The front side Featured a series of classic jokes set in the therapist’s office, as Gary Larson repeatedly managed to find the humor in psychologist-patient exchanges. From characters on the therapist’s couch sharing their deepest fears, to doctors revealing their true feelings about their patients, Larson wrote multiple memorable therapy-centric strips.
The era of The front side Publication coincided with the increasing role of talk therapy in American culture. This made the practice a frequent target for critics and comedians; What put Gary Larson’s name on the subject is that He didn’t use lampoon therapy or therapists, but rather used the setting to deliver some of his most clever jokes.
Often, though not always, therapists and therapy patients are some of The front side Most likable characters. A closer look at Larson’s therapy jokes offers a great perspective on how his art and his comedy have grown over the years.
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A feline patient struggles to adjust to being a pet
First published: April 29, 1991
Cats were a staple of The front sideAnd here, Gary Larson delivers one of his all-time great feline punchlines, vi Stretched belly-up on a therapist’s couch, a cat disembarks, admitting: “I’m starting to feel dependent.” Larson, with a firm cheek, applies psychological terminology to cats, which are obviously known for maintaining a streak of independence, even as domesticated pets.
Whether the cat is a former stray, still adjusting to living inside, or a lifelong house cat mourning the loss of his animalistic instincts, the reader can only speculate. What is certain is that this is an exceptionally effective take on the front side”Therapist’s office” premise, which at this point in the publication of the strips, recurring readers would have been well familiar with.
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The Far Side comic offers a glimpse from the therapist’s perspective
First published: March 13, 1990
most often, The front side delivered his “Therapist’s Office” cartoons from a neutral perspective, but that’s not the case with this panel, In which a psychologist is depicted scribbling “Just plain nuts” on his notepad, and underlining it several times, as his patient lies there and talks. While this is perhaps The front side Most pessimistic take on therapy, the tradeoff is that it’s also the most bluntly humorous.
The “over-the-shoulder” POV of this illustration is part of what makes it so funny, as the doctor’s brief summary of his patient, and the oblivious patient himself, are perfectly framed together so the reader can grasp them both at once. . This represents Gary Larson tweaking the “formula” of the recurring “therapist’s office” joke; Not for the first time, but in perhaps the most effective turn on the familiar premise.
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On the other hand, just because you’re a monster doesn’t mean you have to act like one
First published: March 1, 1988
The front side Often contained movie references, and over the years Gary Larson made more than one homage to these Game Creature from the Black Lagoon in particular. This is perhaps the strangest thing, because it hHosts the eponymous movie monster in the unexpected context of the therapist’s office, and then makes an even more unexpectedly poignant point In the process of delivering his punchline.
“Sure, I’m a creature, and I can accept that– says the patient,But lately, it seems, I have become a miserable creature.” The creature’s remark that it can accept what it is, but not who it is, expresses a clear familiarity with psychological analysis, and a disposition to introspection, suggesting that in this cartoon, Gary Larson was expressing a very Real.Sentiment in a comic form.
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Gary Larson spins a parable about getting in your own way
First published: July 7, 1987
In this hilarious For side Spider cartoon, the arachnid in question is Perched on the therapist’s couch, a nightmare tells him he keeps having to be stuck to his own web.. The joke is overtly effective, but beneath the surface readers can again find the suggestion of a deeper understanding of therapy, and self-reflection, on Gary Larson’s part.
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The idea of the spider to be stuck to its own web is deeply metaphorical, and in particular holds relevance as an analogy both for progress in therapy, and developing as an artist. The idea of going into one’s own way, holding back, is one that many readers will relate to, and although it is given a humorous expression here, one should not neglect the potency of the metaphor.
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Gary Larson goes out on a limb with this Far Side Therapy Panel
First published: November 27, 1986
This cartoon breaks almost entirely from that For side “Therapist’s office” premise, but it’s too outrageous not to include here. It depicts a man in a metal box, covered in snakes, suspended from the window of a high-rise building, with the caption stating that this is:”Professor Gallagher and his controversial technique of simultaneously confronting the fear of heights, snakes and the dark.”
