Lawrence Wood

Evan Lian’s drawing is set at a cocktail party, where a woman is talking to a man. Behind her, and engaged in another conversation, is Waldo from the “Where’s Waldo” puzzle books. The challenge in every such puzzle is locating the eponymous character in a crowd. I first imagined the woman explaining why she’s not…
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In Teresa Burns Parkhurst’s cartoon, three elephants are in a couple’s living room. The middle elephant says something to the one who’s facing him, while the couple remains oblivious. “The elephant in the room” is a metaphor for an obvious and pressing problem no one wants to discuss, so I first came up with these…
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In Carolita Johnson’s cartoon, two shirtless men are walking together on the beach. The younger man has an armband tattoo around his left bicep. The older man has a crossword puzzle on his chest. The older man is speaking. I first imagined where the crossword clues might be tattooed: “The clues are on my tramp…
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Teresa Burns Parkhurst’s cartoon is set on a sidewalk, where a woman is yelling at a man who’s moving away from her. He appears to be doing lunges or imitating John Cleese’s silly walk from “Monty Python’s Flying Circus.” A few years ago I went to see “Hamilton” in Chicago. I came to the theater…
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Lars Kenseth’s cartoon is set in a bar, where two businessmen are having a drink. To their right, drinking by himself, is a pig in a suit. One of the businessmen is saying something to the other, who’s looking sideways at the pig. Because pigs are dirty, I came up with these two captions: “I’m…
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Robert Leighton’s cartoon is set in a daycare center, where an adult man in a jacket and tie is sitting on the floor, happily playing with blocks. A woman who’s dressed casually is watching him. Standing next to and addressing her is a woman in business attire. Assuming the professionally-dressed women is the man’s wife,…
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