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
If
one has occasion as a doctor to make the acquaintance of one of those
people who, though not remarkable in other ways, are well known in their
circle as jokers and the originators of many viable jokes, one may be
surprised to discover that the joker is a disunited personality,
disposed to neurotic disorders.
Sigmund Freud from Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious
Greetings from Hollywood Gardens, PA, where your cartoonist is feeling gratitude for modern conveniences. Around ten o'clock Monday morning, a water main break interrupted our neighborhood's water service. By early evening, it hadn't yet been restored, so my spouse and I walked to a nearby restaurant and enjoyed a meal together on a lovely spring evening.
When I woke up Tuesday morning, the pipes were still dry, and I couldn't focus on anything other than the fact that my system needed caffeine, stat! I jumped in the car and went in search of coffee.
By the time I returned, the repairs were complete and everything was functioning normally, but I was grumbling about having to drink coffee from a certain ubiquitous chain. A quick shower moderated my mood but didn't wash away the realization that in less than twenty-four hours, I'd become a muttering crank.
Fortunately, I confined my poor behavior to the home, and my spouse and I had a good laugh about it. The incident reminded me how absolutely spoiled we are by having everything we might need at our fingertips at all times.
Perhaps an occasional service interruption isn't so terrible if it makes us think twice before ranting about a minor inconvenience.
I recovered from my temporary neurotic disorder, and for the rest of the week, my home-brewed java tasted better than usual. Maybe I learned a small lesson.
A family member suggested today's pipe pic of Fred MacMurray, who has appeared in the blog before.
On April 10 (National Sibling Day) I sent both of my brothers an old family photo of the three of us. As kids, we watched My Three Sons on TV every week, and my middle brother remarked that in those days, we related to the titular sons (Robbie, Chip, and Ernie) but now all three of us are more like their grumpy caretaker Uncle Charley.
L-R: Barry Livingston ("Ernie"), William Demarest ("Uncle Charley"), Stanley Livingston ("Chip"), Don Grady ("Robbie")
I'm approaching the age where I feel more like Uncle Charley's predecessor, Bub (portrayed by William Frawley).
Let's check out this week's Bizarro comics, which Dr. Freud might have said are the product of a disunited personality.
For Tax Day, we presented a method to stimulate business. My first idea was candy toothbrushes, but this seemed to work better.
I wondered if it would be possible to do a Narcissus joke without including the name or drawing the trope of him admiring himself in a pond. I think the character's body language and facial expression do a decent job of showing personality type, but I also gave him a monogrammed belt buckle.
I resisted the temptation to call the ride the Tunnel of Self-Love.
They refer to themselves as Original Gagstas.
It's more convenient, but it doesn't have that warm analog sound.
I scanned an old clothbound volume to get a funky texture for the book in this panel. We spare no effort to bring you quality cartoon content here at BizarroCo.
Some advertising characters have dark psychological subtexts.
That, my friends, is the latest from my Little Shop of Humor. Thank you for visiting. We'll have another batch of new stuff next week.
Bonus Track
The Lively Set: "There's Nothing Like Coffee" Straight Ahead Records single, 1966
Sascha Burland, who cowrote this tune, was a jazz musician who earned a living writing commercial jingles, cartoon music, and novelty songs like this one. Burland and his frequent collaborator Don Elliott recorded as The Nutty Squirrels, a jazzed-up response to the Chipmunks.
An Abundance of Bizarro
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I sometimes slip into muttering crank mode myself, but I have been working on improving over the last couple of years. We are getting a coffee shop from that ubiquitous chain nearby and are hoping it won't put a locally owned place we like out of business.
Ah, My Three Sons! What a great old show. Also I agree that there's nothing like coffee (as I take another sip).
ReplyDeleteI'm with you, Judi.
DeleteI sometimes slip into muttering crank mode myself, but I have been working on improving over the last couple of years. We are getting a coffee shop from that ubiquitous chain nearby and are hoping it won't put a locally owned place we like out of business.
ReplyDeleteI hear you! Local cafes are a treasure.
DeleteIf we form a band together, I guess we can call it The Muttering Cranks.
I'd have to brush up on my guitar playing. And get a guitar. Hallie plays the flute.
DeleteAlways look forward to your weekly blog. It’s the highlight of my week.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Anonymous!
DeleteThe Tunnel of Love panel is perfect! I'm so glad you resisted the temptation to add any more to it - that would have spoiled it.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your kind comment! Thanks for that!
Delete