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October 31, 2003
Web site hits funny bone
The Sweatshop News mocks life and the workplace.
KYLE BERGER REPORTER
Breaking news! In a bid to reclaim its lost stature among young
customers, McDonald's Corp. has signed teenage heartthrob Justin
Timberlake to sing for its new ad campaign. Timberlake is taking
over for Grimace, a large purple milkshake, who was once a well-known
McDonaldland character.
This is the latest according to the Sweatshop News, a new parody-based
Web site created by former Vancouverite Richard Rabkin.
While the Sweatshop News is directed toward poking fun at a variety
of employment issues, it ends up mocking all types of pop-culture,
politics and anything else that might be in the news.
Headlines like "Keebler elf struggles to overcome type-casting
as cracker chef" and "Alan Greenspan sneezes; stock market
crashes" are mixed in with regular features, such as a weekly
advice column for workplace woes and a variety of resumés
from some of the world's more infamous characters.
Rabkin's hope is that when someone gets a little bored at work,
they'll take a break and spend a few minutes laughing at his site.
Rabkin first delved into the world of comedy as a 13-year-old at
Camp Hatikvah's Maccabia Comedy Competition.
"That first year, I won the competition hands down," he
said. "The next year, I almost got kicked out of the camp for
making fun of the camp director and cook. It wasn't pretty."
He did sketch comedy while at Eric Hamber secondary school and was
part of a comedy troupe called Shnitzel while studying at the Hebrew
University of Jerusalem.
When he returned to Vancouver, law school took up the majority of
his time, before he moved to Toronto three years ago to start practising
law.
But he wasn't having enough fun in his career.
"I have enjoyed [being a lawyer], but I realized that lawyers
don't have as much fun in real life as they did on L.A. Law
and Ally McBeal," he said. "So, I decided that
it was time to bring some of the laughter back. I called up some
of my friends from the comedy days, told them about the Sweatshop
News, and what can I say? We just can't stop getting sweaty!
"Jewish people like to laugh," he continued, "I am
Jewish, so I see the Sweatshop News as my religious obligation."
Only three months on the Web, the Sweatshop News has attracted a
lot of attention from various Canadian media outlets.
The Canadian Press, CBC Radio and McLean's magazine have
all featured the site.
Though all the media coverage has helped the Sweatshop News receive
approximately 20,000 hits each week, Rabkin is still waiting for
the ultimate symbol of success.
"To be honest, my parents won't think that I've achieved anything
until we make it into the Jewish Western Bulletin,"
he said.
Rabkin, who visits Vancouver on a regular basis as a volunteer advisor
for the National Conference of Synagogue Youth based out of Schara
Tzedeck Synagogue, hopes that anyone looking for some entertainment
will enjoy the Sweatshop News. But he knows that his target market
is the 20- to 40-year-old demographic.
"I say that so all of my friends' mothers won't go check out
the Web site and say, 'This Richard Rabkin boy used to be so nice,
but now he's lost his mind! Have you seen his crazy Web site?' "
he said. "It's OK if you don't get the humor, Mrs. Finklestein.
Your kids get it."
Weekly updates can be found online at www.sweatshopnews.com.
Kyle Berger is a freelance journalist and graphic designer
living in Richmond.
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