The Leghorn exists to explore and expand the tradition of Southern humor. We believe the South’s funniest voices have always been more varied and more interesting than the stereotypes that have often stood in for them.
Through essays, satire, cartoons, interviews, and visual humor, we publish work that reflects a South that is living, changing, and far more complex than it’s often given credit for. Some pieces are unmistakably Southern in subject. Others simply carry a perspective shaped by the region. What connects them is a curiosity about Southern life and a belief that its humor is richer than the familiar images that have long defined it.
Traditional Southern humor has long celebrated colorful characters, regional dialects, and familiar archetypes. Those traditions remain an important part of Southern comedy, but they’re only part of the story. The Leghorn is more interested in the voices, perspectives, and observations shaping Southern humor today.
Some of the work we publish is unmistakably Southern in its setting. Other pieces are Southern because of the perspective they bring to ordinary life. We believe Southern humor is defined as much by voice, rhythm, curiosity, and observation as it is by geography.
The magazine features original humor alongside interviews with writers, performers, cartoonists, and creators helping shape Southern humor today, including conversations like “Inside Dad’s Garage: The Unscripted Rise of Atlanta’s Comedy Powerhouse.” We also celebrate the traditions of live comedy through features like “Back Road Stories,” where stand-up comedians share unforgettable experiences from performing across the South.
The South has never spoken with a single voice, and neither has its humor. We seek out writers and artists whose work reflects the region’s many cultures, generations, identities, beliefs, and experiences. Not to satisfy a checklist of perspectives, but because that’s what the contemporary South actually is.
While our focus is contemporary, we’re not interested in pretending the past doesn’t exist. We respect the Southern humorists who came before while remaining even more interested in where Southern humor is going next. Highbrow, lowbrow, literary, absurd, and sideways all have a place here, as long as the work feels alive.
Our mission isn’t simply to preserve Southern humor. It’s to expand people’s understanding of what Southern humor can be. With every story, cartoon, interview, and essay we publish, we hope readers discover voices, perspectives, and ideas that remind us the South has never been just one thing. And neither has its humor.
