The Far Side famously does not have a main character or characters that appear throughout the comic, as creator Gary Larson chose to focus purely on individual jokes, using whatever character came to mind to tell these jokes in the funniest way possible. This process allowed Larson to create Far Side comics featuring aliens, dinosaurs, and demons, placing these characters in hilarious situations specifically suited to them.
Of every random character Larson has appeared in The Far Sideperhaps the most impressive (and actually the most random) are the trees. When it comes to jokes, there’s not much a cartoonist can do with trees. They’re just trees, there’s nothing obviously funny about them. But therein lies Gary Larson’s brilliance, as he somehow makes trees funny in these 10 hysterical Far Side comics.
10
The other side confirms that even trees have souls (in the funniest way)
When a lumberjack cuts down a tree with his chainsaw, he certainly doesn’t expect anything more to happen than for the tree to fall to the ground, ready to be cut down further before his work is completed. As this comic makes obvious, that’s not what happens. Instead, the woodcutter witnesses the tree’s soul slowly rising to heaven, greeted by angelic figures who will carry this tree’s soul to heaven.
What’s funnier than the idea of trees having souls is the look on this lumberjack’s face. (or, lack thereof). He was in complete disbelief, stunned and silent at what he had just witnessed – and it’s hilarious.
9
The other side reveals that some trees are more deadly than others
When considering a common tree, they are unlikely to consider it especially dangerous, although The Far Side I would disagree. In this comic, a man is stranded on a desert island, writing a message that he intends to put in a glass bottle to ask for help. However, just as he finishes the message, the tree he is leaning against drops a coconut straight into the bottle, breaking it into pieces.
This tree not only completely ruined any chance this man had of being saved, but it also almost killed him outright. This island is incredibly small and If he had been sitting where that bottle was, the man would have been hit in the head by the coconutpotentially dying as a result. Either way, this particular tree turned out to be deadly.
8
The Other Side Hilariously Expands on a Famous Philosophical Question
“If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” – this is one of the most popular philosophical questions of all time, and here, The Far Side takes it a step further while adding a hilarious twist. The comic asks the familiar question and then adds “and hits a mime“. But, The Far Side doesn’t stop there, as it’s revealed that the comic is asking a completely different question: “Does anyone care?“.
That’s it a joke about how mimes are silent and notoriously annoying. Would the mime make any noise if hit by a tree? If no one heard the tree or the mime, would either of them make a sound? And would anyone care? The Far Side offers readers a whole new take on this popular philosophical question, decidedly more objective and definitely more hilarious.
7
The other side reveals that some trees are happy and others are killers
A woman is watching a program on television that teaches her how to paint one night and she follows along at home. Just like the extremely popular The joy of painting with Bob RossThis painting instructor tells those watching to make the trees they are painting”they look like happy trees“Unfortunately, before the woman can paint her own.”happy tree“, a tree from the real world falls on her house and crushes her in the living room.
It seems that not all trees are “happy trees“, as this Bob Ross would like his students to believe. Some trees are downright killer, like the one that apparently killed the woman in this movie. Far Side comicand the juxtaposition found in this scene is downright hysterical (if not a little morbid).
6
The Other Side Uses Trees to Make a Tragically Ironic Joke
As two lumberjacks sit together, eating lunch on the trunk of a freshly cut tree, one of them says to the other, “I couldn’t work in a small, stuffy office… The outdoors calls to me.“The irony here is that, While this man may think the outdoors calls to him, his surroundings tell a very different story..
This does not appear to be the work of a normal lumberjack, this scene depicts deforestation on a large scale. So the great outdoors is certainly not calling out to this particular man, as he is doing nothing but destroying it, and would be doing the environment a favor by staying in that hypothetical.”stuffy office“.
5
The Other Side Reveals Trees Used to Have a Surprising Alternative Function
That Far Side the comic shows a group of bears shaking a tree full of ancient humans, and with every two shakes, another person falls out of the tree and into the bears’ arms. The bears are talking amongst themselves, deciding how many people to catch versus how many bears they plan to serve dinner. The entire comic is absurdly hilarious, including the role that the tree itself plays in the scene.
In a way, This tree acts as a kind of vending machine for bears, which distributes to humans instead of packaged snacks (of course, for bears, they are the same thing). A normal person wouldn’t look at a tree and immediately think it could serve the same function as a vending machine, but Gary Larson did.
4
The Other Side Finally Lets the Bible’s Most Infamous Tree Off the Hook
Easily the most infamous tree in the Bible is the Tree of Knowledge of Genesis, as it grew the forbidden fruit that Adam and Eve were forbidden by God to eat, as it would grant them ‘forbidden knowledge’, and they would be forced to leave the Garden of Eden. However, The Far Side tells a very different story. It seems that the voice of God that ordered Adam and Eve to leave the Garden of Eden was just a mole with a sound system who was tired of the two humans setting traps for him.
More than that, it seems that the Tree of Knowledge was just a normal tree, and it was all just a ploy by the mole. The tree and its fruit did not cause Adam and Eve to be expelled from paradise on Earth, a cunning mole did thatwhich officially leaves the Bible’s most infamous tree out of harm’s way.
3
The other side highlights the unfair fate of a specific tree
In another comic that highlights the negative aspects of cutting down trees, The Far Side shows two lumberjacks looking at an old tree they have just cut down. Readers know the tree is old because of the number of rings that appear on its trunk. In fact, one of the woodcutters even points this out to the other, commenting that this tree “miraculously” survived a forest fire. However, the tree certainly did not survive them.
This comic is funny in a tragic sense, using a simple scene to convey the destruction that humanity can unleash on nature – even greater than nature itself. Not even something as destructive as a forest fire can compete with man, and this tree is used as an example by The Far Side apparently deliver that message to its readers.
2
The other side uses a popular phrase to give a tree a happy ending
The first anthropomorphic of the group, this tree is enjoying a night out with a group of humans, dancing under a disco ball with a woman while everyone cheers them on from the sidelines. The tree is so happy, in fact, that the comic’s caption reads: “He knew from that moment on that he would never again be a lonely pine tree“.
“A lone pine” is a term used to describe loners, and its origin is believed to be a reference to the World War I Battle of Lone Pine, where the battlefield was completely empty of trees due to soldiers using them in their weapons. trenches, with just one exception, a lone pine tree. But, thanks to The Far SideThis particular (and literal) lone pine tree will no longer be alonewhich is, indeed, a happy ending.
1
The other side reveals that all trees are in danger of child infestation
As if children were no different from wasps or hornets, that Far Side Comic shows a woman calling an exterminator to get rid of a group of children playing in a treehouse. Although this appears to be her tree, the way she and the exterminator are talking implies that they’re not just going to ask the kids to leave, they’re going to exterminate them – in fact, the treehouse is even called a treehouse.child“.
Not only is it hilarious to consider such a horrific reality, but this comic also brings attention to something trees should probably be worried about: child infestation. Once children “build their nests” in trees, there is almost nothing short of extermination that can get them out, and the trees themselves may need to worry. That’s why this is one of the 10 funniest Far Side comics with trees.