Joke In A Box:

Gag Cartooning

taught by Emily Flake

November 12, 3-5 pm EST

On ZOOM

An introduction to the subtle wizardry that is gag cartooning. We’ll be doing exercises meant to generate ideas, spark jokes, and inspire cartoons in the single-panel format. If we do this right, you’ll end class with a stack of beginnings and ideas for comics that you’re excited about. If we do it wrong, I’ll be left tied to a pole covered in gasoline out in the desert somewhere. Worried about your drawing skills, or lack thereof? Don’t be. Some of the best cartoonists really can’t draw for shit. But we’ll cover a bit of technique, too, promise.

A little about your teacher:

Hi there. I'm Emily. I'm a cartoonist-writer-performer-teacher-illustrator. I like hyphens, apparently.

I live in Brooklyn, NY, with my husband, our daughter, and the ghost of a small orange cat. 

I make cartoons for The New Yorker, mostly, but also sometimes MAD Magazine, the New Statesman, and other places. I had a weekly strip called Lulu Eightball that carried the jokes that are too vulgar for grown-up publications and too racy for MAD, back when alt-weeklies were strong and we were young. I also do a bi-weekly cartoon for The Nib, usually about whatever the political or cultural shitstorm du jour is.

I wrote and drew a book called These Things Ain't Gonna Smoke Themselves (Bloomsbury USA). I also wrote and drew a book of cartoons and essays called Mama Tried. It is about parenting and was published by Grand Central Publishing. You can buy it here.