Saturday, May 02, 2026

Name That Tune

This is the weekly dispatch from Bizarro Studios North, where I have been writing and drawing the Monday through Saturday Bizarro comics since 2018. My partner and friend, Dan Piraro, created Bizarro in the late twentieth century and continues to do the Sunday comic from Rancho Bizarro in Mexico.

Wayno 

Don’t play everything (or every time); let some things go by. Some music just imagined.

Thelonious Monk 


Thursday, April 30, was International Jazz Day, a holiday declared in 2011 by UNESCO and its Goodwill Ambassador Herbie Hancock "to highlight jazz and its diplomatic role of uniting people in all corners of the globe."

The globe needs any unifying influence it can get these days, so let's all take a few minutes to listen to some jazz, or any music that gets to your heart, for that matter.

Thelonious Monk was a musician who did things his way, and he was very good at creating spaces in his compositions and playing. Sometime around 1960, saxophonist Steve Lacy transcribed "T. Monk's Advice," a list of 25 pointers for musicians, which can also be applied to artists and creators of any kind.

I refer to the list now and then, and mentally adapt some of the items. I interpret the one above as:
Don't draw everything... Leave some things to be imagined. 
It's not always easy to follow that advice. One of the pleasures of reading gag cartoons is the part that exists in the reader's mind. It's usually best to eliminate unnecessary details and let the reader imagine what has happened immediately before or just after whatever is depicted in the panel. On the other hand, Bizarro's readers expect to see some unnecessary details in the form of our Secret Symbols. On the rare occasions when a panel has none of them, we hear about it.

Will Elder, one of the greatest cartoonists of all time, liked to take the opposite approach, cramming his comics pages with tons of humorous details, which he called "chicken fat."
The term just came out of what we both [Harvey Kurtzman and Elder] knew were the parts of the strip that gave it more flavor but did very little to advance the storyline. That's what Chicken Fat does... it advances the flavor of the soup and, as we all know now, too much chicken fat will kill you!
Rules for artists are like recipes for cooks. They can be followed religiously or taken as suggestions, with flexibility for individual expression. What's most important is to be aware of what one is doing and think about what may be too much or too little of any ingredient. That comes with experience, and the learning never stops.

 

 

Faithful Bizarro field correspondent Jamie S. sends us this subdued portrait of Moe Howard of the Three Stooges. It looks like the photo was colorized, but I'm not sure.



I'd seen this image around the web before, but every one was extremely low-resolution, so I was happy to receive a better quality version to share on the blog.

Pittsburgh's Paul Shannon was one of several local TV hosts who helped revive the Stooges' career in the 1960s. My brothers and I were introduced to the Three Stooges shorts via Shannon's program, Adventure Time. My brothers and I spent countless hours being schooled by Doctor Howard, Doctor Fine, and Doctor Howard.

A tip of the hat and a simulated poke in the eye to Jamie for the great pipe pic.

We'll now review the most recent Bizarro gags, which may contain trace amounts of chicken fat.

Drawing the face from inside the clock was surprisingly disorienting.

The strip frame didn't have enough headroom to show much of the clock face, so I hinted at it via light shining through the glass. I spent more time on this strip than on any other in the week.

They grow up so fast.

Nobody forgets the names of these folks.

Poor Max is often out of frame in family photos.

I hoped treaders would hear "Pop Goes the Weasel" in their heads, but even if they didn't, it's clear the instrument in question can only play one song.

I did another Beethoven gag a couple of weeks back. I prefer this one.


The other character in the drawing is based on Johann Nepomuk Hummel, a composer who was a friend of Ludwig's, because I like to do homework for a gag.

We close out the week with a couple of monks who aren't related to Thelonious.

That's the latest from my Little Shop of Humor. If you enjoyed this batch of cartoons and commentary, I hope you'll come back for more next Saturday.

