigs imprint.
“Hopefully, that might start generating some money.
If not, oh well — I’m still having fun,” he says.
…What makes Crimson and Cherry and UsedWigs appealing to their regular viewers is their grassroots nature. They’re for the people, by the people — but above all for people who like to talk. Word-of-mouth advertising for these sites is worth more than any banner ad.
“I wrote a story titled, “Man Prefers Kiddie Pool Over Beach” about a drunken fat guy hanging in a kiddie pool all day on the lawn of his rental house in Belmar, N.J., instead of going to the beach like everyone else,” says Lyons, citing a story he believes illustrates the infectious nature of online publishing. “It painted an unsavory picture of the summer rental scene in Belmar, my hometown.”
The mayor of Belmar found the article and took action.
He made posters citing the article and eventually passed “Louie’s Law” (named after the character in the story), which banned kiddie pools on the front lawns and side yards of summer rental properties — unless used by “actual children.”
“When the law was passed I was given credit for bringing attention to the problem. We all joked that UsedWigs is now an activist site,” Lyons says.
Politics or humor, revenue-earning or broke as a joke, Richmond, Goldman and Lyons know where their center lies, at least for the time being.
Satire site serves up serious movie reviews
The Toronto Star (condensed)
by Peter Howell
It’s terrible stuffy of me, I know, but I still believe movie critics should actually see the films they’re writing about before scribbling their reviews. Nothing tops experience as an antidote to ignorance. Cap’n Cranky has no such ethical hang-ups. The dyspeptic sea salt writes for the satirical site Used Wigs (http://www.usedwigs.com), and admits his prejudices: “Movies not always seen prior to review.”
“I like movies, I don’t love them,” said the Cap’n, who is Jeff Lyons, a 33-year-old Philadelphian who created and runs the oddly titled Used Wigs site. “With trailers being as long as they are, and pretty much giving away everything, you really don’t need to see the film. You know where it’s going to go.”
Lyons can get away with this because Used Wigs loves to lampoon. Anyone visiting the site knows or should know that their leg is being pulled right out of its socket.
