In Charles Barsotti’s drawing, a large bag of money relaxes on a tropical island with a drink in one hand and a cellphone in the other. He’s wearing sunglasses, smiling, and saying something into the phone. My first idea—“Money talking”—completely ignored the setting, and the setting’s always important. Tropical resorts like the Cayman Islands are…
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“Treehouse” Caption Contest Commentary with Lawrence Wood
Tom Toro has drawn two kids in a tree house. On the opposite side of the tree is a branch supporting a cubicle where a man is sitting at his desk and conducting business on the telephone. One of the kids is looking at this man, and the other is speaking and presumably explaining why…
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“Bad Dog” Caption Contest Commentary with Lawrence Wood
In Lila Ash’s drawing, a young woman wearing sweatpants with the word PLINK emblazoned across the bottom is addressing (questioning? scolding?) a dog who’s looking down, as if shamed. Behind the dog are the outstretched legs of a murder victim. He’s lying in the doorway in a pool of blood, and there’s a bloody handprint…
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“Executioner and mom” Caption Contest Commentary with Lawrence Wood
Dr. Benjamin Schwartz has drawn a shirtless and hooded executioner introducing a kindly old woman (also wearing a hood) to his next victim: a prisoner who’s on his knees with his hands tied behind his back and his head above a chopping block. The executioner—whose expression, from what we can see, is not very threatening—is…
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“God’s Comedian” Caption Contest Commentary with Lawrence Wood
Kim Warp has drawn a prop comedian (he has an arrow through his head) performing a stand-up routine for that toughest of audiences: God. Because the comedian is in heaven, I first thought of the old saying that addresses both death and comedy: “Dying is easy. Comedy is hard.” I then thought of captions that…
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“Exploding Desk” Caption Contest Commentary with Lawrence Wood
The late Charles Barsotti drew an employee crawling out from under an exploding desk, addressing his colleague, and delivering the line that must address both the explosion and the office setting. Barsotti is perhaps best known for this cartoon of a friendly and anthropomorphic piece of rigatoni answering the phone by saying, “Fusilli, you crazy…
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