Phil  Witte

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Phil Witte

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June 2014


Phil Witte is a cartoonist and author. His cartoons have appeared in dozens of publications in the U.S. and U.K., including Alta, The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, San Francisco Chronicle, The Times (of London), New Statesman, Private Eye, and, in collaboration The New Yorker.

His humor books, What You Don’t Know About Turning 50 and the sequel on turning 60, have sold 175,000 copies to date. His latest book is Funny Stuff: How Great Cartoonists Make Great Cartoons, co-written with Rex Hesner with a foreword by Bob Mankoff, former cartoon editor of The New Yorker. His humor writing has appeared in The American Bystander, Slackjaw, and many other print and digital publications. He has also written straight journalism articles for newspapers
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Average rating: 3.85 · 71 ratings · 15 reviews · 3 distinct works
What You Don't Know About T...

3.71 avg rating — 34 ratings — published 2006 — 3 editions
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Funny Stuff: How Great Cart...

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4.65 avg rating — 17 ratings2 editions
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What You Don't Know About T...

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3.32 avg rating — 22 ratings — published 1999 — 5 editions
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Funny Stuff: How ...
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Phil Witte Phil Witte said: " Funny Stuff, which I cowrote with Rex Hesner, is an analysis and appreciation of single-panel gag cartoons--the type you see in The New Yorker. In fact, Bob Mankoff, the cartoon editor of that magazine for 20 years, wrote the foreword.

The book consi
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Maus I by Art Spiegelman
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Phil Witte rated a book it was amazing
Trespassers at the Golden Gate by Gary Krist
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Phil Witte made a comment in the group CartoonsWhat's great about cartoons? topic
" I also loved Gary Larson--still do. He challenged the syndicated cartoon establishment by bringing an absurd element to what was once called the funny ...more "
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Funny Stuff by Phil  Witte
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Funny Stuff by Phil  Witte
Phil Witte made a comment in the group The Humour ClubThe Comix topic
" Jay wrote: ""

Please always credit the cartoonist. Dan Piraro, creator of Bizarro, created this cartoon.
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Phil Witte joined the groups The Humour Club and Cartoons
57055 1267969
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The Bad Day Book by Amilee Weaver Selfridge
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A cute paperback book with true, amusing tales of events that turn out badly. The stories are more like anecdotes, so you can skip ahead if you want. Disclaimer: the book includes one of my cartoons.
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They Went Another Way by Bruce Eric Kaplan
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Bruce Eric Kaplan (BEK to fans of his New Yorker cartoons) published a diary of his efforts to get his television shows from development to production. Between difficult celebrity entertainers, hard-to-reach agents and managers, and the general vicis ...more
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Quotes by Phil Witte  (?)
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“I feel that the cartoon should involve something happening that could not possibly happen, but which has a kind of truth to it. There should be a give-and-take between the truth and the implausibility. If those two things are going on at the exact same time, and they’re both equal in weight, then the brain has a conflict that it has to resolve, and it can only resolve it through laughter.”
Phil Witte, Funny Stuff: How Great Cartoonists Make Great Cartoons

“Just as music courses enhance our appreciation by dissecting melody, rhythm, and harmony, Funny Stuff accomplishes a similar feat for gag cartoons.”
Phil Witte, Funny Stuff: How Great Cartoonists Make Great Cartoons

“The creative process doesn't begin with humor. It begins with subject matter.”
Dave Coverly in Funny Stuff: How Great Cartoonists Make Great Cartoons by Phil Witte & Rex Hesner

“I dream [a cartoon] into being by imagining how I want it to be. I lead with my imagination and, inevitably, the brush follows.”
Kaamran Hafeez in Funny Stuff: How Great Cartoonists Make Great Cartoons by Phil Witte & Rex Hesner

“It is nice to get your cartoons accepted, but if you can get past that and just draw for yourself and just try not to give a s***, which I know sounds arrogant, but that's how you have to be.”
Harry Bliss in Funny Stuff: How Great Cartoonists Make Great Cartoons by Phil Witte & Rex Hesner

“[Sam Gross] had some very interesting words of wisdom, one of which was 'Just remember, any minute it can all turn to s***.' That is sort of my general mindset, that all sorts of different anvils can fall out of the sky at any time.”
Roz Chast in Funny Stuff: How Great Cartoonists Make Great Cartoons by Phil Witte & Rex Hesner

“I saw that my drawings had to be of a simplicity that would match the idiocy I was seeking.”
Jack Ziegler in Funny Stuff: How Great Cartoonists Make Great Cartoons by Phil Witte & Rex Hesner

1267969 Cartoons — 3 members — last activity Mar 17, 2025 11:02PM
Let's discuss the world of single-panel cartoons, such as those found in the New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, and other publications. Why are they ...more
57055 The Humour Club — 1630 members — last activity Apr 07, 2025 12:17PM
A group for readers and writers of humorous fiction.



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