How The Far Side's Gary Larson REALLY Felt About the Banjo, Explained (the Truth Is Simple, But Hilarious)

The Far Side took a number of hilarious shots at banjo players over the years, and the reason why is simple: artist Gary Larson, himself, was once a banjo player. In other words, rather than digs at the stringed instrument, Larson's jokes about banjos were a tongue-in-cheek tribute, one that wittily played with its reputation.

In a 2003 interview with NPR, done to promote the release of the two-volume Complete Far Side collection, Larson admitted that he "was a banjo player for a number of years," which gives an entirely new context to how the banjo was portrayed in multiple Far Side punchlines over the years.

It wouldn't be unwarranted for readers to come away from The Far Side's banjo jokes thinking Gary Larson considered the instrument a nuisance, as many of his characters do. Yet, in truth, the artist was deeply familiar with the banjo, not just as a listener, but as a performer.

Gary Larson Was A Longtime Banjo Player, Totally Changing The Instrument's Appearances On The Far Side

First Published: May 22, 1981

As Gary Larson explained to NPR:

I was a banjo player for a number of years. Yeah. I started off when I was a kid, and I played for most of my adolescence. I was playing plectrum banjo, not five-string. I didn't even, at that time, play the cool kind of banjo.

Famously, The Far Side creator pursued his passion for jazz guitar after his retirement from cartooning, though as he noted in this interview, and elsewhere, music was one of his lifelong passions. It was just one of several creative outlets that the remarkably talented Larson had, which also included drawing and making oddball jokes, prior to forging a career as a cartoonist. The fact that he was a banjo player may seem like a surprise, even to fans of The Far Side, but it actually sheds a fascinating light on Larson's style of humor.

As it turns out, when Gary Larson poked fun at banjo players, he was poking fun at himself.

Larson's revelation that he was a long-time banjo player through much of his early life is just one more example of an interesting paradox regarding The Far Side – that is, just how much of Gary Larson is actually on the page. In a way, The Far Side is a deeply personal work, but at the same time, Larson's true feelings on a subject were often obscured in the process of finding a panel's ultimate punchline. Case in point: banjos. As it turns out, when Gary Larson poked fun at banjo players, he was poking fun at himself.

"That's Me," Gary Larson Said Of This Unexpected Far Side Character – The Out Of Place Banjo Player

First Published: November 13, 1981

Upon Larson admitting to his history with the banjo, the host of the interview fondly recollected an early Far Side comic, in which an orchestra conductor is mortified by the sound of a banjo cutting through the sound of his band's instruments – with the offending performer tucked in the bottom-left corner of the frame, plucking away with a goofy, almost mischievous look on his face. "That's me," Gary Larson said with a chuckle, and while he was being playful at the end of an interview, this actually says quite a bit more about the artist than he realized.

The Far Side, and Gary Larson himself, were always at least one beat off-time with the rest of society – and that is what made the comic's humor not just possible, but effective and unforgettable.

That is to say, this comic offers a great analogy for The Far Side's humor, and Gary Larson's role in the newspaper comic industry. Larson was, in effect, always set apart from everyone else, off to the side playing his own tune, and happier that way. Like the clash of a banjo's twang with the sound of a symphony, The Far Side's humor is dissonant, always pushing back against readers' expectations. Readers didn't always understand The Far Side, or appreciate it, just as the banjo is routinely unfairly maligned.

The Far Side, and Gary Larson himself, were always at least one beat off-time with the rest of society – and that is what made the comic's humor not just possible, but effective and unforgettable. The NPR interviewer's conjuring to mind of a nearly twenty-year-old Far Side in itself is a testament to how Larson's strange, off-beat humor stuck in readers' minds. The Far Side was, especially to those who didn't share its comedic sensibilities, often like a shrill chord on the banjo – if not pleasing, at least likely to leave an impression.

The Far Side Can Be Difficult To Understand, But Gary Larson Is The True Mystery

First Published: April 21, 1982

One striking thing about learning Gary Larson was a banjo player is how it forces readers to reinterpret more than just their understanding of The Far Side, but of the artist himself. Some of Larson's personal positions and interests, as they influenced The Far Side, can seemingly be taken for granted. Larson was an animal-rights advocate, for example; his fascination with subjects like science and anthropology come through, even with the varied tenor and tone of the jokes these interests motivated.

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Yet at the same time, it is clear that much of Gary Larson as an individual remains obscured by The Far Side – and this was precisely how Larson wanted it. Just as he willfully subverted tropes, social conventions, and reader expectations in order to achieve a reaction from the audience, Larson was clearly also happy to twist his own beliefs, opinions, and experiences for the benefit of the joke. It is important to note that Larson was a master of perspective, and his banjo punchlines showcase his ability to laugh at himself from an outside viewpoint.

Gary Larson Was A Musician Working In The Cartoon Medium

The Far Side Was A Symphony

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Gary Larson's experience as a musician clearly had a major impact on his approach to cartooning; to use a musician's terms, The Far Side was a product of Larson striking a chord and then riffing on it. As a creator, he was always willing to backtrack, to revise, and to "jam" with an idea for an extended interval before it reached its final form. In this way, The Far Side as a whole can be looked at as a grand symphony, with silliness and absurdity, macabre and pessimistic humor, and more, all different instruments at the conductor's disposal.

Related Far Side's Gary Larson On the Key To Growing As An Artist Far Side's Gary Larson was a prolific creator; years after his retirement, he shared one crucial aspect of developing as an artist and author.

It is not a perfect analogy, but its imperfection is apropos, because it captures the spirit of Gary Larson's love of improvisational jazz, and the experimental nature of his creative process. It is worth unpacking how Larson's musical training informed his approach to working in the comic medium, if for no other reason than as one more way to pursue a more detailed understanding of the idiosyncratic nature of The Far Side, which continues to amuse and inspire readers to this day.

Source: NPR, Gary Larson interview