Thursday, August 20, 2015

My Entries in the Moment Cartoon Caption Contest for May/June 2015

I submitted a total of three entries in the Moment Cartoon Caption Contest for May/June 2015. As in the past, the drawing is by Bob Mankoff, cartoon editor of the New Yorker.

"I see Congress is in recess again."
"Isn't it time you boys graduated?"
"Let's break for work."


Fortunately, one of these was selected as a finalist:
Moment Cartoon Caption Contest Finalists May/June 2015

So here are the latest statistics. My caption has made it to finalist status in ten out of the twelve contests I've entered over these two years. My previous caption did not win the March/April Contest, meaning that I have won only two of the nine completed contests in which I have been a finalist, a winning percentage of 22%, where the law of averages says I should be at 33%. So paradoxically, while I have demonstrated a disarming 83% rate of making it to finalist status, my captions are only two-thirds as likely to be voted the winner as the laws of probability would suggest. Put another way, I write some first-rate second-rate captions.




September 12, 2015 Update:  Winning Caption
Moment Cartoon Caption Contest Winning Caption for May/June 2015



Note:  Let's have a go at it again! Please vote for your favorite caption in the May/June contest until on or about August 24. You'll have to decide what's funniest:  educational theories, husbands, or the U. S. Congress. I'll plead the Fifth.

While you're at it, you yourself can enter the July/August Caption Contest. For the first time, the Moment Caption Contest cartoon is by Benjamin Schwartz. Personally, I don't deal well with this sort of change.

So why the change in cartoonist? Frankly, I don't think Bob Mankoff has been comfortable with the Moment contest since he made that glaring error while inscribing my personal copy of his memoir. These things can take their toll on one's psyche, you know.

Cartoon caption contests have become a major focus of this blog over the past couple of years. Unlike most other people who subject themselves to these contests, I publish copious notes of my caption hits (Moment) and misses (The New Yorker) for all to see. These blog posts in toto make up a cautionary tale for anyone foolish enough to don the mantle of captioneer. Trust me, we should all just leave humor to the professionals.

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