Behind The Page:

In this interview "Behind the Page" travels to Australia for a visit with Daniel Bowen, author and publisher of "The Toxic Custard Workshop Files" (TCWF). Daniel resides in Melbourne with his family and was born in Sydney, though rarely admits it. A computer analyst, programmer, and webmaster, he describes TCWF as a hobby that has gotten out of hand.

The extremely popular site has been on-line for almost two years and boasts 1500 hits a week from about 200 visitors. The email edition currently has over 1000 subscribers with a growth rate of about a dozen a week.

Comedy Zone: Thanks for joining us Daniel. Do you mind me calling you Daniel?

Daniel Bowen: Well, I'd prefer Daniel to "you revolting pile of excrement" or something equally abusive.

CZ: The name "Toxic Custard" is unusual. Is there a story behind it?

DB: Way back in the dim distant past, in my last year of high school, a few friends were kicking around the idea of doing an amateur TV comedy sketch show. We didn't get very far with the idea, but one thing we did settle on was the name Toxic Custard Workshop Files - to be accompanied by images of people in darkened rooms ploughing into huge bowls of bright yellow custard.

CZ: So what led you to publishing and producing the web page?

DB: It started out as a mailing list back in 1990 when I was at university. We'd all just discovered email, and a friend of mine (Ray) had the idea of having a regular comedy mailing list. I and another friend (Brian) stole this idea... and I ended up writing Toxic Custard. Brian wrote a space comedy called Rocket Roger... and curiously enough, Ray ended up writing nothing at all.

Rocket Roger has passed by the wayside, but Toxic Custard keeps going. It turned into a Web page about three years ago when a guy in Greece volunteered to host it for me. Last year I splashed out and got it its own domain name (toxiccustard.com)

Now when friends ask me what it's all about, I just tell them "it's a hobby that got out of hand."

CZ: And interesting enough, the domain is hosted here in Florida. With all the sections of the Toxic Custard web page, along with the Workshop Files "newsletter," where do you find the time?

DB: This is a question which would probably have the world's leading physicists baffled. I don't know. In between working as a computer programmer, keeping a family and maintaining a generally acceptable level of personal hygiene, I hardly have time to scratch my nose, let alone keep a web site going.

I manage it by putting aside a few hours at the weekend to write and edit new material. Usually I write on Sunday and Monday nights, with each issue going out around 10pm Monday. Most of the other sections on the web site are re-worked from my older material.

CZ: So I take it that you are the sole driving force behind the web site and newsletter?

DB: Just about. I think there's two main reasons that I keep at it - one is that I enjoy writing it, and the other is that I know people enjoy reading it. That makes it all worthwhile.

CZ: Where does most of your material originate from?

DB: In the early days when I was at University, it was a good deal more off-the-wall and wacky than it is now. These days it's mostly based on things that happen to me. During a typical writing session I'll just think about the stupid events in my life that week, and try and write it in as interesting a way as possible.

CZ: You have quite an international readership. Do you get a great deal of feedback?

DB: About 20-30 emails every week, from various countries around the world. I read it all, though I often don't get around to sending any kind of coherent reply.

Most of the mail is favourable... many people write saying things like "yeah, that happened to me", which is good: It's always nice to know that I'm not slowly going crazy and writing about weird things that nobody else can relate to.

Occasionally I'll get mail from someone I used to know, who's popped up on the Net and taken a look around for friends. I always make a point to write back to them - especially if I think they might owe me money.

CZ: A smart move! What country are most of your readers from?

DB: Most are from Australia. I suspect that the things I talk about, Australians can relate to better than anybody else, though a lot of things are probably the same anywhere in the western world. Second highest ranking country is the United States. This I attribute to the Crocodile Dundee factor - the odd interest that people in the USA have had in Australia since the 1980s.

CZ: You seem to get a number of questions about Australia. In fact you have a whole section, "The Toxic Custard Guide to Australia" devoted to it. Do some of the questions surprise you?

