# New Yorker caption contest: I wuz robbed **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 25, 2005, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-yorker-caption-contest-i-wuz-robbed/327752 "2005-10-25T00:32:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-yorker-caption-contest-i-wuz-robbed/327752/21 "2005-10-25T19:15:33Z")
Hey gang, it’s _The New Yorker_. You can’t be zany, sophomoric, sarcastic or arcane. You have to be _wry._ Try this: Put on wire-rimmed glasses and a bowtie and do crossword puzzles with a fountain pen before sitting down to write more captions. Preferably in a leather chair with all the studs in it, like the kind lawyers use. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-yorker-caption-contest-i-wuz-robbed/327752/22 "2005-10-25T19:52:29Z")
I thought all four were dry-New Yorker funny. > [@Beware of Doug](#): > > Preferably in a leather chair with all the studs in it, like the kind lawyers use. Who the Hell’s your lawyer, Robert Mapplethorpe? ---
**Author:** ![Plynck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Plynck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plynck)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-yorker-caption-contest-i-wuz-robbed/327752/23 "2005-10-25T19:52:35Z")
I liked it **Biffy**. It had that Mondrian/Monarch thing going on… My preference was for the last one. In fact, I was thinking along almost exactly the same lines before I knew that I could read the finalists’ captions, and came up with this: _“It doesn’t do anything for me, but I really score with Neo-Plasticist chicks.”_ ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-yorker-caption-contest-i-wuz-robbed/327752/24 "2005-10-25T19:57:18Z")
Every so often they’re actually funny. I have [this](http://www.cartoonbank.com/product_details.asp?mscssid=T0D7MNVJUDWU8J5CK2D47QS3TBRPDR5B&sitetype=1&did=4&sid=120674&whichpage=1&sortBy=popular&keyword=babar§ion=cartoons) one up on my cubicle wall, but then I’m a librarian and I do the Times crossword, so I might be wryer than I think. ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-yorker-caption-contest-i-wuz-robbed/327752/25 "2005-10-25T20:07:17Z")
**Biffy** , I’ll give you the nod. I don’t think any of the three finalists are much to speak of – but then I rarely do. In fact, I don’t see this contest lasting much longer. It’s been pretty dismal so far. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-yorker-caption-contest-i-wuz-robbed/327752/26 "2005-10-25T20:14:56Z")
You have to be in a certain frame of mind, I think, but if you are, then the New Yorker cartoons are consistently–mostly–pretty damn funny. They tend to run to the non sequitur and the surreal, rather than the easy punchline. But they can be pretty damn funny. Doctor’s office receptionist, on the phone: “I’m sorry, the doctor no longer makes phone calls.” Dorothy and Toto are tied to a tree. The Cowardly Lion says to the Scarecrow and the Tin Man: “You get her heart, you get her brain, and I get to eat the dog!” First frame: drowning boy shouts to collie on the shore: “Lassie! Get help” Second frame: collie on his back on a psychiatrist’s couch, as the doctor takes notes. ONe of my favorite NYer cartoonists is Booth, whose stuff was simply startingly surreal; the [surprise](http://www.cartoonbank.com/product_details.asp?mscssid=B7H8CWSX9U1E8KUMADGHH235A8CL7XX5&sitetype=1&did=4&sid=40996&pid=&keyword=booth§ion=cartoons&title=undefined&whichpage=6&sortBy=popular) is what makes you laugh. Well, it’s what makes me laugh. [Another](http://www.cartoonbank.com/product_details.asp?mscssid=B7H8CWSX9U1E8KUMADGHH235A8CL7XX5&sitetype=1&did=4&sid=35440&pid=&advanced=1&keyword=undefined&artist=Bruce+Eric+Kaplan§ion=cartoons&caption=&artID=&topic=&pubDateFrom=&pubDateTo=&pubDateMon=&pubDateDay=&pubNY=&color=0&title=undefined&whichpage=3&sortBy=popular)[favorite](http://www.cartoonbank.com/product_details.asp?mscssid=B7H8CWSX9U1E8KUMADGHH235A8CL7XX5&sitetype=1&did=4&sid=43662&pid=&advanced=1&keyword=undefined&artist=Bruce+Eric+Kaplan§ion=cartoons&caption=&artID=&topic=&pubDateFrom=&pubDateTo=&pubDateMon=&pubDateDay=&pubNY=&color=0&title=undefined&whichpage=6&sortBy=popular)[is](http://www.cartoonbank.com/product_details.asp?mscssid=B7H8CWSX9U1E8KUMADGHH235A8CL7XX5&sitetype=1&did=4&sid=38798&pid=&advanced=1&keyword=undefined&artist=Bruce+Eric+Kaplan§ion=cartoons&caption=&artID=&topic=&pubDateFrom=&pubDateTo=&pubDateMon=&pubDateDay=&pubNY=&color=0&title=undefined&whichpage=8&sortBy=popular) [Bruce](http://www.cartoonbank.com/product_details.asp?mscssid=B7H8CWSX9U1E8KUMADGHH235A8CL7XX5&sitetype=1&did=4&sid=41890&pid=&advanced=1&keyword=undefined&artist=Bruce+Eric+Kaplan§ion=cartoons&caption=&artID=&topic=&pubDateFrom=&pubDateTo=&pubDateMon=&pubDateDay=&pubNY=&color=0&title=undefined&whichpage=15&sortBy=popular) [Eric](http://www.cartoonbank.com/product_details.asp?mscssid=B7H8CWSX9U1E8KUMADGHH235A8CL7XX5&sitetype=1&did=4&sid=44339&pid=&advanced=1&keyword=undefined&artist=Bruce+Eric+Kaplan§ion=cartoons&caption=&artID=&topic=&pubDateFrom=&pubDateTo=&pubDateMon=&pubDateDay=&pubNY=&color=0&title=undefined&whichpage=21&sortBy=popular)[Kaplan.](http://www.cartoonbank.com/product_details.asp?mscssid=B7H8CWSX9U1E8KUMADGHH235A8CL7XX5&sitetype=1&did=4&sid=46587&pid=&advanced=1&keyword=undefined&artist=Bruce+Eric+Kaplan§ion=cartoons&caption=&artID=&topic=&pubDateFrom=&pubDateTo=&pubDateMon=&pubDateDay=&pubNY=&color=0&title=undefined&whichpage=18&sortBy=popular) [Dark,](http://www.cartoonbank.com/product_details.asp?mscssid=B7H8CWSX9U1E8KUMADGHH235A8CL7XX5&sitetype=1&did=4&sid=44076&pid=&advanced=1&keyword=undefined&artist=Bruce+Eric+Kaplan§ion=cartoons&caption=&artID=&topic=&pubDateFrom=&pubDateTo=&pubDateMon=&pubDateDay=&pubNY=&color=0&title=undefined&whichpage=28&sortBy=popular) [funny](http://www.cartoonbank.com/product_details.asp?mscssid=B7H8CWSX9U1E8KUMADGHH235A8CL7XX5&sitetype=1&did=4&sid=31914&pid=&advanced=1&keyword=undefined&artist=Bruce+Eric+Kaplan§ion=cartoons&caption=&artID=&topic=&pubDateFrom=&pubDateTo=&pubDateMon=&pubDateDay=&pubNY=&color=0&title=undefined&whichpage=33&sortBy=popular) [stuff.](http://www.cartoonbank.com/product_details.asp?mscssid=B7H8CWSX9U1E8KUMADGHH235A8CL7XX5&sitetype=1&did=4&sid=47058&pid=&advanced=1&keyword=undefined&artist=Bruce+Eric+Kaplan§ion=cartoons&caption=&artID=&topic=&pubDateFrom=&pubDateTo=&pubDateMon=&pubDateDay=&pubNY=&color=0&title=undefined&whichpage=35&sortBy=popular) ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-yorker-caption-contest-i-wuz-robbed/327752/27 "2005-10-25T20:50:37Z")
The New Yorker has the most consistently funny cartoonists going, ever since Gary Larson retired. And I adore the caption contest. It’s already produced a number of classics: A scientist in a lab full of cages of mice, dressed in a mouse costume. **More Important, though, is what I’ve learned about myself.** And then there’s the two guys sitting at a bar, looking perfectly normal except that one has a monkey tale. **Try telling that to the Kansas Board of Education.** This one is one my office door, and has produced a number of chuckles from co-workers. > [@](#): > > Here is one person who agrees with me. Color me unimpressed. To judge my the three captions that he wrote at the end of the article, this guy is of the Leno/Letterman school that all humor derives from stating that men are gay. Which has worked for Leno and Letterman, of course, but the New Yorker strives for a higher standard. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-yorker-caption-contest-i-wuz-robbed/327752/28 "2005-10-25T21:21:14Z")
Sorry, I didn’t find yours funny. I did find the “mature female” caption quite hilarious, though. Yes. I actually laughed out-loud at that one. (And I don’t normally laugh at New Yorker cartoons.) The soup-can one was just corny. The kids one was pretty good, too, and much more of a typical New Yorker cartoon–just enough to barely get you to crack the merest hint of a smile. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-yorker-caption-contest-i-wuz-robbed/327752/29 "2005-10-25T22:33:35Z")
Nothing masses the humor snobs on this board like _The New Yorker_. “Wry” humor, at best, can be expressed with a chortle. I find wry humor at its most pretentious when it alludes solely to fine arts aesthetics, mocks worldy \*ennui \* and expresses the sardonic sensibilities of the _noblesse oblige._ Fucking tedious. ONE cartoon so far was laugh out loud funny. Yay, **Zsofia.** I’ll never look at Babar the Elephant the same way again. Apparently I need a little vulgarity, cruelty and violence in my jokes. **Biffy,** your caption reminded me of Gary Larson, too. Nice. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-yorker-caption-contest-i-wuz-robbed/327752/30 "2005-10-25T22:40:38Z")
> [@ITR champion](#): > > A scientist in a lab full of cages of mice, dressed in a mouse costume. > **More Important, though, is what I’ve learned about myself.** That’s my favorite so far. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-yorker-caption-contest-i-wuz-robbed/327752/31 "2005-10-25T23:12:05Z")
Here would’ve been my entries: “Holy crap! A talking butterfly!” or “Canyou point me in the direction of Albuquerque” ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2005, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-yorker-caption-contest-i-wuz-robbed/327752/32 "2005-10-26T02:47:57Z")
> [@stuyguy](#): > > I didn’t think your cation was funny Gee, and I was positive you’d get a charge out of it. (Hey **Podkayne** , do you like chemistry jokes, too?) > [@ITR champion](#): > > A scientist in a lab full of cages of mice, dressed in a mouse costume. > More Important, though, is what I’ve learned about myself. > And then there’s the two guys sitting at a bar, looking perfectly normal except that one has a monkey tale. > Try telling that to the Kansas Board of Education. Just to prove that I’m not totally full of myself, I’ll point out that I submitted captions for both of those, but the winners were clearly better than my contributions. Thanks for the feedback, everybody. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2005, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-yorker-caption-contest-i-wuz-robbed/327752/33 "2005-10-26T04:24:44Z")
