Comments on: Cartoon Caption Contest Results — Barber Shop

By: Sol Morrison

Sol Morrison — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 17:58:42 +0000

John : I’ll betcha’ got FEWER entries with this Cartoon than with previous Rosandich cartoons. Why not take a “Barber Poll” and find out WHY ? And can we also hear from Dan Rosandich himself on this one ? Thank You , Sol M –

By: Sol Morrison

Sol Morrison — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 17:36:01 +0000

I did not enter this specific contest; just not enough Visual
“cues to work with.” I see this cartoon as too explicit ; too limiting. ( No third person or animal reacting. No “unusual” tools of the trade visible. Even the sign in the window is pretty “straight-forward ” — has to say ” Barber.” )
So your correspondents did well (I think ). I personally think the “ideas” in the LAST 3 or 4 “Honorable Mentions” are the
most clever. And This : Most of the entries could use a good
“Pruning” — to Sharpen the Punch. –Sol M –

By: John Kinde

John Kinde — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 01:14:58 +0000

1. Generally, the punch words go at the end. And the goal is fewer words. Based on that, “the new judge will be Randy Jackson’s translator,” is probably funnier.

2. Good humor is a numbers game. How about writing ten more Randy Jackson punch lines?

3. Broaden your horizons by writing jokes for Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul. You may discover that your best line is for Simon or Paula. Or how about Ryan Seacrest?

4. Test your joke lines on friends. If you belong to a Toastmasters club, try the lines at a meeting. The audience is the final judge of what’s funny.

By: Gary Bachman

Gary Bachman — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 05:28:56 +0000

One of the biggest problems I have in humor writing is finding the right words for maximum humor impact. For example, I recently wrote a joke about American Idol adding a fourth judge. One possible punchline is “the new judge will be Randy Jackson’s translator.” Another possible punchline is “American Idol is also considering adding a fifth person to translate for Randy Jackson.” I have no idea which is funnier (or if either is funny). What do you do in a case like this? Are there any guidelines for choosing the right words? Thanks for any help.

By: Gary Bachman

Gary Bachman — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 01:34:20 +0000

The first place entry from Jeanette is really funny. That is what is interesting about humor writing. People come up with funny lines from angles you never even considered. Kudos to her.