Penny Arcade without the banner ad.

Everybody’s doing Kickstarter, so why not Gabe and Tycho, too?

That’s the news today from Penny Arcade, the Seattle-based media and conference company that has grown up around the popular Penny Arcade Expo events and Penny Arcade webcomic, featuring the alter egos of writer Jerry Holkins and artist Mike Krahulik.

Penny Arcade has launched a Kickstarter project, aiming to raise at least $250,000, and possibly more, with the goal of reducing or eliminating ads on their site.

Essentially, they would be shifting from advertising to more of a membership model, in the form of a crowdfunding campaign that offers some, um, creative benefits to people who donate. For a $15 pledge, for example, “Gabe will think about you during sex, and a certificate of appreciation will be mailed to you.”

More examples: For $500 or more, they promise to retweet one of your tweets, “within reason.” For $1,000 or more, you can be one of the 100 people on Tycho’s Xbox Live friends list. And so on.

It’s funny stuff, very creative, and it just might work. They’ve already raised more than $67,000, and the campaign just started. Here is their funny (and profane) Kickstarter video pitch.

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