Comments on: LOL-December 8

By: Charles

Charles — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 02:30:45 +0000

Found a copy of the Far Side I was thinking of and scanned it:

http://tinyurl.com/6qcpbv

By: furrykef

furrykef — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 14:10:35 +0000

Yes, but what’s the source of the quote?

By: Brett

Brett — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 12:32:26 +0000

You’d think it would be Twain, since he did write a little “frog” story, but it’s White.

By: furrykef

furrykef — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 03:19:28 +0000

What’s the source of that quote, Brett? I’ve heard it attributed to White, Mark Twain, and even James Thurber, and I’ve heard numerous variations, but I’ve never been able to nail it down.

By: Brett

Brett — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 12:37:04 +0000

“Analyzing humor is like dissecting a frog. Few people are interested, and the frog dies of it.”
E.B.White

By: furrykef

furrykef — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 12:24:43 +0000

But in this case, I think folks are just overthinking it.

That’s just it, though. If people overthink the joke, it’s still not really their fault. After all, you can’t help it if you don’t laugh. The way it was set up invited overthinking in the first place.

(And yes, I do think they’re overthinking it. I’m just making the point.)

- Kef

By: Powers

Powers — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 11:59:22 +0000

furrykef, I normally agree with you that the premise of the strip should be ignored when analyzing the logic of the particular joke.

But in this case, I think folks are just overthinking it. It’s not supposed to make sense if you think too much about it — that’s part of the reason he puts these jokes on TV and doesn’t show them. He wants you to imagine it — ha ha, elf was so small he fits in the golf cup.

I laughed.

By: furrykef

furrykef — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 09:32:53 +0000

Really? There’s argument over whether Garfield is getting the size of elves wrong?

Um, this same strip features a sentient cat watching golf on TV.

You can use this sort of argument to excuse anything in a comic strip. Any problems with the joke don’t matter because there’s a sentient cat watching golf on TV! Hey guys, you can make a comic strip as inconsistent and illogical as you want and it won’t matter as long as there’s a sentient cat watching golf on TV!

Look. It doesn’t matter if there’s sentient cat watching TV. If something ruins the joke, it’s too late for the viewer to laugh no matter silly his reason for not laughing might be.

(If I seem grouchy about something that seems utterly unimportant, it’s because I’m tired of seeing this kind of logic. Each individual instance is unimportant, but it adds up.)

- Kef

By: Charles

Charles — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 03:49:32 +0000

Lio reminds me of an old Far Side - which I can’t find a copy of - wherein the earthling consigns the earth to more centuries of isolation (or destruction, I can’t remember which) when he shakes the “hand” of a visiting space alien, who looks very much like a Tralfamadorean.

Here’s a link to a fan drawn image of a Tralfamadorean: http://tinyurl.com/5fkg4r

By: Kit

Kit — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 03:07:26 +0000

“The Modern World” one wasn’t a “lol” for me as much as it saddened me thinking of what might have been