"The New Yorker" at 100 [plus: "Saturday Night Live" at 50, "Survivor" at 25]

One hundred years ago today, my life changed...

That’s the day the first issue of The New Yorker came out. 

I wasn’t there, of course.

But when I eventually did come around, the magazine became a consistent influence on me.

It first made my acquaintance in my dentist’s waiting room when I was 15. Already a hardcore comic book and comic strip guy, I was immediately smitten by the single-panel gag cartoons. I couldn’t get enough of them. 

I liked the covers, too—alternately wistful, whimsical, or arresting. Almost always transporting. I even got a hefty coffee table book compilation of every cover from 1925 to 1989 and pored over it.

I couldn’t care less about the articles.

While other boys my age hung posters of metal bands and girls in swimsuits, I decorated my room with covers of a magazine that was already a senior citizen. 

I continued this into college, at one pointing even taping some on my ceiling; you can catch a glimpse here:

Also in college, I wrote a paper about the journalism and writing style of The New Yorker and drew what I thought were New Yorker-style gags for my college humor mag. 

[referencing the then-fairly-fresh-in-mind 

1988 movie The Last Temptation of Christ]

I also submitted some of those cartoons to the legendarily competitive New Yorker and was excited to get rejected. Okay, “excited” is the wrong word. It’s just that rejection is closer to acceptance than never trying.

For several years after college, I managed to hold on to the student subscription rate—only $20 a year for a weekly magazine! 

I finally noticed the articles in between the cartoons, and read some. 

I also attended an event where I got to meet some of the cartoonists and get a book signed. I told Bob Mankoff that my name was “Marc with a ‘c’,” and his response did not miss a b(eat). 

In 1998, it was time: I began regularly submitting batches of ten cartoons to the magazine. My strategy: create 100 before sending round 1 so when the inevitable rejection came, I would have enough “inventory” so as not to be deterred. I made copies at Kinko’s and included a SASE. So 20th century.

By 2001, I got to the point where I was invited to come to “Look Day”—the morning once a week [at the time, it was always a Tuesday] when select cartoonists showed their ideas to the cartoon editor at the New Yorker office in person, then went out to lunch as a group to commiserate about all the brilliant ones he passed on. Once in July 2001, then over a four-month period starting in February 2002, I met with Mankoff, then the cartoon editor, 12 intimidating times. 

I never sold one, but did get a coveted rejection folder on site. I still kick myself that I never took a photo of it, or of any of the lunch gatherings. [This was all pre-iPhone.]

Those lunches included maybe a couple of others in the 20s-to-40s range and a preponderance of alter kakers who welcomed a wannabe who had not published even a single cartoon in the mag.

I did sell to scores of other publications, so all was not for naught. 

I haven’t hung covers in years but I still subscribe to the print edition to save the ones I like.

One day, I’ll submit cartoons again.

And when I do, I will definitely take a photo of my rejection folder.

This same week The New Yorker was toasting its centennial, another Manhattan humor institution was celebrating its 50th: Saturday Night Live. It, too, has had a significant influence on me going back to high school. 

Twice for BBYO [Jewish teen youth group] talent shows, my friends and I did our own version of “Weekend Update.” 

Around the same time, one of those friends and I attended a comedy show of Dana Carvey, Dennis Miller, and Jon Lovitz—and we brought our own material in case they asked for audience volunteers to come on stage and do a short routine. [Uh, they didn’t.]

All these years later, I still haven’t hosted SNL or sold a cartoon to TNY. I wasn’t even invited to attend the SNL 50th anniversary special. But being a lifelong fan is its own reward.

P.S. Survivor, which turns 25 this year, has also inspired me.

Visiting “Survivor Island,” Pulau Tiga, Malaysia

Part of a series: Asia, March 2023:

• Taiwan—Taipei American School 
• Malaysia—EARCOS conference (Kota Kinabalu)
• Malaysia—Survivor Island (Borneo)
• Cambodia—schools and history in Phnom Penh
• Cambodia—Siem Reap
• Cambodia—Angkor Wat/other temples

I’ve watched every episode of the U.S. version of Survivor. It debuted in 2000, and, except for fall 2020 and spring 2021 (for the obvious reason), has aired continuously since. 

I planned not one but two Survivor-themed birthday parties for my daughter (age 10 and 12).

Yet I did not know till I landed in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia to present at a conference how close I’d be to Survivor history. 

In the short ride from the airport to the hotel, I heard or saw the word “Borneo” and my geography-challenged brain caught up. 

Borneo is an island split among a trio of countries: Malaysia (including Kota Kinabalu), Brunei, and Indonesia. (The only one of the three that exists solely on Borneo is Brunei.) 

