New yorker cartoon caption contest7/14/2023 ![]() He would have never gone to the circus, surely. Had known he would die by clown-swinging-around-by-the-heels, If, in 1854, thirteen-year-old William Snyder In the sense of tombstones and, more specifically, I’ve been thinking about Bobby Leach ever since. Nevertheless,ĭepression, heart palpitations, fatigue ? et cetera, Slipped on a banana peel in New Zealand and died-Ĭausing the guilt-ridden peel to seek counseling.īut not only could I not put the Bobby Leach-ĭepressed-banana-peel story into so few wordsīobby Leach had slipped on an orange peel. I was trying to tell the story-in two hundred fiftyĬharacters or less-of British daredevil, Bobby Leach, who,įifteen years after going over Niagara Falls in a barrel,īreaking both knee caps and fracturing his jaw, The angels got me thinking about my tombstone,īut I’ve been thinking about my tombstoneĭepression, heart palpitations, fatigue ? et cetera, Is what I’d write if someone were to draw my tombstone. He never used one word when ten would do … Still, you have to hand it to first place winner, Michelle Deschenes ![]() I thought I was a Gilbert when, in response to #520,Ĭorey Pandolph’s drawing of a banana peel Or maybe he was Sullivan in search of a Gilbert. When he drew the angels for this week’s contest: #526. Possibly, cartoonist, Will McPhail, had an idea I have no idea what the man angel is saying,īut I have six-and-a-half days to figure it out. Has a ginormous halo and the woman giant angel They are giant angels and the man giant angel Is talking to a woman angel with an average halo.īut since they’re standing in the clouds, Good luck.It is better to write of laughter than of tears, ![]() I will stop analyzing now, in deference to Seinfeld’s New Yorker gospel: “Cartoons are like gossamer, and one doesn’t dissect gossamer.” But what does Jerry know, really? He may have a hit show, millions of dollars, and a beautiful wife, but he has never won The New Yorker caption contest. You must look for these themes in your cartoon and pounce. But that was 50 years ago, and drudge and complacency have settled on the urban landscape sometime between now and then. ![]() ![]() And what better archetype of urban ennui could there be than a man in a cardigan holding a drink, yapping on his cell phone while blissfully unaware of looming dangers? A very similar cartoon by Jack Kirby from 1962-similar enough to lead the New York Post to shout plagiarism-has the person inside the window frightened and cowering, sans drink, glasses, or phone. To date, 136 out of the 145 caption contest winners (94 percent) fall into the “theory of mind” category. A non-theory-of-mind caption (accompanying a cartoon of a bird wearing a thong), however, requires no such projection: “ It’s a thongbird.” Theory of mind captions make for higher-order jokes easily distinguished from the simian puns and visual gags that litter the likes of MAD Magazine. An exemplary New Yorker theory of mind caption (accompanying a cartoon of a police officer ticketing a caveman with a large wheel): “ Yeah, yeah-and I invented the ticket.” The humor here requires inference about the caveman’s beliefs and intentions as he (presumably) explains to the cop that he invented the wheel. You must aim for what is called a “ theory of mind” caption, which requires the reader to project intents or beliefs into the minds of the cartoon’s characters. Should you make a pun or, perhaps, create a visual gag about a cat surreptitiously reading its owner’s e-mail? Neither. Now that you know your gatekeeper, it’s time for some advanced joke theory. ![]()
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