Bonus Track

Thelonious Monk
"Rhythm-A-Ning"
Live in Brussels, Belgium, 1963




4 comments:
Labels: , , , ,

Saturday, April 25, 2026

Punctuation Preferences

This is the weekly dispatch from Bizarro Studios North, where I have been writing and drawing the Monday through Saturday Bizarro comics since 2018. My partner and friend, Dan Piraro, created Bizarro in the late twentieth century and continues to do the Sunday comic from Rancho Bizarro in Mexico.

Wayno 

 

Saturday has rolled around once again, so it's time for a fresh batch of cartoons for your enchucklement or bewilderment, as the case may be.


But first, we must behold today's bongo-thumping, finger-snapping pipe pic, which comes to us courtesy of Dug K.

Dug spotted the image on the Library of Congress blog.

These photos were found within a very large collection for show biz-related stills that arrived at the LC about seven or eight years ago. We have already tried online image searches and facial recog software—all to no avail. But we still hope that we can ID these folks.

After each photo, we have posted everything we know about the image. We’re just hoping someone can fill in that final and vital detail: who they actually are.

Regarding our unknown beatnik, the Library said:
Unlike the other photos shown here, this one does actually have something on the back.  In this case, it’s stamped "Cincinnati." And the cartoon is by Herb Gardner, though that is NOT Gardner in the photo. Nor is it David Mamet or Shel Silverstein, the latter, a popular guess. Many have commented that this image seems to be drawn from, or inspired by, the play "I’m Not Rappaport." Please help us solve this mystery.

A word of warning: If you visit the LoC blog, you'll probably spend more time than you intended exploring their vast collection of materials.

We tip our beret to Dug K for the cool & crazy image. Like, we dig, Dug!

Now let's review the latest Bizarro gags, which were created without any help from Herb Gardner, David Mamet, or Shel Silverstein.

As a reader on Comics Kingdom noted, "Confession is good for the scalp."

The placebo comes in your choice of a childproof pill bottle or a Pez dispenser.

The signage applies to both incoming and outgoing.

When you're on holiday, you can sleep late and still get the worm.

Don't get her started on em dashes.

Intrusive sales tactics go to the next level at Poetry Barn.

Thanks for dropping by to peruse these playful polygons. We'll be back next Saturday with a new batch of cartoons and commentary.

Bonus Track

Bob McFadden and Dor "The Beat Generation"
Brunswick Records 45 (1959)


Bob McFadden was a singer, impressionist, and voice-over artist. Among his many credits, he was the original voice of Frankenberry.

"Dor" was a pseudonym for Rod McKuen, who later sold tons of LPs and books featuring his hyper-sentimental poetry. McKuen wrote "The Beat Generation," and most listeners (this one included) are certain that "Dor" is the vocalist on this record.

Richard Hell later adapted McKuen's song for his 1976 single "(I Belong to) The Blank Generation."


8 comments:
Labels: , ,

Saturday, April 18, 2026

It's Alright Ma, I'm Only Blogging

This is the weekly dispatch from Bizarro Studios North, where I have been writing and drawing the Monday through Saturday Bizarro comics since 2018. My partner and friend, Dan Piraro, created Bizarro in the late twentieth century and continues to do the Sunday comic from Rancho Bizarro in Mexico.

Wayno 

 When you feel in your gut what you are and then dynamically pursue it—don't back down and don't give up—then you're going to mystify a lot of folks.

Bob Dylan


The 2026 leg of Bob Dylan's "Never Ending Tour" will come to my town this summer. He'll turn 85 next month, and the temperature in July could easily hit 85 degrees, and the show is scheduled for an outdoor venue. I'm debating getting tickets, knowing might talk myself into it because it could well be my final chance to see him perform live. I've told myself that several times in the past.

The quote that opens this post is a masterful bit of misdirection worthy of any magician, stand-up comedian, or cartoonist. It reads like a corny aphorism about doing what you love being its own reward, until you come to the last nine words, where he makes a verbal U-turn.

Dylan's lyrics express just about every human emotion, and I particularly enjoy his humorous side; notwithstanding "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35," better known as "Everybody Must Get Stoned," which I discussed a couple of years ago.