Borneo—specifically a smaller island orbiting Borneo called Pulau Tiga—was the setting for the game-changing first U.S. season of Survivor.

And Pulau Tiga was only 2.5 hours away from my KK hotel (two hours by car + 30 minutes by boat).

That meant I was going there, somehow.

I had only one available day—Saturday 3/25/23—and only the two days prior to arrange it.

Even when the first half-dozen tour companies I contacted said they currently don’t offer trips to Pulau Tiga, even when I was told that the one resort on the island had closed during the pandemic (which I guess was the explanation for why tours were no longer going there), even when multiple concierges at my hotel were unsuccessful in helping, I was undeterred. 

(I would soon learn that there are at least two resorts there, both open.)

Thanks to intrepid traveloguer Justin Walter for trying to help me find a way there. (His own trip to Pulau Tiga in 2015 included some especially enviable moments.) 

I went to bed early Friday night, not knowing if any plan would come together but wanting to be rested if it did. 

I woke at 6 am and began my last-ditch attempts to make this happen. The kind driver who’d taken me to the hotel the first night connected me with someone named Alex, and thanks to Alex, I found both a ride to the jetty and a boat to the island. I set out before 9 am, almost as excited as if I was going to be on the show.

Almost immediately after we began to drive from Kota Kinabalu to the Kuala Penyu jetty, the driver I’d hired, Fitri, said he’d like to accompany me to the island. I said if the boat operator was okay with it, I’d be okay with it. He was a friendly person and offered to take photos for me, which is merciful for anyone reading this post because it means fewer selfies. He also spoke English, which was allayed some concern because I was told the boat operator—nickname PP—may not. (Turns out he did.)

Another small point of concern: because it was Ramadan (day 3), Fitri would not eat till after sunset. By his own admission, he could get woozier as the day went on. At the same time, he told me not to worry. Early in the drive, he said he was at about 90%. 

Yet another concern: multiple user reviews online said the landing beach was dirty—littered with plastic and other trash that had washed up. I was relieved to see that was not the case—perhaps those who work on the island now do a better job keeping it clean than when those reviews were posted, or perhaps those reviews were inaccurate.

Seeing the island loom and first stepping foot there were instant life highlights for this pop culture archaeologist.

I managed to miss not one but three animals that I have never seen in person: a whale shark as we drove to the island, a green (non-venomous) snake on the island, and a monitor lizard on the jetty upon our return. The whale shark went in a different direction and the other two split when they saw humans but before this human saw them.

Roughly halfway through my exploration, Fitri said he was then at 60%. But he rallied and we made it back without incident. 

This ended up being the priciest of the seven day excursions (Taiwan: Yangmingshan, Taroko, JCC, Tianmu Trail; Malaysia: this; Cambodia: Killing Fields, Angkor Wat/temples) during my three weeks in Asia; the cost breakdown, in ringgits:

• 10 tip for concierge
• 450 taxi
• 110 tip for taxi driver
• 1000 boat
• 50 tip for boat operator
• 10 entrance to the area with volcanic mud
• 20 conservation fee

This equals about $375. And totally worth it.

Only after my trip did I find out that Alex worked on season 1 of Survivor. Naturally I sent him a bunch of questions, and if he answers any, I may share that here.

The illustrated highlights:

King of the world. Wait, wrong cultural touchstone.

Meet Fitri, driver and fellow explorer.

Yes, I had to document the sign in multiple ways. 
(It obviously was not even there when the contestants were.)

start of the path to the volcanic mud,

which some Survivors rolled around in

new volcanic mud bath survivors

newly formed mud eruption

(hard to gauge scale in this photo, but it is fairly small)

Here stood the first Tribal Council:

No trace of the set now, except perhaps a certain tree that only the most fervent of fans would pinpoint. The walk from the camps to here would have taken an estimated hour and a half.

The Survivor crew spent about four months on the island. After they cleared out in 2000, their quarters were converted to a resort, which has since closed. But others have risen elsewhere on the island, while the ruins of this one beckon intrepid explorers—and bats. (If this was in my neck of the world, it would surely be fenced off or demolished. Some of the floors had rotted and could easily give out from under you.)

once a game/karaoke room

abandoned keys were everywhere

Meet boat operator PP.

Tagi Beach, home to one of the two season 1 tribes

(including eventual winner Richard Hatch)

Squint Eastwood.

reviewing the day with PP and Fitri

voted off the island

So long, Survivor Island, birthplace of a phenomenon.

"Survivor"-themed 12th birthday party

Twelve 12-year-olds.

