Caption Contest Commentary

Jeremy Nguyen’s drawing is set in a living room, where two men are reading. All the furniture (the two chairs, the coffee and end tables) is made out of books. One man is saying something to the other. I first assumed the books are from the library:  “How many times can we renew them?” “The…
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The campers in Benjamin Schwartz’s cartoon are in their sleeping bags. They’ve been awakened by a bear, who’s performing a stand-up routine just outside their tent. The male camper is reaching into his backpack for his cellphone, and his girlfriend is saying something to him. I first made references to killing and dying, words that…
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Ivan Ehlers’ cartoon is set in a restaurant, where a waiter with a menu in his hand is addressing two diners. They look like slugs, but because they don’t have eye stalks I’m assuming they’re alien life forms. All my captions are inspired by comments or suggestions that waiters make before taking orders. “Might I…
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In Kaamran Hafeez’s cartoon, a clown whose office furniture has been fashioned out of circus balloons is addressing a female colleague. I didn’t like my first idea—“I’m dressing for the job I want”—because some variation on that joke is submitted for every contest that features a character wearing inappropriate clothing. I expect to see a…
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