“I would want to get out, if I was in a fish tank and I was trapped.”
April 26, 2018 10:11 PM Subscribe
Alice Kassnove is a nine-year-old with a knack for captioning New Yorker cartoons.
Her first cousin once removed, TV writer -and, conveniently, New Yorker contributer- Bess Kalb, did a Twitter thread about it. The magazine noticed, got in touch, and made a cute video: “A Nine-Year Old Girl Enters The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest”
Other comedians who have taken a crack at captioning on camera: Nick Offerman ✍ Bill Hader ✍ Adam Scott ✍ Abbi Jacobson and Zach Woods
Other comedians who have taken a crack at captioning on camera: Nick Offerman ✍ Bill Hader ✍ Adam Scott ✍ Abbi Jacobson and Zach Woods
I would suggest that Alice is quite good, but also that almost any pre-teen who has a fluency with english could attempt to caption New Yorker cartoons and statistically come out ahead of that general malaise.
posted by figurant at 11:57 PM on April 26, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by figurant at 11:57 PM on April 26, 2018 [1 favorite]
They have a very Mysteries of Harris Burdick feel, love it.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 12:03 AM on April 27, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by the man of twists and turns at 12:03 AM on April 27, 2018 [1 favorite]
I legitimately want that “Don’t judge” one as a poster.
Also, that brilliant line, “I don't try to make it funny or else it's not funny,” echoes the Monty Pythons’ insight that the best comedy starts from a ridiculous premise but then proceeds by following the inner logic of the situation rather than trying to pile absurdity on top of absurdity.
posted by Kattullus at 12:32 AM on April 27, 2018 [13 favorites]
Also, that brilliant line, “I don't try to make it funny or else it's not funny,” echoes the Monty Pythons’ insight that the best comedy starts from a ridiculous premise but then proceeds by following the inner logic of the situation rather than trying to pile absurdity on top of absurdity.
posted by Kattullus at 12:32 AM on April 27, 2018 [13 favorites]
Alice is charming!
I also liked the "Don't judge" one. My other faves from the video were "We're working on getting out of here, right?" And "'How's life?' 'The same.'" (Her fish-themed captions are pretty darn good!)
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 12:35 AM on April 27, 2018 [3 favorites]
I also liked the "Don't judge" one. My other faves from the video were "We're working on getting out of here, right?" And "'How's life?' 'The same.'" (Her fish-themed captions are pretty darn good!)
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 12:35 AM on April 27, 2018 [3 favorites]
I will note that Alice’s caption for the toaster aliens cartoon is I think less good than Nick Offerman’s somewhat oblique caption for the same.
posted by Going To Maine at 12:37 AM on April 27, 2018
posted by Going To Maine at 12:37 AM on April 27, 2018
As mentioned in New Yorker Podcast - pretty entertaining.
posted by unliteral at 3:42 AM on April 27, 2018
posted by unliteral at 3:42 AM on April 27, 2018
As an aside, that texta is setting off my misophonia big time.
posted by unliteral at 3:47 AM on April 27, 2018
posted by unliteral at 3:47 AM on April 27, 2018
I'm also super impressed that she could come up with captions with a camera pointed at her!
posted by BaffledWaffle at 4:36 AM on April 27, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by BaffledWaffle at 4:36 AM on April 27, 2018 [1 favorite]
I think a big part of why these work is that Alice captures how people actually talk when being wry or sarcastic. "Nice job, son. Next time catch a fish" is less funny than "Nice job, son. Next time catch a fish, though." "Well, that's new" kills. "That's new" is boring.
That's a skill most people don't have.
posted by Frayed Knot at 5:43 AM on April 27, 2018 [14 favorites]
That's a skill most people don't have.
posted by Frayed Knot at 5:43 AM on April 27, 2018 [14 favorites]
I love how she's so obviously amused at her own jokes. This is how I am when I think of something funny, I just can't pull off the whole deadpan thing.
posted by rikschell at 6:04 AM on April 27, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by rikschell at 6:04 AM on April 27, 2018 [4 favorites]
"Alex Jones can suck it." = the new "Christ, what an asshole."/"I would like to invite you to join my professional network on LinkedIn."
posted by solotoro at 6:06 AM on April 27, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by solotoro at 6:06 AM on April 27, 2018 [2 favorites]
(that was an Offerman one, so a bit off-topic from the main post. So back on topic-)Alice is brilliant.
posted by solotoro at 6:06 AM on April 27, 2018
posted by solotoro at 6:06 AM on April 27, 2018
I have the same wire mesh jar of sharpies on my desk!
Also, Alice is good at captions.
posted by moonmilk at 6:46 AM on April 27, 2018
Also, Alice is good at captions.
posted by moonmilk at 6:46 AM on April 27, 2018
Yo, Alice, I'm really happy for you, I'ma let you finish, but Kanye-West-tweets-as-captions made some of the best NYer cartoons of all time!
posted by Doktor Zed at 6:56 AM on April 27, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by Doktor Zed at 6:56 AM on April 27, 2018 [3 favorites]
“I told you to give the mayor a pizza” is my favorite.
posted by lunasol at 7:27 AM on April 27, 2018
posted by lunasol at 7:27 AM on April 27, 2018
This is really nice. I was saddened that once again, some of the responses in the Twitter thread really do confirm how miserable people can be to each other on the internet.
posted by nickmark at 7:45 AM on April 27, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by nickmark at 7:45 AM on April 27, 2018 [1 favorite]
I think it's instructive to compare Alice's tape to Offerman's, especially since these give us the process instead of just the results.
