I really think somebody COULD build a good act around a mime dummy.
I don’t quite get the Buick burial one. But I appreciate that Alan Smithee was able to take time from his busy film directing career to clip and send this one in.
Mitch4, my take is that the decedent was a mechanic who spent his happiest hours under cars, of which Buicks were his favourites, and wanted to spend eternity that way.
Ooten Aboot, Mitch4 – I see it as a way of showing how the other mechanics will remember him. As a mechanic he would have spent long hours under a car with just his feet hanging. He is being remembered in death how he was seen in life.
I thought the same as Bill. It’s a funny joke, but in reality a ventriloquist does more than just talk for the dummy. Having him pulling on an imaginary rope would be quite impressive.
There do appear to be various kinds of mime puppets (marionettes and hand puppets) around, so the premise comic isn’t that much of a stretch. Conveying the mime’s body language through puppetry could pose a challenge.
I don’t know about mime dummies, but there have been a couple of radio ventriloquists – Peter Brough in the UK, who I now discover from looking him up based his act on a US act by Candice Bergen’s father. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Brough
The world’s worst ventriloquist: His dummy’s a mime and his lips still move.
Mitch4, I decided it would be a good solution for when somebody sends in a comic but requests that his or her name not be listed.
I don’t understand the castaway one.
The ship did not rescue him, and to make matters worse, stole his tree.
The ship was “manned” by palm trees, so they rescued one of their own.
Ah, thanks Arthur, that’s much better. I was figuring a normal human crew but for some reason the ship was on a tree-collecting mission, and previous catches were what we were seeing.
The “Smithee” credit was worth a good chuckle as a one-timer, but in general I think the solution you used for the first and the last comics in this post is better: just omit the name.
Except, Kilby, omitting any name implies I chose it for the LOL tag, and sometimes I would not have done so.
Re Alan Smithee — I just read a 1940s Hollywood detective novel which reminded me that “George Spelvin” was apparently also in use as a “Smithee” type name for any actor feeling the need to use. There were apparently other traditional go-to names as well..
Ah, yeah, I saw that on a third viewing. I thought it was something along the lines of he was too snooty be rescued by a cruise ship, or they were too snooty to rescue him.
The slow-motion gunfight is pretty similar to a Farside strip (https://www.amazon.com/Far-Side-Gary-Larson-Greeting/dp/B07KMHN4F3), and I’ve seen the island palm tree rescue using a flying saucer crewed by trees. I think that one was a Farside too, but I haven’t found it yet.
Well, I don’t blame Larson for stealing these ideas, after all, it’s tough to have to come up with a good joke every day, day in and day out, and even though he quit early, he did have a nice long career. Guess he wanted to get out before all the plagiarism caught up with him.
Comics I Don't Understand 
All good, but the mime dummy is a classic
I really think somebody COULD build a good act around a mime dummy.
I don’t quite get the Buick burial one. But I appreciate that Alan Smithee was able to take time from his busy film directing career to clip and send this one in.
Mitch4, my take is that the decedent was a mechanic who spent his happiest hours under cars, of which Buicks were his favourites, and wanted to spend eternity that way.
Ooten Aboot, Mitch4 – I see it as a way of showing how the other mechanics will remember him. As a mechanic he would have spent long hours under a car with just his feet hanging. He is being remembered in death how he was seen in life.
I thought the same as Bill. It’s a funny joke, but in reality a ventriloquist does more than just talk for the dummy. Having him pulling on an imaginary rope would be quite impressive.
There do appear to be various kinds of mime puppets (marionettes and hand puppets) around, so the premise comic isn’t that much of a stretch. Conveying the mime’s body language through puppetry could pose a challenge.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/289481955/marionettes-mime-puppet-titere-string?show_sold_out_detail=1
I don’t know about mime dummies, but there have been a couple of radio ventriloquists – Peter Brough in the UK, who I now discover from looking him up based his act on a US act by Candice Bergen’s father. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Brough
The world’s worst ventriloquist: His dummy’s a mime and his lips still move.
Mitch4, I decided it would be a good solution for when somebody sends in a comic but requests that his or her name not be listed.
I don’t understand the castaway one.
The ship did not rescue him, and to make matters worse, stole his tree.
The ship was “manned” by palm trees, so they rescued one of their own.
Ah, thanks Arthur, that’s much better. I was figuring a normal human crew but for some reason the ship was on a tree-collecting mission, and previous catches were what we were seeing.
The “Smithee” credit was worth a good chuckle as a one-timer, but in general I think the solution you used for the first and the last comics in this post is better: just omit the name.
Except, Kilby, omitting any name implies I chose it for the LOL tag, and sometimes I would not have done so.
Re Alan Smithee — I just read a 1940s Hollywood detective novel which reminded me that “George Spelvin” was apparently also in use as a “Smithee” type name for any actor feeling the need to use. There were apparently other traditional go-to names as well..
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Spelvin
Ah, yeah, I saw that on a third viewing. I thought it was something along the lines of he was too snooty be rescued by a cruise ship, or they were too snooty to rescue him.
The slow-motion gunfight is pretty similar to a Farside strip (https://www.amazon.com/Far-Side-Gary-Larson-Greeting/dp/B07KMHN4F3), and I’ve seen the island palm tree rescue using a flying saucer crewed by trees. I think that one was a Farside too, but I haven’t found it yet.
Here’s the Farside palm tree rescue. https://tinyurl.com/y52wtrnr
Well, I don’t blame Larson for stealing these ideas, after all, it’s tough to have to come up with a good joke every day, day in and day out, and even though he quit early, he did have a nice long career. Guess he wanted to get out before all the plagiarism caught up with him.
@ larK – Anachronistic sarcasm ill befits you. 😉