# Larson comic - what's the funny **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** comic-strips\ **Created:** [September 20, 2023, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434 "2023-09-20T20:09:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![2\_More\_Bits](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/2_more_bits/32/4148_2.png) [@2\_More\_Bits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2_More_Bits)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2024, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/121 "2024-06-20T20:49:13Z")
All 4 of those strips are astoundingly funny to me. (I’m a big fan) ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2024, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/122 "2024-06-20T21:52:34Z")
this one is my favorite: [![](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/47/8e/d8/478ed8149f39419110a379386558ee18.jpg) ](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/47/8e/d8/478ed8149f39419110a379386558ee18.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2024, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/123 "2024-06-20T22:27:20Z")
The tornado panel is brilliant. I’m not sure I understand the Stradivarius one. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2024, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/124 "2024-06-20T22:49:27Z")
Today, Stradivarii are extremely expensive collectors’ items, sought out by the finest professional musicians. In the cartoon, he is a small-town carpenter, peddling cheap fiddles to any parent who has a child trying to learn. ---
**Author:** ![2\_More\_Bits](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/2_more_bits/32/4148_2.png) [@2\_More\_Bits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2_More_Bits)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2024, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/125 "2024-06-20T22:52:17Z")
I prefer to think he is peddling fine violins but is forced by the marketplace to promote his business in this undignified manner. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2024, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/126 "2024-06-20T22:54:07Z")
My first thought was that, given the taped on sign and his staring-at-the-street stance that he was having trouble selling them at all. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2024, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/127 "2024-06-20T23:09:52Z")
My guess is that Larson passed by a musical instrument store which was advertising much like that and considered how funny it would be if Antonio Stradivari was forced to advertise the same way. Today, one of his instruments might cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to a collector. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2024, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/128 "2024-06-20T23:18:49Z")
The guy in the panel is Jack Stradivarius, Antonio’s cousin and the lesser success of the family business. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2024, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/129 "2024-06-20T23:18:54Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Today, one of his instruments might cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to a collector. They can go for a tad more than hundreds of thousands: The Messiah Antonio Stradivari - $20 million The Lady Blunt Antonio Stradivari - 15.9 million The ‘Da Vinci’ Ex-Seidel Antonio Stradivari - 15.3 million ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2024, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/130 "2024-06-20T23:28:14Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > They can go for a tad more than hundreds of thousands: Sure, “hundreds of thousands” is the _low_ end of the price scale, if you are talking about an actual Stradivari instrument made by Antonio. He also made cellos, violas, and a small handful of other stringed instruments. I also saw that a decade ago someone tried to sell one of his violas in an auction on Sotheby’s with a starting price of $45M, but nobody was willing to go that high. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2024, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/131 "2024-06-20T23:35:14Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Sure, “hundreds of thousands” is the _low_ end of the price scale, if you are talking about an actual Stradivari instrument made by Antonio. Isn’t that what we are talking about? And you said _might_ cost, to me that indicates the high end. > [@Atamasama](#): > > … how funny it would be if Antonio Stradivari was forced to advertise the same way. Today, one of his instruments might cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to a collector. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2024, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/132 "2024-06-20T23:36:21Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > And you said _might_ cost, to me that indicates the high end. Sorry, I meant that’s how much you might expect to have to spend if you wanted one today, which is funny if you’re getting something to teach your kid how to play. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2024, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/133 "2024-06-20T23:43:38Z")
All good. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2024, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/134 "2024-06-20T23:48:39Z")
Sometimes I so not good write when type. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2024, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/135 "2024-06-20T23:56:05Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > It’s mean and cruel, not funny at all. > [@Cheesesteak](#): > > > [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > > > Why is the dogs owner trying to hurt her? > > The dog is named Fifi. > > It’s right in the panel. This is the definitive answer. Well done, @Cheesesteak. But really, it has to do with your appreciation for cartoon violence. If this had happened in the real world, it would of course be mean and cruel and not funny. Why/when/whether cartoon violence is funny is a question that may be too philosophically deep for the current thread. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2024, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/136 "2024-06-21T00:09:15Z")
I just want to say that I have never seen a Far Side cartoon that went too far. ---
**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:** [June 21, 2024, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/137 "2024-06-21T00:27:05Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > But really, it has to do with your appreciation for cartoon violence. If this had happened in the real world, it would of course be mean and cruel and not funny. Why/when/whether cartoon violence is funny is a question that may be too philosophically deep for the current thread. In the classic toons tho they usually punched _up_, not down, as is the case here. Yeah that can and has been subverted (see Itchy and Scratchy), but as an animal lover this one didn’t really do it for me. Larson has had many pet strips which play that straight of course. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2024, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/138 "2024-06-21T00:52:50Z")
> [@John\_W.Kennedy](#): > > We’ll hang Jeff Davis from a sour apple tree. (X3) > As we go marching on! ??? OHHhh, _Jefferson_ Davis! This being a thread about comic strips, my brain first went to _Garfield_ creator _Jim_ Davis. Which struck me as appealing. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2024, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/139 "2024-06-21T00:53:59Z")
Talk about misdirection! I stared at the catapult cartoon for at least ten seconds, trying to figure out what was funny, before I noticed the guy in the upper left corner! ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2024, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/140 "2024-06-21T01:11:15Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Oh I love that one too. That’s a classic. One of the fun things about that (to me) is that there’s actually a brand of hot dogs I’ve seen named FUD. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434.md?page=8)