Far Sided
Thursday, October 30, 2003Promoting the release of the mammoth The Complete Far Side, Gary Larson is interviewed on NPR. You can listen to the interview (and some web-only soundbytes) on their website.
It almost seems jokelike to hear Larson explain, when asked how he spends his time now that the comic strip is behind him, that he’s concentrating on his music. I’m sure he’s a talented guitarist, but it seems like such a cliche answer…
Listening to Bob Edwards, however, describing his favourite Far Side panels directly to Gary Larson himself (punchline and all) is like listening to your father retell a joke he heard, but doesn’t quite get the delivery right.
That being said, what’s your favourite Far Side? Mine’s the one in which an old lady sits in her house and one of her dogs says to the other: “Want to see something funny? I’m going to stare at the closet and just growl.”
Joe says:
The one that comes to my mind right away is one with this guy in a telephone booth on a hill that has a sign that reads “Blueberry Hill.” There is a power drill lying on the ground beside the phone booth. The guy in the phone booth says to the guy on the other line, “Hey, Norm? You were right. I found my drill.”
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Zombie Claire says:
That being said, what’s your favourite Far Side? Mine’s the one in which an old lady sits in her house and one of her dogs says to the other: “Want to see something funny? I’m going to stare at the closet and just growl.”
OMG that’s MY FAVOURITE I told you about last month! What can I say is my favourite now? That one is my favourite. DAMMIT JOHNNY now I will have to say my favourite is “cow tools” but I don’t really GET “cow tools”!!! Maybe the School for the Gifted with the kid pushing the pull door? DAMN.
Robot Johnny says:
I have no recollection of us ever talking about the Far Side! That one’s always been my favourite! Great minds think alike I guess…
Robot Johnny says:
I’m also partial to the one with the woman entering her house with a basket of eggs and as she does she passes one of the chickens carrying the baby out…
FInk says:
Trying to think of a favourite Far Side is like trying to think of my favourite slice of pizza. They were all so damn good, that no sooner would I think of one amazing slice that I would remember another. And much like pizza, it’s very rare that you would get a bad Far Side.
Having said that, I have never forgotten the one where a group of doctors and nurses are standing around a patient poking his brain to make his body do weird stuff.
Now that was a good slice.
Llord says:
I agree, it’s hard to have a favourite.
I like the school for gifted children one. Also the fake harpoon gag.
I don’t know..there are so many!
Keri says:
Bummer of a birthmark, Hal.
(Cat Fud) Oh please… Oh please…
Look at me! I’m a cowboy! Howdy howdy howdy!
Damn the electric fence! Damn the electric fence!
kartooner says:
Four words:
Larson is a god.
My Dad kept a mug in his office for years with one of the Far Side cartoons on it, at the moment can’t remember which one it was—but he loved it.
It sat on the shelf right next to Bart Simpson.
Llord says:
“damn the electric fence” is the winner! That’s my favourite.
Sue says:
Favorite Larson - I have it pinned up at work as my boss is really into UFOs. Dog at front door of old lady’s house and hovering just behind him in sky is a space ship with dogs. Punch line goes sort of - something like “the day has finally come - Now I want you to lie down and roll over.” Didn’t do Larsen justice - but you get the drift.
Anna says:
I know I’ll screw it up completely if I try to recount the whole thing, so I’ll just say it’s the one with the stegasaurus holding a press conference and he remarks that they all have brains the size of walnuts.
I know I screwed that up. But I think it’s funny anyway.
Anna says:
I also like “full moon and empty head”. That’s a good one.
SPU says:
“Prehistoric microscopes”
There are two cavemean, and one is sitting high atop this large wooden microscope-shaped contraption, and there is a woolly mammoth beneath it. The caveman peers through a hole in the top and reports his findings: “It’s a mammoth”.
ARJ says:
For some reason I can’t pinpoint, my favorite Far Side is the one with the vultures all huddled around what is obviously a body, except for one goofball who is wearing a cowboy hat taken from said body, saying, “Hey everybody, look at me! I’m a cowboy! Howdy, howdy, howdy!”
Gets me every time.
Maybe I’m just morbid.
emily says:
I’m agreeing with Keri; “Bummer of a birthmark, Hal” always makes me laugh. There is something totally funny about the name “Hal”.
Joe says:
I also like the “family mules” one.
Giles says:
The school for the gifted hung on my wall for years; when I saw the boxed set, that was the first one I thought of.
Good call, Llord, but as been said, it’s impossible to go wrong.
Amanda says:
I love the one where the cows are chatting it up on their hind legs only to get down on all fours again once cars begin to approach!
God Bless Gary for his genius.
Scott says:
Favorite Far Side has got to be the one under the sea with two jellyfish and two outhouses with the caption: Only they know the difference.
Lori says:
Here’s a good one and it’s only ABOUT the Far Side.
Cheers bar in Boston. Woody sets the comics aside and sighs “I don’t get The Far Side”. Frazier immediately attempts to explain the cartoon (can’t remember which one but it may have been the standing cows). Woody then says “No, I mean my paper doesn’t print it, but thanks for making me feel like an idiot”. This is a great gag and EVERYONE gets it.
Ravi says:
Hard to pick just one, so here’s a bunch:
“The real reason why Dinasours became extinct” (They are all smoking)
Kid with a tiny head to the teacher: “May I be excused? My brain is full”
A prehistoric scientist with a huge rectal thermometer approaching a mammoth: The caption goes something like “the mammoth was startled, and whether mammoths are warm blooded has remained a mystery ever since”
The drill on blueberry hill is also funny!!