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Caroline Mimbs Nyce
Newsletter editor
Some people dream of seeing their name in lights. Others dream of a credit in print. For a few of those people, it’s not about the traditional byline. They just really, really, really want to win The New Yorker’s weekly Cartoon Caption Contest. (The film critic Roger Ebert famously submitted more than a hundred times before finally winning, in 2011.)
Since 2005, the magazine has, in each issue, challenged readers to submit the funniest caption to a cartoon that is missing one; the finalists and winners get their names printed in subsequent issues. But who is actually judging these submissions? What makes the chosen caption the funniest? We asked Rachel Aster Perlman, our deputy cartoon editor, to reveal a few trade secrets.
The following conversation has been edited and condensed.
How many submissions do you get on average per week?
About four thousand captions are submitted each week via our website and Instagram.
And how many of those are people making variations on the same joke?
Often there’s one joke that a hundred, or hundreds, of people make. “Card shark” was a very popular submission for Lynn Hsu’s recent contest cartoon of a hammerhead shark playing poker. Beside being a pun (which—meh), it wasn’t unique.
If multiple people make the same joke, and it’s legitimately funny, how do you decide who gets credit for it?
If fewer than five people have the exact same joke, and we think it’s super funny, whoever submitted the caption first is the finalist. If it’s a matter of similar ideas, phrasing makes a big difference. For a recent contest cartoon by P. C. Vey, which featured a fish, out of the water, reading a book, someone submitted, “The light’s probably better.” But that isn’t quite as funny as how one of the finalists phrased it, “Obviously, the light is better up here.” You really have to get into the mind of the fish.
Briefly explain how the process works.
There are five iterations of the Cartoon Caption Contest running at any given time, and it moves through the following stages each week.
1. Aspirants submit captions online.
2. Readers rate the captions as “funny,” “somewhat funny,” or “unfunny.” (People mainly click “unfunny,” because people are cruel and self-serving.) An algorithm helps sort the rated captions, and then Emma Allen, the cartoon editor, and I pick the finalists by referencing the top hundred or so reader rankings.
3. The finalists are printed in the magazine, and readers vote online for their favorite.
4. The votes are tallied. The winner is exclusively based on the readers’ votes. We have no control over which of the three finalists will rise to the top—it’s up to you!
5. The winner is crowned and their name and caption are printed in the magazine, for which they receive eternal bragging rights, and little else.
Do you have tips for readers who are eager to win?
Your first idea isn’t always the best idea. To me, the funniest captions are out of the box. But, please, don’t reference things too outside the bounds of the cartoon itself, such as your family members, or active war zones. And pay attention to who is speaking (when in doubt, look for the open mouth).
How do you source the caption-contest cartoons?
Emma and I pull them from the cartoonists’ regular weekly submissions to the print magazine. Sometimes, they are cartoons that don’t quite hit the mark, but the visual is intriguing enough that it might generate great captions. Usually, one thing is weird in the image, and one character is directly addressing that incongruity. Occasionally, artists will submit a cartoon sans caption and suggest that it be used for the contest.
Is it true New Yorker staff are not allowed to participate? Why are you censoring my jokes?
Back in 2015, before I worked here, I won the contest! My hopes of a repeat performance were quashed when I was hired and then started producing the contest—you win some, you judge some. We don’t let anyone with ties to the magazine make the final cut. It’s the rare instance when nepotism is a disadvantage.
What do you have to say to the people who have submitted over and over again, but have never won?
Nearly every week I get an e-mail from a finalist saying that they’ve been submitting for years and this is their first time being selected. It could be you next!
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