Dissecting Frogs Elys Dolan


We can all think of pictures and picture books that make us laugh – there are lots and lots. But we shouldn’t forget that being funny is a serious business. In this special article, illustrator Elys Dolan considers just what it takes to be funny in pictures.


Before we begin I think it’s important to address a problem we’re going to have. This issue isn’t to do with the quality of my grammar or the sheer amount of bums you’re about to see, it concerns discussing what makes something funny.


Nothing is less amusing then being told what to find funny. There’s a quote from E.B and K.S White that describes the phenomenon fairly well. To paraphrase, it suggests that analysing comedy is rather like dissecting a frog, nobody enjoys the process and the frog dies. There’s no way of getting away from it, that’s exactly what I’m going to do today. So I’m very sorry about all the funny pictures I’m about to ruin and without further ado, lets kill some frogs.


There isn’t a set recipe for being funny through pictures. Like so much comedy the rules are there to be broken and it’s so often down to the individual’s sense of humour. There are a few tricks of the trade I can show you though. To help me with this I’d like to introduce my usual comedy associate, Pants Monkey.


Much comedy is already visual, such as slapstick, some toilet humour etc, so perhaps the most obvious way of being funny through pictures is to depict some of that. Now is your time to shine Monkey! Get those pants off.


I think this is a prime example of over doing it. Throwing everything you have at a joke, obviously trying too hard, can negate what would have been a perfectly funny picture of a monkey bum. Lets move swiftly on.


Expressions, exaggeration and characterisation


There is a myriad of ways to make a character amusing, some more tangible than others, but I’m always a fan of exaggeration. You can exaggerate the character’s physicality (a classic example of this is Fritz Wegner’s version of Fattypuffs and Thinifers by Andre Maurois) but there’s also plenty of fun to be had with exaggerating facial expressions and behaviour.


To explain Pants Monkey has kindly agreed to demonstrate some expressions for you:


So why might we find this funny? There’s a theory of humour called Benign Violation Theory which suggests for something to be amusing it must be a violation of a norm but also that this violation must be benign, so not a threat or horrifyingly offensive. Here Pants Monkey’s over reactions violate social norms because expressing such extremes of emotion is unusual. This isn’t really a concern though because he’s just a picture of a monkey wearing pants that I drew in a magazine. Therefore he could be seen as funny. Consider that frog well and truly dissected


14 Books for Keeps No.222 January 2017


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32