Alice is clearly an unschooled natural talent. She literally says she just throws out the first thing that comes to her. It's often very funny, sometimes it just falls flat. But then they show her the next cartoon and she just does the same thing again. She has no idea what she's doing; she just fires from the hip and has pretty good instincts. Her toaster/UFO one is brilliant, and several others are very good indeed, while some (Like the oven as restaurant table and the executives sitting on top of the conference table) just don't work.
Offerman, on the other hand, has clearly thought about the process, about what makes comedy work. He applies techniques, learns from experience, and so gets consistently better as he goes along - unless he just doesn't have anything, at which point he punts to Thanks, Obama. There, he's consciously deflecting us to an existing meme to use as a crutch because he knows he doesn't have anything. This continues to about the midway point, where it's like he runs out of energy and his quality trails off noticeably. (And he does two more Thanks Obamas because now it's not just a reference to an existing joke but a callback and running gag.) I think the one he drew himself is funny in its meta-ness, as the characters comment on how badly the artist has drawn the trees. But again, that's technique.
So to repeat my conclusion, Alice and Offerman approach this challenge from very different directions. Alice relies on raw talent, while Offerman has practiced comedy as a skill. So which is better, talent or experience? If you have a choice, take raw talent every time. But you can't really control that, while you do have some control over your ability to practice a skill and improve it. So do that.
posted by Naberius at 8:04 AM on April 27, 2018 [1 favorite]
Alice is clearly an unschooled natural talent. She literally says she just throws out the first thing that comes to her. It's often very funny, sometimes it just falls flat. But then they show her the next cartoon and she just does the same thing again. She has no idea what she's doing; she just fires from the hip and has pretty good instincts. Her toaster/UFO one is brilliant, and several others are very good indeed, while some (Like the oven as restaurant table and the executives sitting on top of the conference table) just don't work.
Offerman, on the other hand, has clearly thought about the process, about what makes comedy work. He applies techniques, learns from experience, and so gets consistently better as he goes along - unless he just doesn't have anything, at which point he punts to Thanks, Obama. There, he's consciously deflecting us to an existing meme to use as a crutch because he knows he doesn't have anything. This continues to about the midway point, where it's like he runs out of energy and his quality trails off noticeably. (And he does two more Thanks Obamas because now it's not just a reference to an existing joke but a callback and running gag.) I think the one he drew himself is funny in its meta-ness, as the characters comment on how badly the artist has drawn the trees. But again, that's technique.
So to repeat my conclusion, Alice and Offerman approach this challenge from very different directions. Alice relies on raw talent, while Offerman has practiced comedy as a skill. So which is better, talent or experience? If you have a choice, take raw talent every time. But you can't really control that, while you do have some control over your ability to practice a skill and improve it. So do that.
posted by Naberius at 8:04 AM on April 27, 2018 [1 favorite]
I laughed out loud at the "I guess this is our new home." Now I need to figure out why...
posted by Mogur at 8:22 AM on April 27, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by Mogur at 8:22 AM on April 27, 2018 [3 favorites]
I LOLed at the subway sandwich in the subway, that killed me. I'd buy that as a print!
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 8:29 AM on April 27, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 8:29 AM on April 27, 2018 [1 favorite]
She really is quite talented. I thought it would be impossible to love New Yorker cartoons even more than I do now, but she made it possible <3
posted by JamesBay at 9:07 AM on April 27, 2018
posted by JamesBay at 9:07 AM on April 27, 2018
"I don't try to make it funny or else it's not funny."
I think of New Yorker Cartoon Caption funny as a very tight constraint. It's Homer Simpson, post crayonectomy, laughing at "Good as Gould." Based on decades of history it shouldn't be too funny, but in striving for that many of the canonical captions (and contest winners) veer towards only the mildly amusing. Where she nails it is in being wry but mostly not hilarious.
That said, "Don't judge" and "Well, that's new" are perfect and also hilarious. I think that comes from how well she clearly understands the form.
posted by fedward at 9:56 AM on April 27, 2018 [3 favorites]
I think of New Yorker Cartoon Caption funny as a very tight constraint. It's Homer Simpson, post crayonectomy, laughing at "Good as Gould." Based on decades of history it shouldn't be too funny, but in striving for that many of the canonical captions (and contest winners) veer towards only the mildly amusing. Where she nails it is in being wry but mostly not hilarious.
That said, "Don't judge" and "Well, that's new" are perfect and also hilarious. I think that comes from how well she clearly understands the form.
posted by fedward at 9:56 AM on April 27, 2018 [3 favorites]
I too would buy Don't Judge. I have to go see what shannons caption was for the fish tank, because Alice's was perfect.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 10:55 AM on April 27, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 10:55 AM on April 27, 2018 [2 favorites]
Alice and Offerman approach this challenge from very different directions.
One of them is 9 and shit at carpentry.
posted by urbanwhaleshark at 10:58 AM on April 27, 2018 [4 favorites]
One of them is 9 and shit at carpentry.
posted by urbanwhaleshark at 10:58 AM on April 27, 2018 [4 favorites]
« Older ITS LESBIAN VISIBILTY DAY! | Image inpainting for irregular holes using partial... Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by alexlaw at 11:21 PM on April 26, 2018 [11 favorites]