West graduate works with comic Franken
10:44 PM 8/27/03
Doug Erickson Wisconsin State Journal

Four years ago as a senior at Madison West High School, Ben Wikler printed a raunchy prom satire in The Yellow Press, the underground student newspaper he co-founded.

Teachers ranted. Businesses pulled their ads. Readers lapped it up.

It was an instructive moment.

Wikler's back making waves, this time with a bigger vessel. He was one of 14 Harvard students hired to help research left-wing comedian Al Franken's latest book, "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right."

The book, out last week, has been making headlines. Fox News sued Franken for using its "fair and balanced" slogan in the title. A federal judge rejected the lawsuit as "wholly without merit."

The book shot to No. 1 on the Amazon.com bestsellers list.

Wikler, who had taken the spring semester off from Harvard, answered a want ad and signed on to work just a few hours a week on the book. He ended up living with Franken and his wife for the month of July, working 60 or more hours a week to meet a rushed publication deadline, he said.

"We'd sleep in late, eat breakfast together, then work until 2 or 3 in the morning," said Wikler, 22, who is in Madison this week visiting family. "He'd come up with an idea and we'd fall on the floor laughing."

Franken thanks Wikler several times in the book. Of the 14 research assistants, Wikler contributed the most material, Franken said in a phone interview Wednesday.

"He had his laptop right there and was kicking in jokes all the time. The book would not have happened without him. He's just a brilliant guy, absolutely brilliant."

Franken said he learned Wednesday that the book will debut at No. 1 on The New York Times bestsellers list next week.

While a student at Madison West, Wikler was student body president and helped create a districtwide student senate. Now a senior economics major at Harvard, he's a contributing writer to the Onion, a national satirical newspaper.

He credits his hometown with instigating his passion for comedy and politics.

"It's a place that looks at the world a little differently, so you can be creative and people will support you. That made all the difference to me."