Hand Drawn Jokes for Smart Attractive People by Matthew Diffee

Published by Scribner on May 26, 2015

Matthew Diffey's cartoons are regularly published in the New Yorker. Hand Drawn Jokes for Smart Attractive People might be described as a book of cartoons mixed with stand-up comedy. In fact, Diffey tells us that in terms of stand-up comedy, he is just like Chris Rock, except that Rock owns a mansion and Diffy owns some really nice pencils.

Narrative comedy introduces each chapter. The chapters collect (mostly) single-panel cartoons that will appeal to smart, attractive people (like you). Each chapter addresses a particular category of people: doctors, lumberjacks, pet owners, people in relationships, old people, people with tattoos, etc. Diffey sometimes mixes in multiple-panel cartoons and occasionally graces the bottom of a page with a sketch of someone delivering a one-liner.

My favorite cartoon: a seedy looking guy says to a florist "I want some flowers that say, `Here, have some friggin' flowers'." First runner up: a doorman says to a hooker, "And will he know what this is regarding?" Other highlights include an interview with a pretentious potato chip critic and a two page guide that will help you identify the religion that is best for you. But really, there are too many outstanding cartoons and jokes in this book to make it easy to single out any part of it. It's all pretty funny.

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