OK. I’m obviously having a whoosh moment. Although I’ve chimed in on the subject in my post above, I’m still not getting Biffy’s joke. I know who Piet Mondrian is. Is there a double meaning to “real Mondrians are toxic to butterflies” I’m missing…or…? I’m really afraid it’s something obvious, and I’ve avoided asking thus far, but now the curiosity is killing. Please! Explain the punchline! ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2005, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-yorker-caption-contest-i-wuz-robbed/327752/34 "2005-10-26T04:25:55Z")
_ahem_ “…toxic to birds” that should read. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2005, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-yorker-caption-contest-i-wuz-robbed/327752/35 "2005-10-26T04:34:15Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > _ahem_ “…toxic to birds” that should read. The Viceroy Butterfly evolved protective mimcry to look like the Monarch Butterfly. Birds don’t eat Monarchs because the plant the caterpillars eat, Milkweed, makes them toxic to birds. So, picture a [Viceroy](http://entweb.clemson.edu/museum/buttrfly/local/bfly12.jpg) saying, " . . . but real [Monarchs](http://www.150.si.edu/150trav/discover/d316a.jpg) are toxic to birds." ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2005, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-yorker-caption-contest-i-wuz-robbed/327752/36 "2005-10-26T06:00:29Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > The Viceroy Butterfly evolved protective mimcry to look like the Monarch Butterfly. Birds don’t eat Monarchs because the plant the caterpillars eat, Milkweed, makes them toxic to birds. > > So, picture a [Viceroy](http://entweb.clemson.edu/museum/buttrfly/local/bfly12.jpg) saying, " . . . but real [Monarchs](http://www.150.si.edu/150trav/discover/d316a.jpg) are toxic to birds." Way, way, over my head… Is this just common knowledge I slept through in grade school? ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2005, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-yorker-caption-contest-i-wuz-robbed/327752/37 "2005-10-26T12:59:11Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Way, way, over my head… Is this just common knowledge I slept through in grade school? Well, it’s somewhat common knowledge that in nature many creatures have adapted to look like other things that are dangerous without themselves being dangerous. Or at least I think it is. I knew vaguely of the Viceroy/Monarch example (I knew some butterflies did that), but I thought it was common knowledge that there are creatures that look like thorns, butterflies that look like their wings are the eyes of a large creature, that kind of thing. It was enough to go on to get Biffy’s joke, which I liked. . .at least as much as the too easy soup can one. ---
**Author:** ![kingpengvin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9dc877/32.png) [@kingpengvin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kingpengvin)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2005, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-yorker-caption-contest-i-wuz-robbed/327752/38 "2005-10-26T14:26:46Z")
For # 25… anyone can use it if they wish, as I’m not a US citizen: “Bill wasn’t taking any chances in the elevators after the last Chili Tuesday at work.” ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2005, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-yorker-caption-contest-i-wuz-robbed/327752/39 "2005-10-26T16:08:18Z")
> [@Biffy the Elephant Shrew](#): > > [The New Yorker caption contest.](http://www.newyorker.com/captioncontest/) > > I didn’t make the cut, but I still think my entry for Contest #23 was better than any of the three finalists. > Anyone agree? Not bad. A bit esoteric. But I won’t claim that I laughed or even snorted out a mouthful of coffee. My entries (had I but entered): “Why yes, if you must know, my mom did drop acid.” “And on my shoulder blade, I have the Chinese symbol for tranquility.” ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2005, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-yorker-caption-contest-i-wuz-robbed/327752/40 "2005-10-26T18:40:39Z")
> [@Trunk](#): > > Well, it’s somewhat common knowledge that in nature many creatures have adapted to look like other things that are dangerous without themselves being dangerous. Or at least I think it is. Well, that I knew from snakes. I never learned about the Viceroy butterfly, though. Guess I just couldn’t make the mental connection. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-yorker-caption-contest-i-wuz-robbed/327752.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-yorker-caption-contest-i-wuz-robbed/327752.md?page=3)