He’s an informed observer who pores over both the minutiae and absurdity of campus life.  Nothing is off limits for Jack Zinsser. 

The Tulane University senior has spent the past three semesters producing content for his satirical newspaper, The Hubbalagoo. Initially designed as a simple hobby to share amongst his friends, Zinsser’s project has grown quite exponentially. Nowadays, his humorous insert is nestled in every print copy of The Tulane Hullabaloo. 

This level of exposure caught Zinsser by surprise, and he said he never anticipated the reception he’d receive.

The genesis of The Hubbalagoo started with the name before anything else. In December 2022, Zinsser was marveling at the relative unseriousness of the established word “hullabaloo” that occupies Tulane consciousness all too much. He imagined an even more ridiculous title — “hubbalagoo” — and decided to attach similarly ludicrous content to it. 

“I wanted it to be more of a prank than anything else. Like to be a one time thing, right?” he said. Over the next couple of months, Zinsser used his boredom to his advantage and started writing gag headlines to see what stuck. 

“I make an observation, like how excessive the pledge process is, then try to heighten that observation to something more ridiculous,” Zinsser said, describing his creative process. “Other times things are just funny because they’re funny. Either they sound or read funny by themselves, or it just evokes a silly idea.” 

The senior is a transfer student and arrived at Tulane his junior year. His experience at his former institution allows him to see the unique dynamics of this school. Plus, he has his friends to bounce ideas off of. Zinsser runs jokes past Nick David for appeal and Natalie Maher acts as the Hubbalagoo’s unofficial editor-in-chief. 

The satire insert’s first trial run was planned over Christmas break and started in the spring of 2023. Zinsser conducted the layout in Adobe Photoshop and printed around 10 copies, planting them in innocuous spaces around campus. 

After experiencing little traction, he put the project on hold. But in the fall of 2023, a new opportunity materialized. Word of a possible saltwater intrusion spread around New Orleans, drawing concerns from locals and students alike. For Zinsser, it elicited a different response. “I thought it had a lot of potential for being funny. It just struck me as something that had a lot of meat in it. So, I drafted the second one.”

The second issue of The Hubbalagoo, themed around the unusual environmental phenomenon, proved to be a hit. Zinsser had distributed copies amongst his friends and classmates who raved about his dry, no-holds-barred style of headlines. Even a professor reached out to express their amusement with the paper. This was all the confirmation Zinsser needed to keep going. 

“I really respected the opinions of all those people,” he said. “Initially, I felt that people who happened to read it wouldn’t really get it or find what I was going for funny. I thought ‘Oh, if I could reach these types of people that got what I was going for, that’s enough for me.’”

Zinsser’s big break occurred when he placed a copy of The Hubbalagoo on top of a stack of Hullabaloo papers. Initially done as a subversive dig at the older newspaper, the move drew the attention of those on The Hullabaloo’s staff. The newsroom enjoyed the witty content, so digital director Hannah Levitan reached out to form a partnership. Now, as the school year comes to a close, the alliance is the strongest it’s been.

For those who haven’t had the privilege to read the outstanding work produced by Zinsser, The Hubbalagoo’s humor stays cerebral — even the most nonsensical headlines punch above their weight. 

A perfect example is the aforementioned “Pledge explodes” from March 1. At first glance, it might look like an impossible situation conjured up as a throwaway laugh. However, the two-word headline pokes fun at Tulane’s social scene, namely the ridiculousness that surrounds pledging a fraternity. The blasé reporting style of such an extreme event satirizes the similarly indifferent response to hazing amongst the student body. These things are baked into Tulane and college culture as a whole, so a send-up of this proves relatable to his demographic. 

Zinsser thanked his parents for letting him watch “The Simpsons,” “Seinfeld,” “Spongebob Squarepants,” David Letterman and Conan O’Brien while growing up, believing that to play a part in his comedic development. His mother even lends The Hubbalagoo a hand, drawing various comics that appear in the print.

As his time at Tulane comes to a close, Zinsser considers The Hubbalagoo a success. When asked about his plans for the publication after graduation, he expressed that a contingency plan was in the works. 

“People have contacted me trying to work for me and stuff which is very flattering, but I’d like to give it to a small group of people and hope they can keep giving it to small groups of people. I want to keep its original character of being this smaller, non-affiliated, independent thing. I’m sure it will eventually disappear very soon, but I’d be sick if it became a campus organization like improv or sketch where people sign up and try out, I always thought those people were annoying.”