I was so pleased to be invited to The Cartoonival of Wisdom, a multi-blog comic spree all about what you can learn from your favorite comics, cartoons, or characters.

It took me about a decasecond to decide on The Far Side.

Everybody loves The Far Side. Except the people who hate it with a fiery passion. Hooray! And therein, my dears, lies the business lesson. Or, more accurately, lessons:

• Don’t be yourself — be more you than you
• Say what everyone else only thinks
• Twist the every day
• Brevity may not be the soul of wit but sometimes it’s the big toe of hilarity
• Screw conventions (not convents)
• And, most critical of all: Don’t be Family Circus

In fact, let’s start with that last one.

Don’t Be Family Circus

Family Circus is the exact opposite of The Far Side. Family Circus is, in a word, Nourishing Gruel: there’s no flavor or texture to it, ergo it is the world’s most palatable food-like substance. It’s so utterly unobjectionable that it’s devoid of life.

Which is why your ex’s housewife mother used to laugh at it, which drove you nuts, since it’s… well… about as hilarious as a suppurating wound. Oh, that Billy! Suppurating all the time! Hee hee! Pus!

Moral of the Story: Family Circus is only funny when subverted. Preferrably by German nihilists.

Screw Conventions (Not Convents)

Comics used to be all about good, clean, family fun. In other words: mindless repetition. The Far Side changed all that.

Conventions may have their place, but wherever there’s a convention, there’s a whole passle of people just waiting for the best way to rebel against it. There’s good money in rebellion, cuz overlooked markets are passionate markets.

Outrageousness (and even outrage) is the very essence of a Purple Cow.

The Jane Goodall Institute … had their lawyers draft a letter to Larson and his distribution syndicate, in which they described the cartoon as an “atrocity”. They were stymied by Goodall herself, who revealed that she found the cartoon amusing. — Wikipedia

Until Gary Larson came along, who would’ve had the guts?

Moral of the Story: Outrageousness alone can get you noticed. Back it up with other qualities to keep the momentum.

But even Gary Larson knew better than to mess around too much with nuns. They’re deadly.

Brevity May Not Be the Soul of Wit…

But humor with all the dots connected for you is about as appetizing as pre-chewed food. We like to chew our own food, thankyouverymuch — and we like to feel like we’ve brought something to our experiences, whether it’s a comic strip or a bit of software or a book.

We want to feel like we came to the conclusion, like we took the journey. We want the AHA! to happen in our brains.

The Far Side is almost always just one panel. Some of the most artful (and beloved) panels don’t even have an explanatory caption. You’ve gotta do the work yourself, which means you get to enjoy the satisfaction of a job well done.

Moral of the Story: Don’t pre-chew your product. A little incompleteness is necessary for funnies, for learning, and decision-making. Leave room for your customer in your product. They’ll feel smart.

Twist the Every Day

Everybody likes a little twist, it’s practically neurobiological. As Daniel Gilbert wrote it in his excellent book Stumbling on Happiness:

As long as your brain’s guess about the next word turns out to be right, you cruise along happily, left to right, left to right, turning black squiggles into ideas, scenes, characters, and concepts, blissfully unaware that your nexting brain is predicting the future of the sentence at a fantastic rate. It is only when your brain predicts badly that you suddenly feel avocado.


That is, surprised. See?

Gary Larson is the unrivaled champion of avocado. That’s why The Far Side is impossible to ignore, even if it pisses you off.

Moral of the Story: Holy guacamole, product-makers! We’ll bring the chips, you bring the dip.

Say What Everyone Else Only Thinks

Most of us harbor a great many thoughts we’ll never let pass our lips — funny, nasty, rude, crude, hopeful, painful, pessimistic, and cynical thoughts. We’re too chicken (or too civilized) to say them ourselves, but we love it when others do it for us.

We especially love it when those others give us a sly wink — that they know we’re thinking it too. (Ergo, we must be at least as smart as they are!)

Moral of the Story: People will pay to watch someone else voice their innermost-denied thoughts. Take a stand, write a manifesto, voice the unvoiced, garner the giggles, rake in the dough. Then maybe people will make a Flickr Reenactments pool just for you!

Don’t Be Yourself – Be More You than You

And, the ultimate lesson from The Far Side: don’t be yourself.

All evidence suggests that Gary Larson is, himself, a lovely guy. He loves animals. He donates to charity. He plays jazz guitar.

Does that come through The Far Side? Yes… maybe. Some of the strips have a tender and wise heart at center, but mostly they’re just good, cynical fun.

The rumors that he eats children are probably exaggerated.

Everybody says “Be yourself,” but nobody tells you that everyone’s whole self is, well, a little boring. If you want to achieve a cult of personality — and hey, who doesn’t? — curate your self. Choose your most interesting, entertaining, or useful bits, and then magnify the heck outta ‘em.

Moral of the Story: Put your best (or most interesting) foot forward. In a clown shoe.

More Cartoon Wisdom

• What you can learn from Bob the Angry Flower and his hammer
• What’s up, Doc? Timeless wisdom from Bugs Bunny
• What happens when Synergy (the holo-computer) resigns from Jem and the Holograms
• How we could all be a little more Bloo
• And, naturally, the Pinky & the Brain Guide to World Domination (the same thing we do every night, Pinky…)

And you definitely want to buy some The Far Side collections. That’s not an affiliate link, even. You should buy them for no other reason than that they’re brilliant and will provide you with years and years of joyful neuroses.