So, to paraphrase the Bard of Hibbing, I say:
Go forth and do what you enjoy. The creative act is good for your mental well-being, but don't expect people to "get it."
Today's midcentury modern pipe pic features Gregory Peck enjoying a smoke along with some literature.

The only information I could find is that it's a photo from around 1955. I've been trying to imagine what he's reading (or pretending to read) and wondering why he stacked those records on the shelf without keeping them in their paper sleeves. Sheesh!

Here are the latest cartoons, which are intended to amuse rather than mystify.

"Throwing in the Towel" is considerably longer than "Happiness," but every antonym I tried only made me cry.

Occam's razor as applied to Hans Christian Andersen: The least magical explanation is usually the best.

The suspect is believed to be armed and adorably retro.

An example of apocalyptic parenting.

It's all in the spelling, if not the pronunciation.

This is one of a pair of Beethoven gags I wrote in February. The second, which is better than this one, will run in May. Apologies to Charles Schulz's character, Schroeder.

That's the latest from the funny pages. Thanks for checking in. We'll share more of these shanigans next Saturday.

Bonus Track

Bob Dylan, "On the Road Again"
from Bringing It All Back Home
Columbia Records LP (1965)


A fine example of Dylan's surrealist humor.


15 comments:
Labels: , , , , ,

Saturday, April 11, 2026

Bang Zoom

This is the weekly dispatch from Bizarro Studios North, where I have been writing and drawing the Monday through Saturday Bizarro comics since 2018. My partner and friend, Dan Piraro, created Bizarro in the late twentieth century and continues to do the Sunday comic from Rancho Bizarro in Mexico.

Wayno 


Happy Saturday, O cherished cartoon community.

I have no pithy intro or inspiring quote to offer today, so I'm skipping ahead to our pipe pic of the week. It's a screen grab from the "Save It For Later" music video by The [English] Beat.


Canadian Bizarro field correspondent Petri V sent the image and noted:
The song came up in the news recently, and I watched the video and found this image of a woman with a pipe looking at an album cover with a friend. From your blog posts, I know that you are more than just a little bit interested in music, so I thought I would share it with you.
The 1982 music video features the band performing at a tiny subterranean club for an audience of blasé hipsters, who are eventually won over by the catchy tune. I'm reasonably certain that the gentleman in the beret is not my partner in comics, Dan Piraro.

Naturally, I had to determine what that album was and found that it was a 1960 compilation of songs by French performer Juliette Gréco, released in the US and Canada.

A tip of the the cocoanut straw porkpie to Petri for the image and for reminding me how much I like that song.

If you're as overwhelmed by current events as your cartoonist, perhaps you'd like to visit this week's cartoons for a few moments of escape.

From the day I wrote this gag until I uploaded the file for publication, I ping-ponged between using "would" and "could" in the dialogue. The difference is subtle, and a case could be made for either word. If we didn't have deadlines, I'd most likely still be wavering.

One imagines that authors would be grateful if this sort of thing were limited to a couple of hours per day.

When sequencing a week of cartoons, I schedule my favorite for Friday, but now I think this gag is the strongest in the batch. I like the drawing, and the joke takes an extra beat or two to land. Also, the panel references a familiar character without showing him or even mentioning the name.

My newsletter for the week goes into detail about formatting the panel and strip versions of this gag, for those interested in the nuts and bolts.

In its original 1950s incarnation, kids were expected to use actual potatoes to play with this toy, and the potato was literally just the head.

The plastic facial features and hats were backed with sharp spikes. Potato Head-related injuries must have been common in those days.

Friday's highbrow/lowbrow gag is notable for its reduplicative caption and is based on fuzzy memories of impressionists on variety shows. It seems that phrases such as "It goes something like this" were mandated by the FCC.

The week ends with a play on two meanings of "orientation."

Thanks for dropping by. Come back again next Saturday for another six-pack of pictures with words. 

Please feel free to add your comments. I enjoy hearing from you!

Bonus Track

Todd Rundgren: "Onomatopoeia"
From Hermit of Mink Hollow
Bearsville Records LP, 1978


Rundgren made all of the noises on this album by himself.


17 comments:
Labels: , , , , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)