 His legal practice was not successful, averaging just five clients a year.To supplement his income from 1861 on, Gilbert wrote a variety of stories, comic rants, grotesque illustrations, theatre reviews (many in the form of a parody of the play being reviewed), and, under the pseudonym "Bab" (his childhood nickname), illustrated poems for several comic magazines, primarily "Fun", started in 1861 by H. J. Byron.He published stories, articles, and reviews in papers such as "The Cornhill Magazine, London Society, Tinsley's Magazine" and "Temple Bar".