John Swift is in a cagey mood when reached for a phone interview with the Courier.
For starters, his name is not John Swift. He won’t reveal how old he is (“less than 50” is all he’ll say), and he’s originally from “out east somewhere.” Swift does, however, note that he lives in downtown Vancouver.
He wants to keep things tight to the vest so no one knows who’s behind a satirical website that popped up in mid-April called The Vancouver Glass.
“I always like a new creative outlet, so I put together as many fun photos and headlines I could think of, and before long I had half a website’s worth of material,” Swift said. “I just ran with it.”
Swift’s offerings ironically point out aspects of life in the city that are uniquely Vancouver. Each article is based entirely around a catchy headline, followed by a Photoshopped image and a couple paragraphs of text.
His first entry in April set the stage for every entry that followed. Some of the text accompanying “Last Thing Vancouver Needs is Satire Paper” reads:
“Unfortunately helpful skills are very difficult to come by and ignoring the needs of the city is pretty darn easy. This leaves us with an assortment of well thought out headlines and slapped together articles hoping to get a laugh.”
Swift says he has no experience in journalism, publishing or photography. He does have some background in comedy and intends for his site to serve as an online portfolio should he want to pursue comedy full time.
Having lived in Vancouver for five years, Swift takes on cyclists, coffee culture, yoga and the B.C. Lions, among other targets. His headline “Literacy Rates Amongst Cyclists At All Time Low” is accompanied by a picture of bike riders riding by a city sign asking cyclists to dismount.
Swift’s entry “How to Cope With Friends Moving to New West” is at least somewhat based on his life experiences.
“That one took off,” he said. “I thought that was just me but apparently it’s not just me. We all kind of share an experience living in Vancouver and anything I experience I guess other people are experiencing too.”
He specifically stays clear of politics and avoids reading other satire sites like the Syrup Trap or the Onion. Admittedly, Swift prefers softer targets.
“I’ll let the pros handle the political satire. I’ll handle the fact that literacy rates among cyclists are at an all-time low or something to that effect.”
Swift’s offerings can be viewed online at thevancouverglass.com.
