/Interview/ The Brains Behind: The Best Page In The Universe
14/07/2006 | Filed under Discover > Interview
Self-proclaimed pirate Maddox created The Best Page In The Universe (www.maddox.xmission.com) in a quest to shock the world. As popular as it is notorious, it’s banned in four countries, and now Maddox has released his first novel…
.net: Why is it the ‘best page in the universe’?
M: I don’t want to get all preachy, but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t prophesied.
.net: What inspired you to build the site?
M: I used to hang out on an online chat server for programmers, and they noticed I bitched a lot. They thought some of it was pretty funny, so I wrote up a list of 50 things that piss me off, and it got a great response. I had free web space with my ISP account and one of my friends was dabbling with vegetarianism, so I continued my efforts there mostly to spite my friend.
M: The same thing every American wants: a solid base of quasi-militant fans and a media empire. The rest of the plan is secret.
.net: What was the reaction to the first version back in 1997?
M: I get a steady stream of about 90 to 95 per cent fan mail. People have been bitching lately because I haven’t updated in a while and they’re going through withdrawals, but most of that time has gone into my book.
.net: How much hate mail do you get? What annoys people about your site?
M: I guess I answered that in my response to the last question, but in case some of the readers aren’t math majors like me, about five to ten per cent. My inbox has about 60,000 unread messages in it right now, dating back to 2004. I have another 75,000 unread in archive somewhere. Most of the hate mail I get these days is fake. I can tell a fake one usually by the time I’m done reading the second word.
.net: How do you explain your cult following?
M: I’ve kept my promise to my fans from the beginning. I haven’t sold out and put ads on my site, even though I could be making $12,000 per month. Ads cause self-censorship and I’m above it.
.net: How has your life changed since you started The Best Page In The Universe?
M: I’ve gone from a fat, balding guy working in a cold apartment to becoming a fat, balding guy working in a cold apartment with fan mail.
.net: We love pirates. Have you got anything to do with the Flying Spaghetti Monster?
M: I’ve talked with its creator, Bobby Henderson, a few times. He’s a really solid guy. I have nothing to do with the site, though. We almost signed with the same publishing house.
.net: You seem like an angry man. Why do you take the mickey out of so many things?
M: You almost make it sound like it’s a bad thing. Saying that I hate a lot of stuff, or that I’m angry about a lot of stuff is a pessimistic way of looking at things. I prefer to say that I love to hate. I love to be angry. Anger is joy.
.net: Why is your site’s layout so minimalist?
M: Why not? I don’t know how adding anything could make it more readable. That’s the whole point, isn’t it?
.net: What’s next in the pipeline?
M: I think I’m going to take a break if I can. I haven’t had a vacation since 2003. The book is called The Alphabet of Manliness and sky-rocketed to number one on Amazon for pre-orders alone overnight. It’s hovering at number two right now. The site is www.alphabetofmanliness.com. It’s so manly even its sentences don’t have periods.
This interview originally appeared in .net issue 151.
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Comments
Mathew Browne / 12/05/2007 / 03:04 / http://www.mbwebdesign.co.uk
Maddox's is one of the few sites where the content is so entertaining I forget that the design of the site is really quite awful. I strongly recommend the book to fans of the site.
PENIX / 14/11/2007 / 23:03 / http://HTTP://PENIX.ANTIGAMER.COM
12k a month? I would have sold out in a second.
Frosty The Ho-man / 05/05/2008 / 17:59
So long as the ads aren't conspicuous, I don't see a problem with having them. (Whatever you do, just don't turn your site into Ebaumsworld - the myraid of ads have caused me to stop visting!) The guy has become highly successful, and deserves to reap the rewards. Of course there would be people that hound him for using ads, but those people are simply hypocrites. Maddox, stop fearing the haters. They are the toxic trash of the universe. You will not be deemed a "sellout" for using ads - you will be deemed human! But anyway, I guess now that your book exploded, you won't need the extra cash as much.
Congrats, Maddox! You whinning son-of-a-bitch you!
Joey Jo-Jo Shabadeu / 10/07/2008 / 13:03
He can run ads if he wants. But I just try not to buy anything they push on me just to be a dick, so their annoying strategy has the opposite effect than they intended. Just like TV and radio ads, "I'm thinking Arby's". Well, I was hungry, but now I'd rather starve than eat your over-priced bag of shit.
Seabass / 15/08/2008 / 17:36
Hey matt browne, maddox's website is NOT poorly designed. He specifically designed it the way it is for several reasons. The reasons the background is black and the text is white is to reduce eye strain that usually happens when you stare at a big white monitor with little black letters written on it. His sight is minimalist because he wants to reduce bandwidth and load times. Finally, he doesn't want anything distracting you from what's important in the site: the content. I don't give a fuck what the site looks like, if I still laugh my ass off every time I visit it.
Me / 27/08/2008 / 00:56
I have the sudden urge to buy the book now. The website dedicated to it was pretty funny.
gunneos / 24/10/2008 / 11:16
do you guys realise that by 'selling out' he doesn't exactly mean selling out to FANS? by taking in ads, he naturally can't go all out and unleash his fury on them, because no advertiser would pay to advertise on the same site that disses them. his content would be watered down if there were ads, that's the point.
Becca / 28/12/2008 / 16:34
Maddox is awesome. I spend literally hours on his site, most days. I may sound sad, but seriously, he makes me laugh and smile more than my miserable life ever has! He's a total inspiration to me. I hope he never sells out to ads because his site would be, as he has stated quite rightly, censored, and the whole point of his site is uncensored humour!
If he ever comes on tour to the UK I'll be there, first in line, to 'kiss his ring'!
Hani / 09/03/2009 / 01:27
Maddox is an unadulterated genius, I could stay on his site all night, I've read each article at least ten times. He's possibly the funniest guy that ever lived and I'm going to marry him! It's not like me to be so stalkerish but Maddox is king!
jobohobo the clown / 09/03/2009 / 13:19
baha your site...phenomenal. love it dude. i love smart ass bitchy funny guys <3
