In The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #971 from the issue of December 8, 2025, a lumberjack with a chainsaw has just cut off the top of a tree. The angry tree speaks. My entry appears below. The drawing is by Rich Sparks.
"I happen to know you're not from the Sierra Club."
These captions didn't stand tall:
"You do realize I once worked for Disney." "You're way out of your depth." "That's how you see yourself—just a hobbyist?"
December 22, 2025 Update: The Finalists
January 10, 2026 Update: I voted for the caption from Comfort. I've always wanted to write that.
It's time for another round of the CartoonStock Caption Contest. In number 180, two wrestlers meet up in the ring. One of them is a clown. It is the clown who speaks.
The rules of the monthly cash prize contest have not changed (and neither has my description of them): five dollars buys up to three entries. Real cash prizes are $500 for first place and $100 for each of five runners up. As of this writing, I've put $125 into the first twenty-five pay-to-play contests and this twenty-sixth challenge brings my total cash outlay up to $130. Having achieved runner-up status with two previous entries, I've collected $200 from CartoonStock, so I'm still playing with the house's money, thank goodness. In fact, so few contestants enter that the odds are generally favorable even for us less-gifted caption writers. My three entries are shown below, above the break. The cartoonist is Rich Sparks.
"Even in clown college, you couldn't have been a contender." "Usually I dominate three rings." "When I took on Ringling they went down for six years." * * * "I've got a kid's party right after this." "I'm a clown—grapple with it." "Laugh at your own risk." "Why can't you take this seriously?" "Only one of us can give 'em the greatest show on earth."
Four months ago, cartoonist Rich Sparks made an auspicious debut in the New Yorker. The idea for this gag is unusually strong because you have to work backwards a bit to figure out what precedes the straightforward caption of "Yes?" This extra step makes the joke all the more rewarding when you get it. You do get it, right?
Can it be mere coincidence that the new GEICO television commercial bears a striking resemblance to the setting of this brilliant cartoon? I leave that question to the discerning reader.
"It's Not Surprising"
GEICO TV Commercial
Another version published on YouTube July 27, 2016
Video replaced May 18, 2023
Here, have another look:
Rich Sparks,"Yes?" The New Yorker, April 11, 2016, page 58
Note: If, after all this, you really, really, really don't get this cartoon, you can read the explanation I offered to someone on Twitter here.
This is the first appearance of Rich Sparks on this blog. I eagerly await the appearance of more of his work in the pages of the New Yorker, while I'm sure he eagerly awaits his royalty check from GEICO.
