# I don't get today's "Mister Boffo" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 9, 2006, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-todays-mister-boffo/375826 "2006-10-09T18:41:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-todays-mister-boffo/375826/1 "2006-10-09T18:41:08Z")
Never mind Doonesbury; I can’t even figure out Mister Boffo: > **[The Mister Boffo World Wide Web Homepage -](http://www.mrboffo.com/)** > > Syndicated cartoonist, Joe Martin, showcases his four comic features: Mr. Boffo, Willy 'n Ethel, Cats With Hands, and Porterfield. Oddly Enuff Greeting Cards - Funny Christmas Cards. Joe Martin creates over 1300 comics a year earning him a place in... OK, he thought he didn’t need to feed the meter, but the meter maid proved him wrong. Where is the humor in this? Is this keyed to the fact that today is Columbus Day? Is there an epidemic of illegal parking on minor holidays? I feel like I’m missing something here. Am I? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-todays-mister-boffo/375826/2 "2006-10-09T18:51:14Z")
Is Mr. Boffo _supposed_ to be funny? ---
**Author:** ![Khampelf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Khampelf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khampelf)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-todays-mister-boffo/375826/3 "2006-10-09T19:31:41Z")
My (not so) WAG is yes, a lot of communities waive parking fees on Holidays when the city offices would be closed. The point being, non-essential employees have the day off, and Parking enforcement is non-essential. Who’s downtown anyway, with the Government Offices closed? Plenty of parking for remaining retail traffic. The subtext is Don’t trust the Government to change this without notice. And yeah, it’s just not particularly funny. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-todays-mister-boffo/375826/4 "2006-10-09T19:46:20Z")
It’s the meter maid, not Boffo, who’s the subject of the caption. The humor, as I see it, is the irony of describing a mundane activity like handing out parking tickets with an overwrought phrase like “exploding the myth”. It’s a little weak in my opinion. The Onion also frequently does this kind of joke. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-todays-mister-boffo/375826/5 "2006-10-09T20:19:54Z")
[QUOTE=Miller] Is Mr. Boffo _supposed_ to be funny? [/QUOTE] Well, if he is, he does a piss-poor job of it. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-todays-mister-boffo/375826/6 "2006-10-09T20:32:54Z")
He’s the only one there. The whole purpose of parking meters is to make room for other people. Today’s isn’t very amusing, but generally, “Mr. Boffo” is hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-todays-mister-boffo/375826/7 "2006-10-10T01:16:02Z")
[QUOTE=Miller] Is Mr. Boffo _supposed_ to be funny? [/QUOTE] It certainly isn’t very well drawn. For years (after I first saw it when I was in NJ for a few years) I thought that the strip had this weird disembodied head which would often appear in the final panel as a sort of counterpoint/silent commentary. Finally figured it out that it was supposed to be Boffo’s dog (I think)… ---
**Author:** ![audiobottle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@audiobottle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audiobottle)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-todays-mister-boffo/375826/8 "2006-10-10T02:32:48Z")
I assume the joke is that today is Columbus Day, but it’s one of those psuedo-holidays that only some people get off. It’s not funny, but that’s what I read. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-todays-mister-boffo/375826/9 "2006-10-10T02:35:21Z")
[QUOTE=js\_africanus] Today’s isn’t very amusing, but generally, “Mr. Boffo” is hilarious. [/QUOTE] Cite?! I don’t think I’ve ever seen a comic as totally devoid of humor as _Mr. Boffo_, with the sole exception of that excremental comic his son did for a little while. He makes _Cathy_ look like _Bloom County_. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-todays-mister-boffo/375826/10 "2006-10-10T02:41:40Z")
One out of every 20 or 30 Boffos is gut-bustingly hilarious. Of the remainder, two or three might be good for a chuckle, 20 or 25 will be repetitious and lame, and a few will leave me scratching my head, like today. I put up with the repetitious and lame ones for the occasional payoff. Example: Two doctors are scrubbing down after surgery. “Field this one”, one says, like he’s going to ask a tough medical question. “You’re halfway through a heart transplant . . . and you find out it’s the _wrong patient_!!” Long pause. “How do you handle the _billing_?” ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-todays-mister-boffo/375826/11 "2006-10-10T04:13:28Z")
Personally, I usually enjoy Boffo. Admittedly this was not one of the better strips. ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-todays-mister-boffo/375826/12 "2006-10-10T13:24:03Z")
[QUOTE=Miller] Cite?! [/QUOTE] Explaining “Mr. Boffo” is as pointless as explaining “The Far Side.”