An often underrated, but consistently crucial factor in what makes a funny Far Side comic is its location, and creator Gary Larson crafted a handful of hilarious panels set in and around elevators, as well as a few that found the humor in escalators. These comics highlight the way Larson utilized space, or at times, the lack thereof, in his cartoons.
Most often, Larson’s elevator humor involved the intrusion of some wildly out-of-place element, most often an actual wild animal, into the contained setting of the elevator. What this meant was that, for some unfortunate Far Side human characters, one of modern technology’s greatest conveniences became a shortcut to a macabre ending.
While much less frequent, The Far Side’s escalator gags have their own panache, as they provided Gary Larson with an interesting spatial dynamic to play with, while also allowing him to capture movement in a way that his work wasn’t always geared toward.
9
The Far Side Make It Clear Early And Often It Wasn’t Afraid To Go “There”
First Published: February 19, 1980
The elevator gag first appeared in one of The Far Side’s earliest cartoons, which also stands as an early example of Gary Larson’s obsession with hell. Here, a devil in a comedically poor disguise, with his forked tail sticking out from the bottom of a giant red overcoat, and a fedora barely obscuring his horns, asks a man getting on an elevator to hit “H please…for both of [them],” making it clear that the human character is about to be dragged to hell.
Larson established early on that he wasn’t afraid to appropriate the iconography of hell, or heaven, to get a hearty laugh out of his readers; beyond its punchline, however, what makes this cartoon memorable is the visual contrast between the devil and the man, both in terms of their stature, and also their color schemes, with the unfortunate man clad in green, providing a sharp contrast with the devil’s red.
8
The Far Side’s Early Elevator Gags Set A Wild Precedent
First Published: June 4, 1981
This early Far Side cartoon helped establish the formula that most, though not all, of Gary Larson’s elevator jokes would follow in subsequent years. The simple enough premise involves introducing a dangerous wild animal into a crowded elevator; The Far Side featured several variations on this concept over the years, and while some might be more memorable, this iteration remains a classic.
“Don’t be alarmed folks,” a man says about his pet tiger as they squeeze into an already-full elevator at the last minute, “he’s completely harmless unless something startles him.” Of course, what the reader knows, but the people in the elevator don’t, is that the lion’s tail is about to be caught in the closing doors of the elevator, presumably leading to a vicious mauling for the unlucky people crammed in alongside it. The implication of the joke is dark, but by depicting the moment just before all hell breaks loose, Gary Larson assures at least a caustic laugh from most readers.
7
The Far Side Confirms All Does Go To Heaven, But It’s A Bureaucratic Nightmare
First Published: September 30, 1981
In this classic early Far Side joke about the afterlife, an escalator is depicted carrying the souls of dead dogs up to heaven, where an irate angel tries to maintain order, ordering “all car-chasers over there“ in an effort to sort out which canine is which, and why they ended up ascending to the clouds. Part of the humor of the joke is the angel’s frustrated demeanor, which contrasts with the wide-eyed, innocent looks of the dearly departed dogs.
Related
10 Far Side Comics That Will Remind You to Live In the Moment
The Far Side’s characters were always a moment away from disaster and despair, and some of Gary Larson’s jokes played with that tension artfully.
This comic exhibits an important trait of The Far Side’s comedic style, which was that Gary Larson was constantly looking for different ways to mix and match his familiar comedic tropes; dogs are among The Far Side’s most ubiquitous characters, and as a result, they appeared in more than one memorable joke about going to heaven, with this one setting the bar which Larson would routinely try to clear in subsequent tries.
6
A Far Side Angel And Devil Meet In The Middle, With Comic Results
First Published: October 17, 1981
Gary Larson didn’t use escalators a ton in The Far Side, which makes it interesting that two examples appeared in such close proximity to one another in the fall of 1981; it is also noteworthy than Larson didn’t return to this premise with frequency in the years to come, as it offered a built-in way of depicting action, something that could make-or-break a Far Side cartoon.
Related
“No Cap”: Why Some Far Side Comics Have Captions And Others Don’t
Far Side comics are comprised of two core elements: an image and a caption. Except sometimes Gary Larson left out the caption – here’s why.
In this captionless Far Side comic, an angel and a devil are depicted crossing paths on opposing escalators; naturally, the angel is on the ascending escalator, while the devil is headed downward. Still, it is the devil that gets the last laugh, depicted grinning, pleased with himself, having perfectly timed their encounter so he could pie the angel in the face. For those readers who immediately “get” the joke, this is definitely funny, but to be fair, even experienced Far Side fans might have to do a double-take to understand the punchline here.
