Funny Stuff is a tribute to a unique art form: the single-panel gag cartoon. It looks at why so many of us enjoy cartoons, and what makes for a great cartoon. Authors Phil Witte and Rex Hesner consider how cartoonists can present a complex or odd scenario that we immediately grasp, and what enables us to “get” the humor in a flash. Based on interviews with cartoonist legends—Roz Chast, Sam Gross, Harry Bliss, Joe Dator, Mick Stevens, and many others—Funny Stuff will show how cartoons reveal much about the psyches of their creators. For instance: Roz Chast, known for her neurotic cartoon characters, feared she might die taking a bath because the tub could crash through the floor.
The text is abundant with cartoons illustrating the observations of Witte and Hesner. They point to cartoonists who rely on common situations (the desert island, Garden of Eden, hell) and stock characters (the pirate, business executive, scientist), as well as cartoonists who subvert these conventions. They analyze types of humor: absurd, dark, ironic, satirical. They address how the wording of a caption can mean the difference between a cartoon succeeding and almost succeeding, and the extra degree of difficulty required of the caption-less cartoon. They discuss cartooning as an art form, and specifically how the artwork of the best cartoons supports the humor.
This book features a foreword written by Bob Mankoff, former cartoon editor at The New Yorker and a legend in the cartoon world.
Phil Witte is a cartoonist and author. His cartoons have been published in dozens of publications in the U.S. and U.K., including The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, Reader’s Digest, Private Eye, and New Statesman. His joke book What You Don’t Know About Turning 50 (Hachette/Running Press) and the sequel on turning 60 have sold more than 170,000 copies to date. His humor writ-ing has appeared in American Bystander, Slackjaw, and many other print and digital publications. He has also written articles for publications ranging from The Washington Post to The Bangkok Post. He was an artist-in-residence at the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco and the Charles Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, California. Phil is a member of the National Cartoonist Society, elected by his peers.
Rex Hesner writes, with Phil, the Anatomy of a Cartoon blog on the CartoonStock site. Before that, he and Phil co-wrote the weekly Cartoon Companion blog, critiquing New Yorker cartoons. They developed a devoted following among cartoonists and cartoon enthusiasts.
"Funny Stuff is a delightful, engaging, and illuminating book about the nichiest of niche professions: magazine cartooning. What is a cartoon, and who are these oddballs who think them up as a JOB?!? Desert islands, grim reapers, talking dogs, cave people, regular people sitting on sofas, and the terrifying, hilarious connection between anxiety and humor ... Its all here." — Roz Chast, New Yorker cartoonist and best-selling author
"If you only buy Funny Stuff for the 100 great cartoons, you’d be getting your money’s worth. But the real bang for the yuck comes from what cartoonist Phil Witte and cartoon aficionado Rex Hesner have to say about them. They’re evangelists of the single-panel gag cartoon, without which The New Yorker wouldn’t be The New Yorker. And once they guide you, genre by genre, comic trope by comic trope, through their one-of-a-kind cartoon appreciation course, you will be too." — Bob Mankoff, former cartoon editor of The New Yorker
