CARTOON CAPTION/ANTI-CAPTION CONTESTS CREEP AHEAD!

This is one of those weeks when The New Yorker doesn't start a new contest, so many of us must seek another object of obsession.

The ever-thoughtful Dan Radosh fills the gap by recycling a James Thurber cartoon for recaptioning and promises to reveal the original caption as well.

I'd be willing to wager that Emily of Emdashes already recognizes it.

She and Radosh have also linked to this interesting profile of Caption Contest winner Fairleigh Brooks of Louisville, Kentucky. Here's the winner that put Brooks on the map.

ADDENDUM And now Emdashes offers an original (and funny) interview between intern John Bucher of Canada and Caption Contest 98 winner Richard Hine of New York. Hine, it turns out was also a nominee in Caption Contest 82 with "It's like paradise for the first few days. But you wouldn't want to live here."


Caption Contest 101 is here. Anti-Caption Contest 101 is here.


THE STANDINGS

Here is the current New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest breakdown by state. You can find it all mapped out here.

17 California

14 New York (13 from the Big Apple)

9 New Jersey

6 Massachusetts
6 Pennsylvania

4 Connecticut (two from New Haven, two not)

3 Georgia (includes two-time winner Carl Gables)
3 Illinois
3 Maryland (none named Mary)
3 Minnesota (Minneapolis 2, St. Paul 1)
3 North Carolina
3 Ohio

2 District of Columbia
2 New Hampshire
2 Texas
2 Utah
2 Virginia

1 Alabama
1 Arizona
1 Florida
1 Iowa
1 Kentucky
1 Mississippi
1 Missouri
1 Nevada
1 New Mexico
1 Oklahoma
1 Oregon
1 Rhode Island
1 Vermont
1 Washington

Map Introduction

Thanks to Andriy Bidochko for Map Builder.

Image by David Marc Fischer using Samsung cameraphone

CARTOON CAPTION/ANTI-CAPTION CONTESTS CONTINUE!

In the derby that is The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest, the winner of Caption Contest 96 (Tarzan with pregnant Jane) is

"Fine. If it's a boy, we'll call him Boy. But if it's a girl I want to call her McKenzie."
Fairleigh Brooks (Louisville, KY)

That's the first win for Kentucky--and another example of a close parallel with an Anti-Caption Contest winner:

"I was thinking today... Let's call it 'Boy' if it's a boy, and drown it if it's a girl."
Trout Almondine

In Caption Contest 98 (businessman peeping at office wall through telescope), the nominees are

"Let me know when the paint is dry."
Ken Pellerin (Groveland, MA)

"When you're finished here, Spencer, we'll need you on the bridge-to-nowhere project."
Richard Hine (New York, NY)

"Comrade Zinkov, I would prefer that you spy looking through windows and listening through walls."
Robert Cooke (Highland, IN)

My loser:

"I used to do that. Then I learned to use the Internet."

In Anti-Caption Contest 99 (doctor examining arrow-pierced patient), the winner (out of a big, strong field) is

"Do you have shooting pains? Haha... sorry, doctor joke. You're going to die."
Pyn

My loser:

"Sure, I can give you a hernia exam. But it's fifty bucks more if you want a happy ending. And that's out-of-pocket, if you catch my drift."

Caption Contest 100(!) is here. Anti-Caption Contest 100 is here, and already quite funny.


THE STANDINGS

Here is the current New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest breakdown by state. You can find it all mapped out here.

17 California

13 New York (12 from the Big Apple)

9 New Jersey

6 Massachusetts
6 Pennsylvania

4 Connecticut (two from New Haven, two not)

3 Georgia (includes two-time winner Carl Gables)
3 Illinois
3 Maryland (none named Mary)
3 Minnesota (Minneapolis 2, St. Paul 1)
3 North Carolina
3 Ohio

2 District of Columbia
2 New Hampshire
2 Texas
2 Utah
2 Virginia

1 Arizona
1 Florida
1 Iowa
1 Kentucky
1 Mississippi
1 Missouri
1 Nevada
1 New Mexico
1 Oklahoma
1 Oregon
1 Rhode Island
1 Vermont
1 Washington

Map Introduction

Thanks to Andriy Bidochko for Map Builder.

Image by David Marc Fischer using Samsung cameraphone

CARTOON CAPTION/ANTI-CAPTION CONTESTS CONTINUE!

Caption-wise, The New Yorker seems to have gone a little meta this week. At least that's what Dan Radosh says, noting how one caption strikes him an anti-caption parody (a spoof of a spoof). Note that the cartoonist is Zachary Kanin, known as an arbiter in the caption contest.

But that's not all. Among the nominees in Caption Contest #96 (Tarzan in tree with pregnant Jane) is

"Fine. If it's a boy, we'll call him Boy. But if it's a girl I want to call her McKenzie."
Fairleigh Brooks (Louisville, KY)

That's close to the winner of Anti-Caption Contest #96:

"I was thinking today... Let's call it 'Boy' if it's a boy, and drown it if it's a girl."
Trout Almondine

The other nominees:

"Well, you'll be a monkey's uncle."
Matthew Palmer (Arlington, VA)

"I guess I always assumed we'd raise Dylan in the city."
Graham Reed (Brooklyn, NY)

My loser:

"There is no escape from the paparazzi."

In Caption Contest #94 (Mike Twohy cartoon of angel arriving in heaven carrying grill and golf clubs), the winner is

"So you can take it with you!"
Gale Davis (Zephyr Cove, NV)

So, as you can see, Twohy and Tahoe make a good fit: Last week, Florida entered the winner's circle; this week it's The Silver State.


In Anti-Caption Contest #97 (human whack-a-mole in an office setting), the winner is

"You think think is some kind of game, you moron? You don't 'win' anything... You just beat them until they are dead or brain damaged."
simsburybear

My loser:

"The office has certainly been having its UPS and DOWNS."

Caption Contest #98 is here. Anti-Caption Contest #98 is here.


THE STANDINGS

Here is the current New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest breakdown by state. You can find it all mapped out here.

17 California

12 New York (11 from the Big Apple)

9 New Jersey

6 Massachusetts
6 Pennsylvania

4 Connecticut (two from New Haven, two not)

3 Georgia (includes two-time winner Carl Gables)
3 Illinois
3 Maryland (none named Mary)
3 Minnesota (Minneapolis 2, St. Paul 1)
3 North Carolina
3 Ohio

2 District of Columbia
2 New Hampshire
2 Texas
2 Utah
2 Virginia

1 Arizona
1 Florida
1 Iowa
1 Mississippi
1 Missouri
1 Nevada
1 New Mexico
1 Oklahoma
1 Oregon
1 Rhode Island
1 Vermont
1 Washington

Map Introduction

Thanks to Andriy Bidochko for Map Builder.

Image by David Marc Fischer using Samsung cameraphone