Pickles by Brian Crane for September 10, 2024

How about chartreus noses?

Beats brown ones…

I’ve told everyone that the song that I want to have sung at my funeral is Hocus Pocus by Focus.

How about live mice?

Clown noses might be a good idea.

The hearse pulls up; dozens of people pile out.

Not funny, Earl…

balloons

magic show

bouncy casket

hearsey rides

HAHAHAHA.

And in an unseen fifth panel, we find Earl sleeping on the sofa.

Then she would get up and walk out too, like Earl said previously.

It’s hard for funerals not to be sad, but a short service, no graveside ritual, and a well-catered party afterwards would help.

Say, I wonder if I could arrange for my cremains to be used for Ash Wednesday…

I will need to request that for my memorial!

I guess the next strip will be about Earl’s funeral…

Funerals are usually a chance for people who never see each other to get together again, which kind of takes the sad part away temporarily anyway.

I like funerals. I’ve been to a LOT of them, and they all have a couple of important elements — especially if the deceased was loved. First, people cry. There’s an element of sadness and finality that is healthy. It’s not necessarily good to skip over that part, so I’m all for going to the gravesite or whatever final destination the remains have. Crying is cathartic and so is seeing the final resting spot. Second, laughter is really common — and wonderful. This is especially true of someone who is beloved. One of the best things is when people start telling stories about the deceased that nobody else knew — or that EVERYONE else also experienced. Laughter and tears are an elixir at funerals that give the deceased’s life not just context but an exclamation point. I once attended the funeral of a well-known puppeteer (at least in puppeteer circles). There were puppets all over the church, and puppeteers came from around the world. Even a high school student who was the deceased’s final protege, and how heartwarming it was to see all these other puppeteers take him in as one of their own. A good funeral has all the emotions, and it’s good for everyone. That’s what I want when it’s my time.

Here’s a classic prank played at a funeral…As family and friends laid to rest a beloved father and veteran, he was able to get one last laugh as his voice called out from beyond the grave.

After battling a long illness, Shay Bradley, an Irish Defense Force veteran, passed away on Oct. 8, in the arms of his wife, Anne. Last Saturday, mourners gathered in Kilmanagh, Ireland, to pay their final respects. Tears turned to shock, and then laughter, however, when they heard Bradley shout “Hello, hello — let me out!” after his casket was lowered into the ground.

“Where the [f***] am I? Let me out, let me out," Bradley says in his pre-recorded message as the funeral-goers giggle, according to footage from the service. "It’s [f***ing] dark in here. Is that the priest I can hear? This is Shay, I’m in the box. No, in [f***ing] front of you. I’m dead.”

You can watch the video on google.

I’m glad we got that settled!

Like the funeral for Chuckles the clown

Chuckles is dead!

Or an open bar at the wake.

We actually did that at a funeral of a friend. You don’t know how lightening it actually felt.

Need some circus music instead of a church organ.

Run the suggestion by Roscoe. He is an excellent arbiter of all occasions.

HIS nose is gonna be red if he keeps it UP.!!!!!

This reminds me of the episode on “The Mary Tyler Moore” show with the funeral of Bozo the Clown when Mary starts laughing uncontrollably when the Eulogy is given. I think what Earl is trying to say is that the memory should be an uplifting one and not sad about the dearly departed.

I fear that’s over the top, Earl!

She should’ve asked “What do you want on your Tombstone?” “Pepperoni and sausage.”

“That would probably do it.”

I want a New Orleans style with a Jazz Band leading the mourners down the street…

For mine I want those so inclined to light-up a doobie to the sounds of the Beer Barrel Polka. And the meal-after menu should be Kielbasa, pierogies, and potato pancakes.

I went to the funeral for a Shrine Clown. A member of the clown unit of the shriners. All the other clowns wore their decorated tuxedos and red noses. At the end, when the Masons (all Shriners are Masons) lined up to walk past the casket, and recite, “Alas, My Brother”, the shrine clowns all dropped their red noses into the casket.

My late brother was a big sports fan. Rather than be buried in a suit and tie ( he wore enough of those in life), he was dressed in a golf shirt embroidered with the logo of his favorite football team. At his wake, his coffin was surrounded by ball caps and sports memorabilia from his extensive collection, representing all his favorite baseball, football, and basketball teams.

I also eschewed a suit & tie at his funeral, opting instead for his favorite team’s football jacket. It felt right standing in front of the packed church and giving his eulogy wearing a Boston Patriots jacket. I think he’d have been pleased.

My mom would sing at funerals with two friends. It was not about performance, but respecting the deceased, and they sang from behind a screen. One time, the trio didn’t do so well, and my dear, now departed, mother said, “Oh, that was dreadful.” Then they learned the mic was “hot.” Now, that’s REAL mortification.

I don’t care… funerals are for the living — they should decide what they want (and that’s what it says in my ‘Death Notes’)

Attaboy Earl…….

Aᴘʀɪʟ Fᴏᴏʟ!!

freeimage.Host/i/popisaweasel.dUqP8Wg

Second line!

We burnt up my mother-in-law for $1,000. Haven’t been to a funeral in 25 years. I don’t know any baby boomers who plan on having a funeral. Do people still do that?

Oooohhh,earl…..opal does NOT look happy w/yer suggestion,buddy‼️

FWIW, my husband and I agreed to let the me or him do whatever made us happy.

And an endless supply of grandma Hemp’s brownies.

We’ll have an old fashion Irish wake , and then everyone will forget you even died.

No one I know plans funerals, but rather memorial services. They tend to be uplifting ways to pay tribute to the deceased.

Watch the YouTube video of the funeral for Graham Chapman. For those of you who don’t know, he was a member of Monty Python.

Panel 5 should be a pillow fight.

You hate sad funerals, Opal? What’s the alternative: all the mourners singing “Ding dong, the witch is dead”?

Funny hats, maybe. Clown noses that honk when you squeeze them are a little too irreverent. You don’t wanna mock the dead or the grief of others. Even if you’re intending to mock Death, it won’t be seen that way by all.

Honk, honk!

I signed up with Research For Life. Won’t cost a thing and they take care of me.

I think that’s what they did for Bozo.

Great idea. I’ll have them do that at mine!

Michael W. Smith

And friends are friends forever

If the Lord’s the Lord of them

And a friend will not say never

’Cause the welcome will not end

Though it’s hard to let you go

In the Father’s hands we know

That a lifetime’s not too long

To live as friends

- Friends