"confusing, obtuse, esoteric, and strange." Impressively, The Far Side was able to be obscure in several different ways, on multiple different levels.
In The Complete Far Side Volume Two, Larson came as close as he ever did to outright explaining a Far Side joke, breaking down one of his patented head-scratchers and making it clear that the joke was actually obvious – at least, if the reader knew what to look for. Not only does this exercise reveal a lot about Larson's style of humor, it also emphasizes the reader's role as the essential second half of the equation, which results in a Far Side 's success or failure.
Gary Larson Explains His "Low Tide/High Tide" Joke (& It's Actually Very Funny)
First Published: January 15, 1991
First, it would be best to describe the as a reader would encounter it "out in the wild" – that is, without any context but the image, the caption, and any pre-existing knowledge of The Far Side the reader might have. Most readers' attention will be immediately drawn to the foreground, where two people cling to a rock. This is one of tail of an airplane sinking beneath the waves.
The caption elaborates on the image, as the man at the top of the rock yells down to the woman at the base:
Well, we'll never want for food, Doris...This rock is absolutely encrusted with oysters and mussels – all the way to the top!
At first glance, readers might think the 's humor rests on the optimism of the man in the midst of an unfathomably terrible situation, but as it turns out, that is not the case. In fact, the punchline of this relies on the reader knowing something the characters don't. Unfortunately, most readers were in the same boat as the characters – lacking a crucial piece of information that changes how this Far Side is read.
"Compared To the Next Cartoon, It's Very Normal": Far Side's Longtime Editor On What Made Gary Larson's Creative Process So Unique
In his introduction to "The Complete Far Side," Gary Larson's longtime editor revealed what he ired most about the artist's singular creativity.
Or, at the very least, they missed the cue that they were supposed to supply this Far Side with this important detail themselves. Here is how Gary Larson explained it:
For show 'n' tell, I've found a cartoon (oh, the choices) of what, in hindsight, I concede was just a little too cumbersome and obtuse.
Let me be the first to acknowledge that even if you were to understand this thing, it's not exactly going to send you into gales of laughter. (Let's just call it "quiet humor," okay?) Here's the cartoon decoded: If you've managed to escape some disastrous event at sea, you would be well advised to note where the various crustaceans and mollusks are making their little homes. Because "home" to these creatures is anywhere that is comfortably below tide. (I knew I was in trouble when a marine biologist friend called me and asked me to explain this one.)
Notice how, even here, Larson dances around the hard, cold truth of the joke: that the couple are going to drown when the tide comes in. Still, the author's elaboration makes it clear that this Far Side is much funnier than it might initially seem – if the reader can supply their end of the punchline.
The Reader's Role In Making Far Side Comics Funny Is More Important Than People Realize
The Second Half Of The Equation
A lot has been said about the way Gary Larson used familiar tropes and pop culture imagery throughout The Far Side. This is usually discussed in the context of Larson's technique of subversion; he would offer something recognizable, only to do something strange or unexpected with it. In a way, this also served to ground his weirdness, to tether it to something the reader could understand, but there is also a flip side to that. By doing this, Larson placed implicit faith in his readers that they would get the reference.
Meaning, of course, if the reference was too obscure, that often meant the risk of the cartoon failing to get a reaction. That was the case with The Far Side's "High Tide/Low Tide" joke. In this sense, Larson gambled that the average reader would know enough about shellfish habitats and tidal patterns to recognize the punchline, but in this case, the bet didn't pay off. For Far Side fans, when encountering a perplexing , this makes it worth pausing and wondering whether there is something they need to fill in themselves.
This Dark Recurring Far Side Joke Charts How Gary Larson's Humor Evolved Over Time
One joke that Gary Larson repeated a handful of times early in The Far Side's run exhibits the ways his idiosyncratic humor morphed over time.
At the same time, it also emphasizes the idea that each individual Far Side is a kind of exchange between artist and reader. A Far Side cartoon is just Gary Larson's half of a dialogue; it is on the reader to know how to respond. Another way to put it: if a Far Side fails to elicit a response from the reader, rather than asking what the comic is missing, the reader should question whether they are, in fact, missing something.
A New Way To Read Classic Far Side Cartoons
Fresh Eyes
Certainly, Gary Larson's sense of humor was far from conventional, and his willingness to go places other humorists wouldn't gave him a reputation for being "dark" as much as he earned one for being "confusing." That said, Far Side fans can approach Larson's work with a fresh set of eyes by reconsidering what they bring into a reading of his cartoons themselves. Returning to The Far Side always has its share of surprises, but a different perspective allows for even the most recognizable comics to be reconsidered as if for the first time.
That's not to say the artist can be absolved of fault for every weird, difficult to decipher Far Side strip, but through this new lens, readers might revisit some of Larson's hardest to understand s and realize they actually had punchlines that were just easy to miss. Just reading a novel twice a decade apart can make the reader feel like it was an entirely different book, a reader might revisit Gary Larson's work and discover that they "get" his humor more than they used to.
Sometimes It Was The Notes Gary Larson Didn't Play
Obscurity As A Virtue
In addition to being a cartoonist, Gary Larson was a jazz guitarist, and so the humor of The Far Side can be summed up with a spin on an old musical adage – sometimes it was what Larson didn't say, or didn't show, that could make or break one of his jokes. This meant placing a lot of faith in the reader, at times perhaps too much. Still, this was essential to the comic's style, as exemplified by the "High Tide/Low Tide" .
A version of that joke where the punchline was obvious might have confused less people, but it wouldn't necessarily have made more laugh than the confusing version did. That is to say, for better or worse, the joke's essence is its obscurity. Or another way to put it: perhaps it was better to fail as a Far Side than to succeed as any other comic strip in the world. As much as it might have left readers asking "What-the?" rather than prompting a hearty laugh – or even a soft chuckle – it was unequivocally The Far Side.
Source: The Complete Far Side Volume Two
- Writer
- Gary Larson
- Colorist
- Gary Larson
The Far Side is a humorous comic series developed by Gary Larson. The series has been in production since 1979 and features a wide array of comic collections, calendars, art, and other miscellaneous items.
