Men's Vogue Magazine

This month's award for Best Lede in a Celebrity Profile (Musical or Comedy) goes to Adam Green for "Fool's Gold," his lighthearted portrait of Ben Stiller, who overcame humble beginnings as the child of famous comedians to become a $20 million-a-project star (Men's Vogue, producer):

On a temperate, late spring afternoon, I am wandering through the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, California, in search of Mixing Stage 3, where I have an appointment with Ben Stiller, who is putting the finishing touches on his new movie, Tropic Thunder, and I'm thinking, Man, I hope this guy doesn't turn out to be a ding-dong.

Spoiler Alert: Mr. Stiller is no ding-dong, but rather "amiable and unpretentious," with a "screen persona [that] has grown nearly as familiar, if not as iconic, as Chaplin's," for which "Stiller has no peer."

To judge from the current crop of men's magazines on the newsstand, comic actors are hot right now—like, Ben Affleck hot!

First out of the gate is Esquire, which features Stephen Colbert on its August cover in a re-creation of the magazine's iconic April 1968 image of Muhammad Ali as St. Sebastian. Inside, Mr. Colbert—or his writing staff—offers a humorous take on America's most beleaguered minority: white men.

Then there's GQ's Comedy Issue, which places endomorphic comic phenom Seth Rogen on the cover and teases a package including Jack Black, Sarah Silverman, Kal Penn, Flight of the Conchords, Tina Fey, David Sedaris, Ricky Gervais, Seth Meyers, Chris Rock and Don Rickles.  read more »

What’s more fun than watching some of New York’s lithe literary leopards raid a closet and play dress-up? Not much!

John Seabrook, who normally pens for The New Yorker, has a feature in the latest issue of Men’s Vogue in which he describes his quandary of what to do with his father’s racks of bespoke suits and handmade shoes, as his father is getting older and no longer has a need for them. Luckily, John Seabrook has an equally bespoke collection of dashing—very tall, and so slender!—male chums, including writer Philip Weiss, New York magazine executive editor John Homans and comedy writer Billy Kimball. Well, one thing led to another, as these things will, and before you can tie a Windsor knot, the strapping lads were pawing through the fancy tweeds, trying on jackets and hats and even a very soigné dressing gown! It’s like a Savile Row Sample Sale gone wild! And like Paris Hilton, they got carried away and recorded the whole affair! There’s even an unnamed ladyfriend in the background making helpful suggestions! Watch this clip with a tall drink of water, ladies!

>> Clothing Inheritance, via mensvogue.com  read more »

In the latest issue of Men’s Vogue, Will Smith tells the book that, after flirting with Buddhism and Hinduism in the past, he has started to study Scientology with Hollywood pal Tom Cruise. Adding to Mr. Smith’s recent revelation, a source apparently told US Weekly that the I Am Legend star’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, 36, has also become interested in the quasi-religion started by science-fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard.  read more »