Dylan Gadino, Editor in Chief of Punchline Magazine, delighted several Bastion readers a few weeks ago by awarding them free tickets to the Todd Barry show at the Lakeshore Theater, and further delighted the Bastion by offering us tickets as well, and talking shop with us at the show. Punchline and the Lakeshore seem to have established a nice working relationship, and we decided to ask Dylan a few questions about all of this comedy business and see what kind of awesome swag we can hope to mooch from them in the future.

What's Punchline Magazine all about, and how did it get started?

Punchline Magazine was started by myself and Bill Bergmann, who’s a childhood friend. We grew up on the same street. He does all the design and infrastructure. He’s the reason it looks the way it does. I run all the editorial components of the magazine. I came up with idea years ago but only really started to try to make it work within the last three years. It officially launched September 15, 2005.

We’re covering stand-up comedy the way other forms of art and entertainment has been covered for years. We launched it in response to the severe lack of comedy coverage in print or online. There’s a few great comedy blogs online as well as a few great message board comedy communities and they’re excellent resources. But there’s really no one-stop shopping place online where the national stand-up comedy scene is covered the way we’re doing it.

We operate like a traditional consumer magazine with artist interviews, features, profiles as well as CD, DVD and live reviews. And at the same time we have other elements that web surfers enjoy, like a blog and message board and videos.

The other thing. We don’t play favorites. We’re a magazine— not a blog or a fan site. That means we’re happy to interview Larry the Cable guy as well as comics like Louis CK, David Cross, Marc Maron, Dane Cook, Carlos Mencia, etc…

What are your favorite dumb comments or questions you get when people hear that you work for a comedy magazine?

I don’t really get too many dumb comments or questions. But the overriding assumption from non comedians is that the comics we interview are really funny off stage, which, during the course of an interview, is rarely the case. And then some comics I’ve interviewed have made comments like, “oh, man… your job must be hell.” Which I think is hilarious because they’re admitting that comics are a bunch of psychos. So somewhere between comics being happy go lucky clowns and psychos, the truth lies I suppose.

Can you give us a brief history of your personal comedy fandom?

The first comedy I saw was Bill Cosby Himself. When I watch it today, it’s still one of the best pieces of stand-up I’ve ever seen. From there I got really into george carlin in 7th and 8th grade. During that time I dabbled in Kinison, Dice, Bob Nelson and eventually when I got a little older Brian Regan. I think Regan’s the one that made me start seeking out new comics so I started taping Comedy Central Presents episodes: I’ve since lost it, but I had a killer collection with some of my favorites: Greg Giraldo, Nick Swardson, Zach Galifianakis. Now I’m into all kinds of stuff.

What are some of your favorite misspellings of your last name? Has anyone ever been so dumb as to go for "Paladino?" ::wink::

Don’t feel bad. ABCNews online spelled it Gaudino. And for some reason, people love sticking an “r” before the “d.”

How did Punchline meet the Lakeshore Theater? Was it like a romantic comedy "meet cute?" How did you decide what sort of partnership to strike up, and what's the future hold for the two of you?

Well a few months ago, Ritter and Scott got in touch with me and said they really liked what punchline magazine was doing and who we were covering. They wanted to know how they could work with us. So I suggested that Punchline Magazine could sponsor some Lakeshore Shows. They suggested the (at the time) upcoming Todd Barry show and I thought that was a great fit. We’re in the process right now of trying find another well-fit show for Punchline Magazine to sponsor.

We met some of you Punchline kids when you were at the Lakeshore for the Todd Barry show. What do you do to get the most out Chicago when you're here for less than 24 hours, and how often do you plan to come back?

For the Todd Barry show we were here 21 hours. I walked around the art fair, ate at two of your diners. And by the way, I grew up and live in the diner capital of the country (North Jersey) I gotta say, Chicago’s got some tasty friggin' diners— or two at least. I took a cab to another part of town—I don’t know much about Chicago. I suppose it was more of the business district. I had a lunch meeting there. I guess I didn’t do anything too exciting. I’m hoping to get back early next year but at the same time, I’ve heard horror stories about your winters.

Common misperception. Actually, Chicago winters average about 75 degrees, and are always delightfully sunny. And candy falls off the trees in mid-March, which is pretty swell. Beat that, sophisticated coastal cities! Anyway, what else does Punchline do around the States? Do you visit other cities as well? Tell us the truth, we're your favorites, right?

We’re working on getting out to some other cities. I can’t mention them, else I’d have to kill you. But yes, Chicago’s my favorite, besides New York, of course…and maybe San Francisco. You’re for sure top three! Honestly, from what I saw Chicago’s pretty awesome.

You helped us make several Bastion readers happy with free Todd Barry tickets not long ago. Can our readers hope to grab more great swag from you in the future?

Yes! They need to go here.

What's funnier: seltzer or pies?

There’s nothing funny about either of these things. Though I do enjoy a nice cold seltzer and pies are delicious.

Who's funnier: Trey or Matt?

I’ll go with Trey.

What’s cooler: print or online mags?

Online, of course.

Yeah! And, finally, the question on everyone's mind, who has cuter hair: the Bastion or The Apiary?

Dude. The Bastion, no doubt. But I have to wonder why you didn’t even mention The Coming. Why do you hate LA?

Actually, it's not so much that we hate LA, it's just that we've never met LA, and we don't have any idea what his hair looks like.

- Elizabeth McQuern