Eugene: I tackle my share of liberals when called for. Sarah handed everyone comedy gold with her Paul Revere gaffe, which honestly was a lot funnier than a lot of liberal gaffes lately.
in my recent “recasting Osama” storyline I tweaked Bill Clinton and Katie Couric in the same strip that I got a punchline out of Sarah with. I’ve picked on Obama and have been absolutely MERCILESS against Hillary in the past. Go back to 2006 and the week of “An Inconvenient Queen” for one example. (Don’t have the dates handy; it was reprinted in “Meet the Royals.”)
Hell, it was subtle in the background during one of my pokes at Fox News, but I even made fun of Teddy Kennedy’s death (by having the photo of Obama smiling next to him with the headline “Obama shut off Kennedy’s life support.”)
It all comes down to one simple thing that people like Bruce Tinsley will never understand: it’s NOT the politician’s gaffe or actions that are funny, it’s the gags you construct around them. A whole page of standalone Palin quotes? Not funny. Using her gaffes to inspire parodies of her failed reality show? Potentially funny. Using her as Mrs. Malaprop? Potentially funny. Palin’s actual quote regarding being able to see Russia from Alaskan islands? Not funny. Tina Fey’s “I can see RUSSIA from my HOUSE!”? Funny.
Anthony Weiner’s penis? Not funny. I have gags I could build out of the scandal that I think would be screaming hilarious, but I would not try to use them in a daily comic strip. Maybe if I can find the right euphemisms….
That said, you need legitimate targets. The right’s attempts at humor aimed at Nancy Pelosi, for example, nearly all fell flat because they were nearly all about her appearance or were misogynistic in nature. There were no good hooks on which to hang humor about her. As a counterpoint, we’re not making fun of Sarah Palin because she’s a woman; we’re making fun because she makes so many stupid statements and WON’T SHUT UP.
Eugene: I tackle my share of liberals when called for. Sarah handed everyone comedy gold with her Paul Revere gaffe, which honestly was a lot funnier than a lot of liberal gaffes lately.
in my recent “recasting Osama” storyline I tweaked Bill Clinton and Katie Couric in the same strip that I got a punchline out of Sarah with. I’ve picked on Obama and have been absolutely MERCILESS against Hillary in the past. Go back to 2006 and the week of “An Inconvenient Queen” for one example. (Don’t have the dates handy; it was reprinted in “Meet the Royals.”)
Hell, it was subtle in the background during one of my pokes at Fox News, but I even made fun of Teddy Kennedy’s death (by having the photo of Obama smiling next to him with the headline “Obama shut off Kennedy’s life support.”)
It all comes down to one simple thing that people like Bruce Tinsley will never understand: it’s NOT the politician’s gaffe or actions that are funny, it’s the gags you construct around them. A whole page of standalone Palin quotes? Not funny. Using her gaffes to inspire parodies of her failed reality show? Potentially funny. Using her as Mrs. Malaprop? Potentially funny. Palin’s actual quote regarding being able to see Russia from Alaskan islands? Not funny. Tina Fey’s “I can see RUSSIA from my HOUSE!”? Funny.
Anthony Weiner’s penis? Not funny. I have gags I could build out of the scandal that I think would be screaming hilarious, but I would not try to use them in a daily comic strip. Maybe if I can find the right euphemisms….
That said, you need legitimate targets. The right’s attempts at humor aimed at Nancy Pelosi, for example, nearly all fell flat because they were nearly all about her appearance or were misogynistic in nature. There were no good hooks on which to hang humor about her. As a counterpoint, we’re not making fun of Sarah Palin because she’s a woman; we’re making fun because she makes so many stupid statements and WON’T SHUT UP.