For Gary Larson, experimentation was essential to The front sideAnd without fail, every throwback joke in the comic’s oeuvre has at least one example that deviates wildly from the formula established by the others. That’s the case here, as Larson imagines the extreme next step beyond his usual talk therapy jokes.
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Does doctor-crocodile confidentiality cover admissions of guilt?
First published: February 7, 1986
The Far Side crocodile treads into dangerous territory, as he hilariously admits that it was chewing down on the small birds that gators normally don’t bother with. Ask his therapist if he is familiar with “The tiny little birds that walk around so trustingly in a crocodile’s mouth,“The patient unhesitatingly describes how he has”The little guys are already eating like popcorn.”
While some of Gary Larson’s “Therapist’s Office” cartoons have a deeper layer to them, this is silly by design, as the gator’s casual admission of his carnivorous nature is framed—given the setting—as an acknowledgment that his behavior is aberrational, If not correctly captured. Caption aside, just the image of the croc with its long tail curling off the therapist’s couch is likely to strike many readers as amusing.
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The dog and his therapist finally get to the root of a major problem
First published: December 8, 1984
“This is the postman, Doctor“, this canine in therapy is obvious,”He scares me.” This is another simple, effective blend of The front side Familiar dog humor and its “therapist’s office” premise. Everything about this comic is straightforward, and that’s to its credit. How confusing how The front side Be that as it may, it’s always satisfying to come across a panel where Gary Larson lays all the joke’s cards on the table, so to speak.
The stark color and sparse decoration of the psychologist’s office space parallel the short, but to-the-point headline;The illustrations of the dog and the therapist themselves are not too full of detail, but the details that are present, especially the posture of both characters, contribute to the overall feeling of a charged moment happening in an otherwise quiet space.
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The greatest therapist from the front side helps his patient overcome a mental block
First published: March 24, 1984
In many cases, the focus of The front side Therapy jokes were on the patient, with the therapist often serving as little more than a fixture of the setting. That dynamic is flipped here, like The psychologist does all the talking, trying to explain to his lizard patient that “The more you think about changing colors, the less you will succeed.”
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“Should we try the green background then?– asks the therapist, adding an interesting layer to the cartoon, which was illustrated in black-and-white – almost as if to reflect the idea that the colorfulness of the world has become painful for the patient here, when once his inhibitions about Be. Camouflage abilities are overcome, it should be one of the great joys of life.
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The therapist’s office is no place to get hung up on the past
First published: September 14, 1982
In this quixotic For side cartoon, Gary Larson puts his own spin on the definitive therapy joke—the timeless, “So tell me about your mother“Little. The go-to line for poking fun at therapy and therapists,”Tell me about your mother” is usually depicted as a trap therapists resort to. In this case, With the patient wearing flip flops, a raincoat, an inflatable duck inner tube, a fake beak, and a birthday party hat, it seems as if the therapist has more immediate places to start. His analysis.
While the caption is amusing enough, it’s the absurdity of Larson’s depiction of the patient—who, in addition to being extravagantly dressed, perches atop a coat rack, instead of lying on the couch—that makes it particularly memorable. For side installment.
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Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t after you—especially on the far side
First published: August 14, 1980
in one of The front side Earliest “therapist’s office” panels, A man lies on the couch and says, “It’s quite funny… almost as follows,“As the outline of a second person below him on the couch is clearly visible. This is exactly the kind of funny punchline that Gary Larson made his reputation as a humorist on, and it set a strong precedent for the therapy jokes that would follow in the years to come.
With this comic, Larson takes a familiar psychological issue—in this case, paranoia—and delivers it in a straightforward way, except with an added wild twist that’s equal parts ridiculous and brilliant. As with many early For side Jokes, the cartoon is a common example of the style and content that Gary Larson would polish throughout the rest of his legendary career.