DB: I get the occasional oddball who asks something really, and I mean *really* obscure. Something that I can't make head or tail of, let alone answer. But the Guide to Australia is going well. I don't have the time or space to answer all the questions, but hopefully people find it useful as well as entertaining.

CZ: Speaking of the USA. You have a section that highlights your USA holiday. Was this your first trip to the US? How do you compare it to Australia?

DB: It's absolutely the same, except for the bits that are different. And if anybody's wondering - no, the Outback Steakhouse is nothing like any restaurant I've come across in Australia.

CZ: Where do you see Toxic Custard going in the months to come?

DB: I'm always looking out for the elusive chance to get some of the stuff I've written published in ink on a dead tree. Preferably in exchange for large amounts of cash.

But in the mean time, I'll keep expanding the Toxic Custard site with material, and writing every week. The readership is steadily building up. I find it gratifying that so many people are choosing to waste their time at the site.

CZ: Do you ever get complaints about the web site or newsletter content?

DB: Occasionally. For me the most memorable was the time I did a parody of the KKK, called the FFF. (I'll leave you to deduce what the F's stand for).

Anyway, someone took the time to type up and post several paragraphs worth of complaints about it being racist, obviously without taking a few seconds to read it and realise that it was making fun of racists.

CZ: One of my favorite time wasting sections, is the "Toxic History of the World." Are there any sections or articles you are especially proud of?

DB: The things I like best are those that I can go back to after a year or two, and they make me laugh. The Toxic History Of The World certainly falls into that category. That took about a year to write in its entirety.

The Doctor Who parody ("Revenge of the Unrealistatrons") also makes me laugh a lot when I read it. I've been a Doctor Who fan for ages, and I think that it really captures the adventure, the danger, and the cheapness of the show.

CZ: What does your wife think of Toxic Custard?

DB: I'll let her answer that for herself! ---

Lori Bowen: Wife here. I think Toxic Custard is dangerous. Six years ago I was in Seattle, minding my own business, when Toxic Custard turned up on my monitor, unbidden. The addictive properties of Toxic Custard proved to be nearly as powerful as those of caffeine or chocolate. It has taken over my mind, causing me to leave my home and family, and come to Australia to live among the beer-swilling, tanned kangaroos who go surfing every day. (If there's a down side to that, I'm not sure what it is.)

CZ: Hopefully all the readers will take heed of that warning! Lori, since moving to Australia, is there anything "American" that you miss?

LB: Starbuck's coffee and Q-tips.

CZ: Didn't mean to ignore you Daniel, but here's the big question. Has the fame and fortune of TCWF changed your life?

DB: Not really, and if anybody who tells you otherwise then I'll get my teams of lawyers to give them a good going over.

CZ: Are there any favorite web sites you frequent?

DB: Funnily enough, I don't get time to do a lot of surfing. But given that it's the computer industry that pays my bills, I tend to try and keep up to date with the computer news - so http://www.cnet.com and http://www.news.com get plenty of visits.

And... umm... My wife and I love looking up movie trivia, so the Internet Movie Database (http://www.imdb.com) picks up a few hits from there.

As far as other humour goes, I get Greg Bulmash's regular column by email (http:.//www.bulmash.com) and I try and read Dilbert every day (http://www.unitedmedia.com), since none of the local newspapers get it daily.

Most of the other web sites I visit regularly are far too nerdy and boring to be of interest to anyone else!

CZ: Those are all great sites. A big thanks for joining us, Daniel and Lori. Any final words or plugs?

LB: Zythum.

DB: Readers, the next time you have a few minutes to waste, dive into the Toxic Custard site. And look out for my next project, I'm starting my own cult. It's called "The Order Of The Skint", and involves sending me lots of money.

Publishers, take a look, and if you feel the need to send me large amounts of money to print some of my material, don't hold back!

You can visit the TCWF at http://www.toxiccustard.com. Daniel Bowen can be reached at dbowen@toxiccustard.com, Phone (0419) 353 446 - Int'l +61-419 353 446.