CSotD: Sold by weight, not count
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"Rhymes with Orange" is one of a handful of strips that I have to consciously avoid letting take over this site and appearing four or five times a week. I'm pretty sure that Hilary Price is every bit as funny as I think she is, but I'm very sure that her mind works in some of the same ways mine does — only faster and with the intangible element that makes all the difference. She is able to add the twist that turns amusing into funny, and that is a rare, ephemeral and underappreciated talent.
Since "Far Side," there have been a million strips launched that take a common, mundane phenomenon and project it into a totally alien setting — as it would happen if animals could talk, as it would happen in a particular historic setting, as it would happen, as with this panel, in a nursery-rhyme setting.
Most of them are hit-or-miss, with emphasis on the latter, because it's not enough to take a common phenomenon and simply change the setting. That can be amusing, but it hasn't taken the next step and become funny. The thing is, the key to observational humor isn't simply to observe.
The standard way to mock observational stand-ups is with a faux-Seinfeld, "What's the deal with that?" — the joke being that the person can pick out a quirk but has nothing to add to it. "What's the deal with that?" is only a set-up, it's not a punchline.
In order to work, a panel like this has to work on both sides of the observation — that is, it's amusing that you buy something with a name that suggests the ingredients, but then you read the label and discover that it's padded with artificial ingredients and less desireable substitutes. It's also amusing that a nursery-rhyme king is reading labels, but the joke could have been Little Miss Muffett reading the label on her curds and whey, or Little Jack Horner reading the label on his plum pie. Amusing, but not funny.
In order to break through from amusing to funny, you need a gag specific to ingredients, and this rhyme starts with a specific product: Blackbird Pie, with a specific claim of content: 24 blackbirds. Plus it is pitched with the advertising slogan, "Wasn't that a dainty dish to set before the king?" which, we find, was only puffery.
The joke sings. I don't think the pie is gonna.
(Note: If you're going to be near Northampton, Mass., April 16th, Hilary will be here. If you're in the area on April 30th, she'll be here from 3 to 5. She's very funny in person and does great doodles when she signs books!)
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