Lawrence Wood

In David Borchart’s cartoon, two recently deceased men in a pantomime horse wait outside the Pearly Gates. Before admitting them to the kingdom of heaven, St. Peter is checking his book for their names. The man in the back half of the horse is saying something to the guy in front. I first focused on…
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Beth Lawler, who co-hosts the Cartoon Caption Contest Podcast, immediately recognized this drawing by Jason Patterson. “This week’s contest,” she wrote to Bob Mankoff and me, “[features] a published New Yorker cartoon from 2005.” She urged us to refrain from choosing the published caption as the winning entry and even suggested that we scrap this…
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In this cartoon, Gahan Wilson drew a doctor who’s addressing a patient covered in mushrooms. Because a mushroom is a fungus, and a fungal infection is a medical condition, I came up with these captions: “I’m prescribing an antifungal medication.” “It appears to have spread from your toenail.” “It’s a fungal infection.” My last caption…
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This collaboration between David K. Ostow (the cartoonist) and Dan J. Salomon (the idea man) is set in a police station. On the wall is an investigation board covered with push-pins connected by strings. On the floor is a cat in a police uniform who’s playing with the end of one string. A plainclothes detective…
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This contest provided a rare opportunity to collaborate with our own Bob Mankoff. In his cartoon, two boys are getting ready to play or practice baseball. One is normal-sized, wearing a glove on his left hand, and staring at the body of the other one, who has a bat and is built like a tank….
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Joe Dator’s cartoon is set in a bar, where a couple is sitting across from each other in a booth and having a glass of wine. The woman’s arms are folded across her chest, indicating that she’s offended or annoyed. More importantly, she has a pair of insect antennae. The woman is speaking.  The antennae…
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