Cartoon - Funny or Stupid, You Decide
When I first came up with the idea for this cartoon (for a financial Web site), I thought it couldn’t miss. But after Mark drew it up, all I could think is, this doesn’t make sense. How would he get money in the water bed without noticing the water?
Funny? Stupid? Salvageable?
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May be salvageable. What if you added one more panel with the now-moneyless guy walking away wondering, “So who’s bed was I in last night?” Maybe the message is, “Details count!”
Or not.
LOL. You took it in a different direction that I’d ever go, which is why you’re so fascinating, Bob!
[…] Shadi wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptWhen I first came up with the idea for this cartoon (for a financial Web site), I thought it couldn’t miss. But after Mark drew it up, all I could think is, this doesn’t make sense. How would he get money in the water bed without … […]
Yeah, that’s me all right. Always ready to forge ahead!
Brad, the absurdity is what made me laugh and it leaves room for interpretation such as, “stuffed in wrong bed.” It works for me.
Thanks Karen, that’s encouraging!
Salvageable. This is a terriific premise and the beauty of it is that there is probably an endless variety of captions that would work. The first one that comes to mind is: “Did you have to change your sleep number?”
Brad, it works for me as it is.
It’s the facial expressions that do it for me. So smug in the first one, so dumbfounded in the second. I don’t think logic need come into it. Not for me anyway.
Great idea to ask us though!
Joanna
Dennis, like Robert you always take things in an unexpected direction. That’s really the key to humor, don’t you think? Joanna, Mark’s rendering of facial expressions is often the highlight of my cartoons. Like most skilled cartoonists, he’s a minimalist and never ceases to amaze me in how much he can convey with just a few lines.
Seems like if he stuffed all the money in his waterbed, he’d certainly be aware of the mistake well before the water cooler. Maybe the timing needs some tweaking, Brad.
Must confess at first it seemed funny till I did a double take!
Robyn, struck me the same way - funny at first, but doesn’t stand up to logic. Maybe it doesn’t matter. (Most political speeches I’ve heard lately strike me the same way.)
Brad,
Humor isn’t necessarily logical–sort of like advertising, which appeals to the emotions rather than to logic. That must be why it still strikes us funny, even when we realize, after thinking about it, that it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. (Perhaps that fact even adds to the humor.)
I think we make mental allowances for its shortcomings, too, by shifting our thinking–creating a “suspension of disbelief” like that of the viewer who watches a movie or sees a play.
Perhaps your friend in the cartoon was overworked–or having a “senior moment”–when he stashed the cash! LOL!
Jeanne
Jeanne, it’s hard to analyze humor, isn’t it? Do you think people who have no apparent sense of humor find it hard to suspend their disbelief?
Brad,
I’d never thought of that as a possible reason some people appear to have no sense of humor, but now that you mention it, it could very well be. Insightful thought!
Jeanne
[…] was weird, because that very idea prompted me to write my April Fool’s Day post, which dealt with a cartoon I wrote that, well, kinda […]