Before we get to this week’s commentary, I want to let you know that I am for the first time in more than two years a finalist in that other caption contest at the New Yorker. I’ll let you know in two weeks whether I can claim my eighth victory, or whether I have lost…
Continue Reading…
“Casual Guy” Caption Contest Commentary with Lawrence Wood
Ellis Rosen’s cartoon is set in an office. A casually dressed man sitting at his desk is looking at an older and even more casually dressed man wearing nothing but briefs and socks. In his left hand the nearly naked man is holding a file, and he’s saying something to the guy at the desk….
Continue Reading…
“Mummy Man” Caption Contest Commentary with Lawrence Wood
In Bob Eckstein’s cartoon, a doctor who’s bandaging a patient from head to toe is pushing his foot against the patient’s back for leverage, and delivering the line that will serve as the caption. Focusing on the tape, I first made an insurance joke: “If you had Medicaid, I’d have to use red tape.” I…
Continue Reading…
“ATM Man” Caption Contest Commentary with Lawrence Wood
Drew Dernavich has drawn a man standing at an ATM and speaking to the guy behind him. Standing inside the machine is another man whom we see only from the shins down. I have a lot of affection for this cartoon, as it brings me back to 1965, when my older sister, Barb, and her…
Continue Reading…
“Rooftop Thugs” Caption Contest Commentary with Lawrence Wood
Kim Warp has drawn two thugs on the roof of a building. One of them is holding a man upside down by his ankles and, it would seem, threatening to let him fall to his death. The man who’s hanging upside down is talking. He looks annoyed (his arms are crossed) but remarkably calm given…
Continue Reading…
“Cave Couple” Caption Contest Commentary with Lawrence Wood
In Mick Stevens’ drawing of a prehistoric couple sitting in a modern-day living room, the man is saying something to the woman. Seeing the large framed paintings in the background made me think of cave paintings, so I had the man asking, “Why do they frame their paintings?” I then imagined the man struggling to…
Continue Reading…