Don Jolly (writer, editor, former MDE collaborator)

[Hentai-Semitism]

Does anyone know what's up with him? He seems like a genuinely smart and likable guy. He has interesting takes on books and politics. Unfortunately, he's a troubled soul and keeps disappearing from the Internet. He used to have two sites: encyclopedia.zone and donjolly.com, both of which are dead. There was another one whose name I can't remember that was in all black and white and looked like an old underground zine. Topics he discussed include presidential elections, Conan The Barbarian, lolcow Barnacle Jim, and Covid madness.

If you have no idea who I'm talking about, you might recognize Don as the guy from Hydewars 27 "Eating In Bed" or MDE's Theatre Of The Aire sketches. He also wrote an article about MDE for Penthouse. I know that Sam stopped working with him, but I don't care about that because it was a long time ago. His X account has no xeets.

Reuploads of all his Youtube videos.

 

[No-Eyed Square Guy]

The one you're forgetting was Dagger magazine—called Daggermag usually, because there were other magazines called Dagger. It was great. The site has been gone for a long time.

No news to share, but every couple years I remember him and check if he's doing anything.

My "internet presence" is about as irregular/lost as his though I've never stopped working on stuff, so I understand.

 

[nut butter]

There was another one whose name I can't remember that was in all black and white and looked like an old underground zine

The one you're forgetting was Dagger magazine—called Daggermag usually

I thought the one he was talking about was "SUPERPREDATOR.ZONE". He wrote an article or two on there. There's lots of videos on archive.org, but I can't find anything about Daggermag, are there any archives of the issues? Actually, I found the archive of the site on Wayback, but if there is an archive of just the issues that would be sweet

Here's the issues of SUPERPREDATOR, just for archival purposes.

 

[Key the Metal Shitposter]

Oh yeah, I miss this guy. I was a big fan of his after he did a podcast with Digibro back in the day. Maybe if Jolly had stuck around he could have prevented him from becoming a demented tranny.

 

[Normal-Style Human]

This is a "trust me bro" recollection, but I used to check in on him fairly routinely back in the day. Around the time of SUPERPREDATOR, he working dead end jobs and started going kind of nuts with paranoia on Twitter. Like talking about how feds were flaunting their power over him and such. That was the last activity I remember from him before he eventually DFE'd. I prefer to think that he left the internet to get his shit together IRL (and probably to distance himself from digibro).

It's a shame he vanished, because the dude was really interesting and creative. I always wanted to play the tabletop RPG he made called GORE FEST.

 

[Coolio55]

The one you're forgetting was Dagger magazine—called Daggermag usually, because there were other magazines called Dagger. It was great. The site has been gone for a long time.

No news to share, but every couple years I remember him and check if he's doing anything.

My "internet presence" is about as irregular/lost as his though I've never stopped working on stuff, so I understand.

I remember Dagger coming out and it was really ahead of it's time shit.

 

[satorrotas]

I posted on his forum (Dagger's website) a long time ago. He was extremely intelligent and likable. Unfortunately, the community never really got off the ground before the website's closure and there were too many obviously underage or stupid people there. If I remember correctly, he was in the post-shutdown Discord server, which may or may not still exist to this day. Wishing him well, wherever he is now.

I remember Dagger coming out and it was really ahead of it's time shit.

Definitely ahead of it's time. The John Carpenter interview is great.

 

[Hentai-Semitism]

Around the time of SUPERPREDATOR, he working dead end jobs and started going kind of nuts with paranoia on Twitter. Like talking about how feds were flaunting their power over him and such.

You're not wrong. I think the System exercising its power during Covid really got to him. He mentioned a few times how he squatted somewhere for a year or so because he couldn't make ends meet. I'm not sure if it was around the same time. It also sounds like his dad is the worst kind of boomer who'd rather spend thousands on renovating an old motorbike than help his son who needs money for dental surgery. I'll be honest, I never listened to the "Sam Hyde fires Don Jolly" recording because I didn't want to feel disheartened.

 

[Hentai-Semitism]

Looks like I wasn't looking hard enough. I'm pasting below a message that a user called ObjectiveFast3958 posted on r/Bombstrap subreddit in April 2025. He claims to be in contact with Don. I don't want to link Reddit here, fuck them.

Hey I am genuinely touched that there are still people who care about the stuff I did online, on YouTube and elsewhere. I’m not trying to worry anybody, but the grind of being an exposed — named — Internet content man is not for me. It might not be for anyone.

I’ve been focusing on my writing — I published an essay about trolling Something Awful in 2600 Magazine last year — if you like the YouTube stuff you’ll like it, I think. I don’t intend to have a website or a centralized place where my stuff is posted for the immediate future — I kinda like being a ghost who shows up randomly in print magazines or wherever on no set schedule.

I was in an episode of Channel 5 News too, lol, although I thing they cut me out of the YouTube version (they make fun of me on Patreon).

I’m an anonymous poster and a writer and those two things are often in tension, although both are predicated on writing and publishing. Being seen in the way demanded by a stable online presence was never going to work for me. It feels like being a raw nerve… totally exposed. And it traps you — makes you into a heightened, parodic version of yourself. I don’t want to only be a shit poster — I don’t think any of us should be limited like that. God only knows, god makes his plans, the information’s unavailable to the mortal man…

The problem with the internet now is that it demands permanence, a "brand," a facsimile of stable identity -- especially if you want to make money there. And there's something sacred, I think, in the capacity to slip away when you need to -- to move on, take stock, and begin again -- and again – and again. This machine exploits desire. It takes more than it gives. But the wanting is our ancient doom. We find peace only when we stop trying to keep things. Lao Tzu, said, I think:

Love has gone away And there’s no one here now And there’s nothing left to say But oh how I miss him baby, Oh baby C’mon and slip away C’mon baby Why don’t you slip away?

Or was it Lao Reed? It’s easy to confuse the great philosophers of the East.

Maximum love for all humanity,

Dr. J

 

[srppsoidteerr]

I thought the one he was talking about was "SUPERPREDATOR.ZONE". He wrote an article or two on there. There's lots of videos on archive.org, but I can't find anything about Daggermag, are there any archives of the issues? Actually, I found the archive of the site on Wayback, but if there is an archive of just the issues that would be sweet

Here's the issues of SUPERPREDATOR, just for archival purposes.

I actually have the paper copy of Dagger Magazine that I could scan and post here if anyone is interested. I miss Don's voice a lot too. He's really one of a kind and that interview he did with Sam in Hydewars STILL sticks with me after all these years.

 

[Hentai-Semitism]

I reupped his streams to "spread awareness". Rumble playlist

Source: https://archive.org/search?query=creator:(don jolly)