New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest Podcast

Vin Coca, Beth Lawler, Paul Nesja, Nicole Chrolavicius

In depth discussion of the weekly New Yorker Caption Contest as well as interviews with Cartoonists and former Contest winners.

Email:     CartoonCaptionContestPodcast@gmail.com

Credits:
Intro/Outro music created and performed by Chris Nesja.
Podcast logo designed by Dan Nesja with artwork by Shannon Wheeler.

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ComedyComedy
ArtsArts
FictionFiction
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Episodes

Episode 178 - Eric Drooker
2d ago
Episode 178 - Eric Drooker
On part 2 of this week's podcast we are joined by Illustrator, Eric Drooker. Eric's art has appeared on 40 New Yorker covers (his most recent was on last week's Money Issue) and is in the permanent collection of the Whitney Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, the Brooklyn Museum, and the Library of Congress.We talk with Eric about becoming an artist, His New Yorker covers, his City Trilogy and the role of art and creativity in the world today. The third volume in his City Trilogy, "Naked City" is now available. His books, New Yorker cover prints and original art can be found at his webpage:http://www.drooker.comEric will be signing his books in San Francisco and Berkley in the next few days. You can find out more here:https://www.booksigningcentral.com/2024/10/30/eric-drooker-naked-city-author-talk/On Part 1 of the episode, we discuss the current contests:Winning captions for New Yorker contest #916 (Always look on the bright side of Dave).Finalists for contest #918 (Video killed the five star restaurants). Current New Yorker contest #920 (Dinner and a show). We also talk about our favorite cartoons from the current issue of the New Yorker.(Paul wishes to apologize for the way he sounds on this episode. He fell into a well right before the podcast and due to contract disputes, Lassie was unable to save him.) You can buy original New Yorker cartoon art at Curated Cartoons:https://www.curatedcartoons.comSend us questions or comments to:  Cartooncaptioncontestpodcast@gmail.com
Episode 177 - Yinfan Huang
Oct 23 2024
Episode 177 - Yinfan Huang
On part 2 of this week's episode, we talk with New Yorker cartoonist, Yinfan Huang. Yinfan moved to the United States (Minneapolis to be exact) to attend college to be an Illustrator. She later moved to New York, discovered the New Yorker and sold her very first cartoon from the first Tuesday batch she submitted. Impressive! She is also an Illustrator and has illustrated several children's books. She has recently finished a graphic novel memoir that will be published in mid 2025.You can learn more about Yinfan at her webpage:http://www.yinfanhuang.comYou can also preorder her graphic memoir, Yellow Singing Sail, that will be published on June 3rd, 2025.https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/yellow-singing-sail-yinfan-huang/1146391412?ean=9781525305511https://www.target.com/p/yellow-singing-sail-by-yinfan-huang-paperback/-/A-94054608On Part 1 of the episode, we are joined by Larry Wood to discuss the current contests:Winning captions for New Yorker contest #915 (Cat o' nine shirttails).Finalists for contest #917 (Janus, I'm worried about the Beaver). Current New Yorker contest #919 (One horse Town Car). We also talk about our favorite cartoons from the current issue of the New Yorker and we also critique the CartoonStock contest.https://www.cartoonstock.com/caption-contest/currentToondeloo is a new weekly caption contest you can enter, hosted by the former New Yorker contest crowdsource developers and managers:https://www.toondeloo.comYou can buy original New Yorker cartoon art at Curated Cartoons:https://www.curatedcartoons.comSend us questions or comments to:  Cartooncaptioncontestpodcast@gmail.com
Episode 173 - Amanda Chung
Sep 25 2024
Episode 173 - Amanda Chung
On part 2 of this week's episode, we talk with New Yorker cartoonist, Amanda Chung. Amanda's first cartoon in the New Yorker appeared in the Nov. 20, 2023 issue. Her cartoons have also appeared in Air Mail, The Weekly Humorist and other publications. Before being published, Amanda contacted the podcast and Vin offered to collaborate with her. It's been a successful collaboration and we discuss the dynamics of it during her interview.Amanda mentions a few resources that have helped her become a successful cartoonist. Here are links to a few of them:Emily Flake's class:https://learn.sawcomics.org/courses/really-funny-gag-cartoons-with-emily-flake-archiveAmy Kurzweil's Patreon:https://www.patreon.com/AmykurzweilQuentin Blakehttps://quentinblake.comOn Part 1 of the episode, we discuss the current contests:Winning captions for New Yorker contest #911 (Frankenstein's Pokémon).Finalists for contest #913 (The Art of the How Does that Make You Feel?) Current New Yorker contest #915 (Twas not curiosity killed the cat, twas the spin cycle). We also talk about our favorite cartoons from the current issue of the New Yorker and we also critique the CartoonStock contest.https://www.cartoonstock.com/caption-contest/currentToondeloo is a new weekly caption contest you can enter, hosted by the former New Yorker contest crowdsource developers and managers:https://www.toondeloo.comYou can buy original New Yorker cartoon art at Curated Cartoons:https://www.curatedcartoons.comSend us questions or comments to:  Cartooncaptioncontestpodcast@gmail.com
Episode 170 - Lawrence Wood
Sep 4 2024
Episode 170 - Lawrence Wood
