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The Hilarity of "The Wisdom of Children"

Filed under: The Squib Report Tagged: Jack Handey, Shouts & Murmurs, Simon Rich

Boing Boing and Kottke, among others, have enthusiastically linked to Simon Rich's marvelous expression of childish/childhood perception, "The Wisdom of Children." It's comforting to know that even though it's not a humor magazine per se these days, from time to time The New Yorker can come up with a gem on the level of The Onion.

What's the funniest thing you've ever read in The New Yorker? I nominate two very recent ones by Jack Handey, "This Is No Game" (1/9/06) and "What I'd Say to the Martians" (8/8/05).

—Martin Schneider

1 comments

Comments

Ian Frazier's manic fox monologue "Caught" is my recent favorite. (May 29, 2006)

But speaking of hilarity, I love the blog response to Patricia Marx from Park Cities. Just posted on it.

zpMarch 21, 2007

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Who we?

Emdashes, founded December 2004, is a place where keen and dedicated readers of The New Yorker, past and present, can find related news and commentary: about people, subjects, and ideas within the magazine, and events and conversations outside its pages. Learn more about us and our contributors.

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We welcome tips, questions, and comments about The New Yorker past and present, plus related events, links, typeface sightings, &c. To contact the magazine or send a submission, click here.

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This site is neither owned nor operated by The New Yorker magazine or Condé Nast Publications.

A few clips

Report: Learning to read with comic books edited by Françoise Mouly (for Print)
Interview: Designer Eleanor Grosch (for Print)
Review: Charles Addams: A Cartoonist's Life by Linda H. Davis (for Newsday)
Review: The King's Gambit: A Son, a Father, and the World's Most Dangerous Game by Paul Hoffman (for Newsday)
Review: Does The New Republic's recent redesign mean a change of tune? (for Print)
Proposal: A more attractive MetroCard (for A Brief Message)
Interview: James Surowiecki on what's next for the wisdom of crowds (for Assignment Zero)
Report: Eustace Tilley spruces up for The New Yorker's website redesign (for Print)
Feature: Muslim immigration iconography in the Netherlands (for Print)
Review: books about various New Yorker cartoonists by Liza Donnelly and Iain Topliss (for Newsday)
Profile: screenwriter and novelist Joe Keenan (for Newsday)
Review: The Complete New Yorker (for Print)

More clips.

Tell me more

They say that dashes “are particularly useful in a sentence that is long and complex.” Emdashes—like em dashes—emphasizes what’s between: in particular, between the lines, covers, and issues of a magazine close to my heart.

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Founded by Emily Gordon, edited by Martin Schneider, designed by Pretty, and illustrated by Inkleaf. Additional drawings by Carolita Johnson. Kissable pencil girl by Jennifer Hadley, based on a 1943 Dorothy Gray ad.

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