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New Yorker<\/span><\/i> cartoonist <\/span>Rusty Epstein<\/b> helped judge last month\u2019s caption contest, which featured his drawing. It\u2019s set in a front yard, where a fireman and a little girl are looking at an elephant who\u2019s stuck in a tree and sitting on a branch. The girl is saying or yelling something to the elephant. It looks like she\u2019s cupping her hands around her mouth so her voice will travel farther, but it could be she\u2019s just holding her hands by her mouth because she\u2019s dismayed or shocked. In the background a firetruck is visible.<\/span><\/p>\n Epstein\u2019s original caption suggests that the elephant is a house pet who took advantage of a brief opportunity to escape. <\/span>\u201cI opened the door and he got out.\u201d <\/span><\/i>One of you made a similar joke: <\/span>\u201cThe alarming part is he\u2019s an indoor elephant.\u201d<\/i><\/b> I have an issue with both captions because they have the girl addressing the fireman when, in my opinion, she is clearly talking to the elephant, but Epstein contends that I\u2019m wrong\u2014he maintains that that the drawing could be interpreted either way\u2014and it\u2019s hard to argue with the cartoonist.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n That said, here are the best entries that have the girl addressing the fireman:<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n That last entry is a fine example of turning a common expression into a fitting caption by changing a single word, which in this case is the punchline. I also like the way it addresses the \u201cfireman rescuing a cat\u201d trope. Unfortunately, as Bob pointed out, the idea that a cat could haul an elephant up a tree is just too nonsensical.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Speaking of cat jokes, here are the best:<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n The common misperception that elephants are scared of mice is a comic trope to which several of you referred:<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n Trevor liked the way that last entry captured the voice of a young girl\u2014so do I\u2014but I really loved the first of those three mouse jokes, which beautifully addresses not just the \u201cscared of mice\u201d angle but the fact that the elephant\u2019s in a tree.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Unlike the myth about elephants and mice, the idea that elephants have remarkably strong memories is supported by scientific evidence. Here are the two best allusions to that fact:<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n Because the elephant is the official symbol of the Republican Party, we got a topical reference to President Trump\u2019s penchant for renaming landmarks like the Gulf of Mexico (now the Gulf of America) and Lake Ontario (now Lake America) <\/span>\u00a0\u201cI\u2019m sorry\u2014American elephant.\u201d<\/i><\/b>\u00a0 That joke is especially clever because there are just three recognized living species of elephant (two African, one Asian, and no American), and I love the suggestion that the elephant climbed up the tree to sulk because he was, like Trump, petulant and easily offended.<\/span><\/p>\n This next entry\u2014the best of <\/span>many<\/span><\/i> references to the \u201celephant in the room\u201d trope\u2014also suggests that the girl offended the elephant: <\/span>\u201cWell, I\u2019m addressing you now!\u201d<\/i><\/b> That entry was submitted without the necessary comma, but instead of rejecting the caption on those grounds we decided to add the comma because our correction did not change the meaning or the flow of the joke. That decision may prove controversial, but we stand by it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Speaking of controversies, you may question our love for a caption that ended with an exclamation point, but we object to that punctuation mark only when it\u2019s unnecessary. In this drawing, the girl appears to be yelling, so an exclamation point is fine.<\/span><\/p>\n The next set of entries focus on the elephant\u2019s tremendous weight, and some suggest he may be sensitive about it:<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n I really loved that first caption\u2014it created a mental image that made me laugh out loud\u2014but none of the other judges liked it as much as I did,<\/span><\/p>\n The next three captions all explain how the elephant got up in the tree:<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n That last caption is clearly a reference to Dumbo, who uses his giant ears to fly, but I\u2019m wondering if it\u2019s also a reference\u2014and yes, I know how conceited this sounds\u2014to the winning entry I submitted for a <\/span>New Yorker<\/span><\/i> caption contest that featured this drawing by Drew Dernavich:<\/span><\/p>\n Here is the month\u2019s best dark joke: <\/span>\u201cCome down, or the next call is to Steinway!\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n Here\u2019s the best allusion to the fact that elephants face extinction: <\/span>\u201cYes, now you\u2019re endangered.\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n And here\u2019s the best reference to the elephant\u2019s size, immense power, intelligence, and calm and regal demeanor: <\/span>\u201cLook majestic\u2014the news van just pulled up.\u201d<\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I\u2019ll end this month\u2019s commentary with two entries suggesting that, from his elevated position in the tree, the elephant can see long distances:<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n Congratulations to JOHN KONNO, who submitted the winning caption: <\/span>\u201cWell, I\u2019m addressing you now.\u201d\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n The five runners-up are:<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n MICHAEL BERNER<\/span><\/p>\n KYAL SHEPARD<\/span>\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n JOE AYELLA<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n JEFF SAWYER<\/span><\/p>\n JOHN KONNO<\/span><\/p>\n If you want to see how we made our selections, we recorded the process and posted it on our YouTube channel.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n
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