"This is a funny one." How many times have you received an e-mail from a friend with this subject line, touting a forwarded joke or animation that will choke your computer's bandwidth while barely causing a pained smile? Just about every crazy uncle on the planet seems to have unleashed the power of the Internet on unsuspecting relatives in the form of virus hoaxes, chain letters and bad jokes that come on like Rodney Dangerfield on speed.

But every once in a great while, the guy gets one right. During this election season -- and the spectacle of the Summer Olympic games -- the Web has proved to be pregnant with possibilities for parodists. And one of the best parodies of the season was also the most successful, the rare non-partisan animation duet of George W. Bush and John Kerry singing "This Land is Your Land," by JibJab Media.

JibJab Media's parody animation, "This Land"

According to comScore, JibJab.com had 10.4 million unique visitors in July, triple the amount of people who visited the sites of Bush and Kerry combined (3.3 million). So much for serious discourse on the issues. And for whatever reason -- disgust or disillusionment, anyone? -- the public has a yen for political humor, making Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" an important source for news for younger Americans, with Kerry even appearing to chat with host Jon Stewart recently.

And if you've been watching too much TV coverage of the GOP convention, the Democratic convention before it, or the hype-filled Olympics, you're in need of a break from relentless patriotism and nationalism.

The lessons learned by JibJab Media's honchos, brothers Gregg and Evan Spiridellis of Santa Monica, Calif., are instructive. The animation takes jabs at both candidates equally, just like "The Daily Show" and "Saturday Night Live" before it. Plus, it doesn't descend too far into obscene humor not ready for primetime (except perhaps Kerry tied up bondage-style).

"We believe in the Internet as a space, but we know it's not a place to get rich right now," JibJab's Evan Spiridellis told me. "It's still in its infancy, but we've held true to our belief that the Internet is a viable medium. The success of 'This Land' helps prove that to us." The brothers are developing an animated feature film based on their successful children's book, "Grumpy Santa."

But these guys have five years of experience as twisted animators, while others are simply jumping on a joke at the right time, buying the perfect domain name, and letting bloggers link to their heart's content. Thus the quick bumps in popularity for JohnKerrySucksLess.com and JohnKerryIsADoucheBagButImVotingForHimAnyway.com. Not to mention the Pleasure Boat Captains for Truth ("formed to counter the deliberate misrepresentation of George W. Bush's drinking record"), in a weird turn on the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth who have been attacking Kerry's war record.

OK, so how do you jump into the game? Just follow these handy tips for online parody, and you too can find comedic glory on the Net. Just be sure you follow the Golden Rule at the bottom; if it ain't funny, there's no point sharing it with the world -- or your flabbergasted nephews.

1. Be a media whore.

Word of mouth is nice, but media coverage is even nicer. For JibJab, the breakthrough was coverage on Fox News Channel. For DFL Blog ("celebrating last-place finishes at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens"), it was a Reuters news story that was picked up as far away as India and Brazil. And DFL, which stands for dead f***ing last, has its humorous moments, despite author Jonathan Crowe's protests for taking the last-place finishers seriously. (Greece was the overall "winner" for most last-place finishes, by the way.)

You might not be able to afford a PR agency to handle press requests, but you can at least provide the basics: who you are, why you're doing this, contact information, a FAQ, for cryin' out loud. Use pseudonyms if you must, make it all one big joke, but don't misspell your e-mail address. And if you can't get top press billing, take all the A-list bloggers you can get. Non-partisan Political Wire recently linked to Pleasure Boat Captains for Truth and Cheerleaders for Truth. It might not have brought a traffic deluge, but it's one more way to get on the media's radar screen.

2. Have a memorable URL or make e-mail forwarding a snap.

Sometimes the site's Web address is the whole joke, as in the nose-holding Kerry-supporting sites like JohnKerrySucksLess.com. And at other times, the name can be crucial in bringing repeat visitors, as in Athens2004Blog.com, wherein a British couple blog the Olympics and take photos with their plush robin doll.

But if you can't get by on a snappy URL, you have other options for promotion. The JibJab duo already had an e-mail list of 250,000 people before "This Land" came out, and they used that list to get the initial word out. Not only could people forward that e-mail, they could also forward an e-mail to people from the Atom Films site, which eventually hosted the popular online clip.

And when Bush's Web site launched its humorous "Kerry's Flip-Flop Olympics" (scoring double for having politics and the Olympics), it had a built-in e-mail list of volunteers as well as a way for site visitors to e-mail the animation to friends and enemies across the partisan aisle.

3. Toe the line of decency or trounce it.

"My biggest advice is to self-edit," JibJab's Evan Spiridellis said. "We have our own personal line that we feel is too far to cross. If you want to reach a wide audience, you've got to keep your personal line in check as far as how much is too far. And that's different for everybody. I would just think about the audience you're trying to reach when you're creating something."

The corollary to this is borne out by the example of Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of "South Park," who gained fame with a foul-mouthed animation called "The Spirit of Christmas," wherein Santa Claus and Jesus have a "Godzilla"-style battle royale. They might not have mass acceptance, but their long-running Comedy Central TV show is a testament to the huge teen audience they reach (along with adults who never grew up).

4. Get sued or threatened with a lawsuit.

Most parodies are protected from libel lawsuits, especially when they are skewering politicians or public figures. But you still might upset someone enough to threaten you with a lawsuit -- and that can be a good thing.

Comedian Al Franken was literally thanking Fox News for suing him over his book, "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right." All that publicity meant more book sales. And in the case of JibJab, it was a music publisher threatening suit over use of Woodie Guthrie's song. Eventually, JibJab settled out of court by agreeing to give 20 percent of profits on the song to the Woodie Guthrie Foundation. But not before they got another round of media coverage.

5. Merchandise, merchandise, merchandise.

You might not sell ads on your site. You almost never can charge anyone to watch or read your parody. So how can you profit off this little enterprise? Here's a hint: CafePress.com. The site lets anyone sell merchandise to make a little money on their jokes. This is where your artwork counts. You simply upload your logo or key joke images and voila! You've got T-shirts, thongs and bumper stickers for sale. CafePress.com takes a cut of the base price, and you keep whatever you decide the retail markup is for each item. They handle manufacturing and distribution. Of course, you will have competition, especially in the political arena.

6. Deliver what you promise.

Not every parody will be successful, but every one should be prepared for success. The folks at JibJab had done political parodies before, but they still were caught with their pants down when "This Land" caught fire. "We were caught totally off-guard and our servers were constantly crumbling," Evan Spiridellis said. "We eventually wound up doing a deal with Atom Films, so they were a big part in helping us solve our server issues."

Popularity might be harmful to your wallet, as the server load might end up costing you more than you expected. Be prepared to partner with another site, get others to mirror your content or get that virtual tip jar out in a hurry.

Even the big boys screw it up. As of mid-day Wednesday, ComedyCentral.com's Republican Convention page was still promising "Exclusive Unconventional Photos" and a daily convention blog from Ed Helms that were non-existent. Fake news is one thing, but vaporware Web features are just too much to take.

The Golden Rule: Be Funny

We're talking belly laughs, not just giggles. Knee-slapping guffaws and not just upside-down frowns.