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How Were the Contest Cartoons Captioned Before the Winners Captioned Them?
Filed under: Seal Barks Tagged: Bob Mankoff, books, Cartoon Caption Contest, cartoons, Daniel Radosh, Drew Dernavich, Gahan Wilson, Matthew Diffee, Michael Shaw, newyorker.com, O Caption! My Caption!, Rejection Collection
As usual, Daniel Radosh is on the cutting edge of this question. For Radosh’s site, which provides (thanks to his admirably perverse readers) parallel-universe captions from the smutty to the surreal and everywhere in between, cartoonist and Rejection Collection editor Matt Diffee will be surveying his comrades-in-art and finding out what handwritten line of whimsy went with the original drawing submission that then, later, became a caption-contest challenge. I do know the original caption to Drew Dernavich’s lifeguard cartoon, but I’ll let Radosh do the honors. Speaking of the contest, I just discovered this site full of suggested captions and contest information (Michael Shaw, is this yours? I can’t figure it out!). Speaking of cartoonists, you’ll want to listen to Gahan Wilson and Bob Mankoff chatting about Wilson’s unmonstrous but excellent adventures in life and monster-drawing at the New Yorker website. Speaking of New Yorker cartoons in general, here’s a useful mini-collection of resources about the submission process. And speaking of wit writ large and small, I can’t believe the central Onion HQ is moving to Chicago; I read the paper faithfully in its fledgling years in Madison, my proud and good-humored hometown.
About us
Hello! We're a small band of media enthusiasts, culture addicts, and journalists based in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Emdashes, formerly a New Yorker fan site, is our collection of conversations—mostly civilized—about magazines, movies, politics, design, punctuation, and other things that stir us.
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Tell me more
Dashes, some say, “are particularly useful in a sentence that is long and complex.” Emdashes—like an em dash itself—provides a thoughtful pause amid the hubbub.
Emdashes, founded in 2004, is written and drawn by Emily Gordon, Martin Schneider, Pollux, Jonathan Taylor, and Benjamin Chambers, as well as occasional guest contributors. All posts before October 2008 are by Emily Gordon.
The site was designed by House of Pretty with illustrations by Jesse R. Ewing.
Additional drawings are by Carolita Johnson and Pollux (author of our web comic, "The Wavy Rule"). The Emdashes pencil logo is by Jennifer Hadley, based on a 1943 Dorothy Gray ad.
Other writing by Emily Gordon
- Writing on theater: reviews (for Time Out Chicago; imperfect but workable search results)
- Profile: Valerie Casey, Designers Accord founder, is spearheading the design of sustainability (for SXSW World)
- Feature: Rea Irvin: visionary art director, bon vivant, New Yorker founding father (for Print)
- Slide show: the Coney Island Mermaid Parade (for NYCgo.com)
- Feature: Muslim immigration iconography in the Netherlands, and an interview with Ayaan Hirsi Ali (for Print)
- Review: King's Gambit: A Son, a Father, and the World's Most Dangerous Game by Paul Hoffman (for Newsday)
- Homage: Celebrating lindy-hop legend Frankie Manning (for NYCgo.com)
- Inquiry: Does a New Republic redesign mean a change of tune? (for Print)
- Interview: James Surowiecki on what's next for the wisdom of crowds (for Assignment Zero)
- Interviews: four up-and-coming designers under 30 (for Print)
- Profile: novelist and dance critic Laura Jacobs (for Newsday)
Blogroll highlights
- Box Office Boffo
- World of Pollux
- Jonathan Taylor
- Carolita Johnson
- Songs for blogroll lovers (more links)
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Comments
Sorry, Emily, I don’t know Johnny, or if he really knows cartoons. What else I didn’t know is that you are native Madtowner. (Also the home of cartoonists Mueller and Molvig.) Another bit of Madisonian New Yorker trivia is that my cartoon “Meet your sales numbers this month, Feldman, and you can have your head back” was an homage to Mr. Michael “Whad’Ya Know?” Feldman, to whom I presented a hand-drawn version to after his radio program. He, of course, thought I was totally nuts, but finally figured things out after a couple of e-mails. I’m currently trying to hook Mr. Feldman up with Mr. Diffee for a Rejection Collection II chat on the air.
Here’s my latest effort in caption contests and endless self promotion…feel free to play!
You’ll never mention me again, and Mr. Diffee may not either, so here’s a fun interview in which Mr. Diffee talked about my wienie (cartoon). Just click where it says “Listen Now.”
I love that Mad Town trivia, Michael! Bring that man a cheese curd!
Thanks for choosing my caption, Michael! I am the one who won the contest at the Mizzou mag. I love my framed artwork and will treasure it for as long as my Ebay auction lasts! staceyld@wks.com