5
This Unforgettable Far Side Visual Elevates A Simple Punchline
First Published: June 4, 1986
This incredible Far Side cartoon has a straightforward, if slightly over-the-top premise, and an equally simple punchline, but it is an example of a cartoon in which Gary Larson’s illustrate takes the comedic effect of the gag to the next level. Here, a man with over half-a-dozen snakes latched onto him, their fangs sunk into his nose, ear, chin, chest, and arms, calmly steps into a crowded elevator and says “fourth floor, please,” which the sign next to the elevator tells the reader is “poison control.”
The juxtaposition between the terrifying ordeal the man is seemingly going through, and the ease of his demeanor as he escorts himself to get help, is at the heart of the humor here, yet it is the hilarious image of multiple snakes dangling from the man’s body as he steps into the elevator that truly makes this an iconic Far Side joke in any regard, but particular one of its best elevator panels.
4
The Far Side’s Elevator Jokes Reach A New Height With This Elephant Comic
First Published: December 2, 1987
Elephants were a Far Side staple, meaning there was no way Gary Larson wasn’t going to find a way to squeeze them into an elevator for a laugh at some point or another. That is precisely what happens here, as a human man is depicted standing in the middle of an elevator with three already-annoyed-looking pachyderms, as the caption informs readers that “to Ernie’s horror, and the ultimate disaster of all, one more elephant tried to squeeze on.”
The Far Side Complete Collection
$71 $125 Save
$54
What takes this Far Side punchline from amusing to full-on hilarious territory is that aside, “and the ultimate disaster of all,” which adds a darkly specific wrinkle to this joke about a man being crushed because he took the wrong elevator at the wrong time, implying that not only is “Ernie” doomed, but that the whole elevator is going to go down.
3
The Far Side’s Most Unfortunate Character Makes A Tragicomic Mistake
First Published: May 9, 1990
Like many classic Far Side cartoons, this one invites readers to laugh at a character’s misfortune, and in this case, impending horrible death, as “Conroy, his mind preoccupied with work, stepped into the elevator…directly between a female grizzly and her cub.” This is perhaps the greatest example of Larson’s comedic use of the elevator as a place where human and animal characters came together in an improbable and unnatural way.
That is, the joke here hinges on the fact that a human coming between a bear and its cub is usually the result of the human’s intrusion into the bear’s natural territory; here, however, it is a result of the two species being forced to coexist and share an office building. Occasionally, The Far Side’s humans and animals could be found living together in harmony, but much more often, it was disharmony that got a rise out of readers.
2
The Far Side’s “Punk Accountants” Lampoon Office Dress Codes And Punk Fashion All At Once
First Published: May 21, 1990
Simply captioned “punk accountants,” this Far Side cartoon effectively undermines two subcultures at once; first, it subverts office culture, particularly the way office workers are expected to dress, while also getting a laugh out of punk rock fashion, particularly piercings.
Related
Dummies vs Genius: 10 Far Side Comics That Poke Fun At Smart People
These Far Side comics aren’t afraid to criticize the smartest among us, demonstrating that even the greatest minds can be clueless at times.
It does this by having its “punk accountants” pierced and tatted, except their piercings are a calculator, and various pens and pencils, with their bodies serving in lieu of “nerdy” pocket protectors, while the tattoo on one’s forearm reads “add, subtract, and die!” Despite the terse caption, there is a lot going on in this Far Side panel, making it a joke that many readers will return to time and again, even if it doesn’t strike them as hilarious the first time they encounter it.
1
The Far Side’s Hyperbolic Humor Made The Familiar Feel Strange
First Published: November 26, 1990
“Man, I hate elevator music,” an office worker thinks, stepping into the elevator after what readers might infer is a long shift, only to be bombarded by the performance of a full-on orchestra crowded into the elevator with him. In addition to being a great use of the elevator location, this also represents one of the most glorious things about Gary Larson’s humor as a whole.
That is, The Far Side was able to take something that many readers would have already thought, in this case a disdain for elevator music, and present it in idiosyncratic Larsonian fashion. Often, this meant producing an overly-literal version of the familiar premise, and this Far Side comic does so to an exemplary degree, truly giving form to a recognizable sentiment and making this a highly relatable Far Side cartoon, one that will stick with readers long after they first discover it.
- Writer
-
Gary Larson
- Colorist
-
Gary Larson
Summary
Written and drawn by Gary Larson, The Far Side is a comic strip series that ran from December 1979 to January 1995. A worldwide hit, The Far Side explores life’s surreal side and uses a mix of humans and anthropomorphic animals. As of 2020, Gary Larson decided to pick his pencil back up again and has started The Far Side up, circulating the comics on his official website.