Nine challenges.

Four hours.

One Survivor!

plates for eating large or small pig snouts

For the second time, we threw our daughter a Survivor-themed birthday party.

I thought the planning would be easier because I already had a blueprint from two years ago, and that did help, but I couldn't simply rinse and repeat. First of all, the participants were two years older so some challenges had to be a bit harder. Second, seven of the twelve participants had played the first time and I wanted to give them a different experience.

Of the nine challenges, five were new. Of the five new, two were multi-step.

The day ended up being quite a bit more humid this time (so we skipped applying tribal face paint), but luckily the threat of a thunderstorm evaporated.

Also this time, the girls were considerably savvier. They made valuable suggestions on how to improve the game. For example, they advised me to shuffle the votes before reading them to prevent players from figuring out who voted for whom.

Last time I forgot to tell the girls about the hidden immunity idol (but one found it anyway).

This time I forgot to take a photo of the rewards, which included a Survivor board game, Survivor-style middle grade novels by Jeff Probst and Chris Tebbetts (signed by Chris!), and a disposable underwater camera (which will require the winner to get photos developed the old-fashioned way for the first time in her life).

See the recap from last time for the overall structure and fun details.

See here for highlights from this time:

 blue (water) tribe, which they named Einhorn

(tribe names could not be an English word;

"einhorn" means "unicorn" in German)

  orange (fire) tribe, which they named Bae

("poop" in Danish)

 tribal council
(tiki torches were on site—see previous photo—but 

not snuffed out for each person voted out; 

they looked too cool lit)

 voting table; can you spot the hidden immunity idol?

 there it is

 tribe and individual immunity, same as last time

(both from Guam, my first international author trip)

 table for water and two individual challenges

 dinner and Survivor clips so they know 

what they're getting into

 challenge 1: communication; 

tribes had to complete five tasks without talking; 

winner was the tribe that was faster three out of five times; 

here they're building a human pyramid;

other tasks: put yourselves in order of birth date
(month/day only), then house number

 using their bodies to spell out answer to question

"What day in June marks the end of school?"

 tribal council

 voting

 challenge 2: coordination;

one Survivor had to assemble a cardboard box, 

then rest of the tribe had to pass five tribe-colored popsicle sticks 

down the line one at a time and drop them in the box—
without using their hands;

if box assembler couldn't finish it, she could tag in someone else—

but they'd have to add a sixth stick

 challenge 3: aim;

tribes had to complete three challenges that required aim;

winner was the tribe that was faster two out of three times;

here they are on second-floor deck trying to throw a cardboard roll 

into the relatively small opening of a patio umbrella cover 

held by their tribemates below 

(each tribe member had to get it in once)

 challenge 4: puzzle;

a repeat from the first time, and a personal favorite;

 tribes had to complete identical, 100-piece, jungle-themed puzzles;

only when they got to the end could they tell that one piece was missing;

to win, they had to find the piece, hidden somewhere in the yard

(some players remembered from last time that there was a hidden piece

but still had to complete 99 pieces before searching)

 I did not hide the same piece from each puzzle so a tribe

might find and try to use the wrong piece (which did indeed happen);

however, one piece I hid was mostly green and the other had some blue,

so the girls rightfully pointed out that this was not fair because

the blue one was easier to spot

challenge 5 (first individual challenge): unusual food;

round 1: rhubarb/fish sauce/curry powder mixture;

round 2: anchovies;

round 3 (same as last time): crickets; yes, bugs 

(but bugs that are flavored and sold in candy stores)

 tribal council tiebreaker: walk while balancing a cup of water

(thought up on the spot; we had no ties last time 

and I didn't expect any this time)

 the only snag (literally): the individual immunity idol necklace

got stuck in the hair of one Survivor;

another Survivor rescued her

challenge 6 (no photo): knowledge/deduction;

 I asked series of Survivor-related true or false questions; 

Survivors who thought the answer was true moved to my left,

false to my right;

the process of elimination was fairly quick (on the second question!)

 challenge 7: strength/stamina;

Survivors had to hold themselves up by one arm

 challenge 8: balance;

Survivors had to stack candy hearts; 

winner was Survivor who stacked the most (but it was not a race); 

prior to this, the highest I'd seen was 11; 

here, one Survivor (who had already been voted out, unfortunately)

stacked 23!

 challenge 9: memory;

I showed Survivors a sequence of island-related images

(palm tree, turtle, campfire, footprint, shell, spear, skull); 

they had to recreate the order with their matching set;

I started with sequences of four and worked up to seven

 final three (the winner is on the right)

Fierce competitors!

Girl power!

Survivors all!