Larry Wood, the all time New Yorker cartoon caption contest winner, author and CartoonStock caption contest judge, joins us to talk about the current New Yorker contests, our favorite cartoons from this week’s issue of the New Yorker and the latest CartoonStock contest. There were some great captions for what we thought was a tough cartoon to work with and There's a another tough cartoon to caption for the CartoonStock contest this month and we highly recommend that if you normally don't enter that one, you should enter it this month as anybody with a half way decent idea for a caption stands a good chance of being a finalist. You can enter here (there is a $5 entry fee):https://www.cartoonstock.com/caption-contest/currentThe Patton Oswald comedy bit about him texting "I hate", can be found here:https://youtu.be/FoJ4h2KuYW8?si=BqfbIp8sdh8YTx4EYou can order Larry's book, "Your Caption Has Been Selected: More Than Anyone Could Possibly Want to Know About The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest" here:https://www.amazon.com/Your-Caption-Has.../dp/1250333407/You can purchase original New Yorker cartoon art from Curated Cartoons here:https://www.curatedcartoons.comAnd finally, you can purchase the Drew Dernavich/Nesja Press "Bagel Story" print here:https://www.nesjapress.com/.../bagel-story-letterpress-printWe also discuss the winning entry for Contest #908 (Hats off to Harry Houdini).Finalists for Contest #910 (Harp in valley ETA). Current Contest #912 (A high Red Delicious Corpuscle count).And the finalists for the last CartoonStock contest (The dark carts of grocery shopping).Send us questions or comments to :  Cartooncaptioncontestpodcast@gmail.com
Episode 166 - Drew Dernavich
Aug 7 2024
Episode 166 - Drew Dernavich
New Yorker cartoonist, Drew Dernavich, joins us on the podcast this week. It's been over a year since Drew has joined the podcast. His last appearance was the ill-fated 100th Anniversary episode that is unlistenable due to technical problems (the problem being that none of us knew how to properly use a professional podcast studio). Drew talks about what he's been up to this last year and joins us in the discussion of the New Yorker contests, our favorite cartoons from the current issue and the frequent portion of the podcast that we're calling "Vin Doesn't Get It".Drew also invites everyone to come see him and other cartoonists at the annual New Yorker Festival at the end of October for a live cartoon improv session. We'll post more information on that as it becomes available.We also talk a bit about the letterpress prints he has collaborated on with Paul and his wife, Christy. The newest print "All Caps" will be available soon. You can still order the two previous prints here:https://www.nesjapress.com/shop/prints-and-broadsides/drew-dernavich-cartoonsWe discuss the winning entry for Contest #904 (Can You Lasso a Goat, Ted?).Finalists for Contest #906 (The Olympic "Go Fish" Finals). Current Contest #908 (I Don't See How This Is Remotely Funny).Podcast correction...P. C. Vey is the top cartoon contributor to the contest at 75 cartoons.Tom Cheney is next at 57.Drew is third at 54.Send us questions or comments to:  Cartooncaptioncontestpodcast@gmail.com
Episode 164 - Liza Donnelly Talks About "Women Laughing"
Jul 24 2024
Episode 164 - Liza Donnelly Talks About "Women Laughing"
On part 2 of this week's episode, we talk with Liza Donnelly about producing a documentary based on her book, Very Funny Ladies. The documentary will be called, "Women Laughing" and is currently in the development phase. Liza has started a Kickstarter to help fund it and is nearly to her goal of $50,000. You can help out by going to her Kickstarter page and making a pledge. There are different rewards depending on your pledge level. The Kickstarter ends Tuesday, July 30 at 12:00 PM EST.Check it out and help Liza fund her documentary!https://www.kickstarter.com/.../womenlaugh.../women-laughingYou can find the Women Laughing website here:https://www.womenlaughingfilm.comYou can also find Liza's Substack here:https://lizadonnelly.substack.comLiza mentions cartoonist, Nurit Karlin during the podcast, you can find out more about her here:https://www.newyorker.com/culture/postscript/the-pioneering-cartoons-of-nurit-karlinOn Part 1 of the episode, we discuss the current contests:Winning captions for New Yorker contest #902 (Egression Therapy). Finalists for contest #904 (Grazing the goat to the right). Current New Yorker contest #906 (This dive is for the birds). We also pick our favorite cartoons from the current issue (we all picked the same one as our favorite and due to the wording of the caption, we will need to have a mature listeners only warning for this part of the podcast).Send us questions or comments to:  Cartooncaptioncontestpodcast@gmail.comSend your contest complaints or suggestions to:support@newyorker.com.
Episode 163 - Phil Witte & Rex Hesner
Jul 16 2024
Episode 163 - Phil Witte & Rex Hesner
On part 2 of this week's episode, we talk with authors Phil Witte and Rex Hesner about their book, "Funny Stuff: How Great Cartoonists Make Great Cartoons".Phil Witte is a long time cartoonist with cartoons published in The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, Reader’s Digest, and regional magazines, as well as British publications, such as Private Eye, The New Statesman, and The Spectator. He has previously written two best selling books, "What You Don’t Know About Turning 50" and its sequel, "What You Don’t Know About Turning 60".Rex Hesner is a retired Waste Water Treatment Manager (He knows his... stuff) and is very knowledgeable about cartoons (as I said, he knows his... stuff!)"Funny Stuff: How Great Cartoonists Make Great Cartoons" is a great book and a highly recommended addition to any humor library.You can order the book here:https://www.amazon.com/Funny-Stuff-Great.../dp/1633889807You can also find their cartoon articles here:https://www.cartoonstock.com/blog/author/philcctoons/On Part 1 of the episode, we discuss the current contests:Winning captions for New Yorker contest #901 (Pop-up Science Lab).Finalists for contest #903 (I thought there'd be more ship (Thanks Beth!)). Current New Yorker contest #905 (Rodent Riders). We also talk about our favorite cartoons from the current issue of the New Yorker.Send us questions or comments to:  Cartooncaptioncontestpodcast@gmail.comSend your contest complaints or suggestions to:support@newyorker.com.