Finally, a chance to get that coffee book (and perhaps that coffee table) that your dad always wanted you to have.
Comics Sam Reece, Mark Vigeant and Drew Luster want to adorn your coffee table with "Dad Poems" in a book they've titled Leaves of Grass I Trimmed With My Mower.
[seealso slug="no-pants-subway-ride-improv-everywhere-nyc"]
While Luster is responsible for the design of the book and its graphics, Reece and Vigeant -- both Upright Citizens Brigade performers -- started this project out by reciting their original dad poems onstage.
"The bits went over so well that we started performing these characters and their poems at various shows all over NYC, and eventually this lead to the idea of making a coffee table book of the poems," Reece told Mashable in an email.
The duo decided to create a Kickstarter campaign to make the book happen.
"We got really excited about the idea of creating a physical book instead of a web series 103 people will watch," Reece said. "If you give money, you get a book. We think that's really cool."
Reece and Vigeant may be going the paper route but that didn't stop them from creating a video to introduce the masses to America's new favorite dad.
"Dad humor is pervasive in middle class suburban America. It's almost like there's a switch that turns on when a man becomes a dad or a secret rulebook all dads follow when making jokes," Reece told Mashable when asked about the inspiration behind the project. "It's a consistent humor almost everyone can relate no matter where you're from or what you do."
Reece and Vigeant wrote the poems in the voices of their dad characters whom they've named Zeke and Ralph.
I am a Better Man Than Ken, my Neighbor
He works in the city
He stays out late
He has a short
but confident gait
He has 3 cars
and a big garage
His wife is pretty
as a mirage
He's got a tiny dick
I hate his guts
It felt so good
to punch his fat dumb head when he yelled at my son Brian for "stepping on his side of the mulch" I'd do it again
Zeke and Ralph are just "a couple of dads who 'had a really great year' and decided to 'make art' as a result," says Reece.
Mom’s Cooking
My son's birthday is the first of July
Turning 31, he's a real grown up guy
Plays guitar, knows his way round a kitchen
His favorite food is his mom's because he lives with us still
While Reece and Vigeant have reached their original goal on Kickstarter, they are now working toward a higher budget to make an even better book.
"We doubled our goal in the first 12 hours of the campaign, so now we have to actually make this thing!! Although (realistically) it's terrifying, we're absolutely shooting to make our $1 Million stretch goal so everyone who purchased a book ALSO gets a coffee table to put the book on," Reece jokes in her email.
Realistically, they're hoping to raise enough funds to various versions of the book, such as an audio version for those dads out there who might be losing their hearing.
The Ladder
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7-
Climbing up my ladder towards the heavens.
8 and 9, 10, 11-
Ok fine it's not MY ladder it's my neighbor Kevin's.
12, 13, 14, 15, 16-
Is this how that one guy painted the sistine?
17, 18, 19, 20-
Ok this ladder isn't tall enough to reach the roof.
Here's hoping Zeke and Ralph will inspire real suburban dads to embrace art and start creating things other than babies and bad puns.