Surprised the Doper of the Same Name hasn’t appeared in this thread yet.
Of course like they’ll be able to say all that after noticing the goat before they become smears on the mountainside.
You just know that many of these career-specific ones became automatic tape-ups/tack-ups/et al. on refrigerators/bulletin boards/office cubbies across the country.
My fave, like much of Larson’s work (and unlike that of most of his imitators), works on several levels at once. Shipwreck survivor washes up on an island, and is greeted by a guy and his ventriloquist dummy:
“Hello friend, I am Ernie, and this is my pal Gus. Welcome to our island.”
[Dummy]: “Watch out mister, Ernie’s mad! He’ll eat you first chance he gets.”
“Ha ha, he’s only joking around, pay no attention.”
“No joke! He ate that German guy last year.”
“Shut up Gus! Now what’s your name, friend?”
“He’s maaaad! Mad, I tell you!”
Kind of like a Liar’s Paradox of a sort. If the “dummy” (Ernie) is telling the truth, then why would Ernie (who presumably does in fact want to “butter up” his new feast on two legs so he’ll let down his guard and become easy meat) have him say that? If the dummy is lying, then again what’s the point? You either conclude that Ernie is in fact bonkers (MPD), or that the dummy is actually sentient-but then why hasn’t Ernie chopped him into kindling so Gus won’t blow his cover? You could round and round on this about another dozen times if you wanted.
This thread reminds me, I can actually afford the whole collection now.