Comments on: I might have to retire the Geezer tag after this one…

By: Mark in Boston

Mark in Boston — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 03:14:23 +0000

popular belief

By: Mark in Boston

Mark in Boston — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 03:13:59 +0000

From a Mad Magazine parody of Ripley’s Believe It or Not:

Contrary to popular believe, Bennett Cerf is not funny.

(Submitted by John Daly, NYC)

By: Igelino

Igelino — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 22:02:54 +0000

Wow, he was born in the eighteen-hundreds. That’s like two hundred years ago. And I was alive before he passed away, we could have actually met.

I always laugh when the lady calls the girl Erica. She always calls her by the same (wrong) name.

By: PeterW

PeterW — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 21:39:17 +0000

Bennett Cerf wrote for adults?

By: paperboy

paperboy — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 17:16:00 +0000

I agree with Judge Mental#7; to be a true “Hey Geezers! Comics”, the joke can’t be simply younger characters don’t know the out-of-date reference, but this one’s punch-line (”try to get Bennett Cerf on the phone…”) seems just a bonus; the actual joke is she thinks gluing one’s lips is the basis for a diet book.

By: Elyrest

Elyrest — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 15:20:28 +0000

Actually, Bennett Cerf died almost 40 years ago. I remember it because I have read all his books and his autobiography. When I saw this reference to Cerf I immediately thought of CIDU as I knew only older people would get who he was. I loved his wit and his books were full of literary and cultural references. Although some of them were strictly for laughs there were others that were mainly anecdotes and reminiscences of publishing and Hollywood. Cerf knew both - his first wife was Sylvia Sidney, a well known fill star, and Ginger Rogers was his second wife’s cousin.

mitch4 (5 ) The publisher in the Sacks article was Charles Scribner, Jr. I read the article the other day and found it fascinating.

By: Morris Keesan

Morris Keesan — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 14:52:58 +0000

Lihtox, it helps if you know enough about Bennett Cerf to have an idea of when he was active as a publisher; knowing that he died almost 30 years ago makes the rant slightly funnier.

By: Lihtox

Lihtox — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 14:46:11 +0000

Does it really matter if you know who Bennett Cerf is, here? First, one can tell from context that Cerf is some sort of publisher or diet guru or something; and second, the woman is off on some crazy rant, and the fact that the little girl doesn’t understand who she’s talking about is very appropriate. Might be a “Geezer Bonus” (along the lines of a “Genius Bonus” as seen on tvtropes.org).

By: Morris Keesan

Morris Keesan — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 14:33:18 +0000

Well, as a geezer, I recognize the name Bennett Cerf because I used to see it on books, specifically the humor compilations that he edited. When I started working on Arpanet stuff in the early 1980s, and first encountered the name of networking pioneer Vint Cerf, I wondered whether he was related to Bennett (apparently not; at least the Wikipedia entries for the two men don’t mention each other).

But then again, I’m a book nerd, and without trying at all, the names of publishers Ian Ballantine (Ballantine Books), Don Wollheim (DAW Books), and Tom Doherty (Tor) come to my mind, not to mention the publishers of various smaller and more obscure imprints.

By: Judge Mental

Judge Mental — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 14:27:58 +0000

I think I have brought this up before. Does a comic really qualify as a “Hey Geezers” when the person *is a geezer* and much of the joke is that only the geezer is going to recognize the ridiculously out-of-date reference?

I know there are no hard-and-fast rules. I just find this one a little different than a comic where a kindergartner asks “Where’s the beef?”.