The Far Sideis easily one of the funniest comic strip series of all time, and the reason why is that the jokes more often than not completely come out of left field.The Far Sideis the most random bunch of hilarious nonsensereaders will ever have the pleasure of enjoying. While most of the jokes explain themselves in any given comic strip, some of them simply don’t make any sense.
The Far Side’s entire shtick is throwing an absurd lens on the world, as it regularly takes the mundane and makes it weird. The comic does this in a number of ways, whether that be anthropomorphic animals, idiot scientists, or silly cowboys.The Far Sidedoes feature a main character(likePeanutsorGarfield), so it’s free to use these types of characters without explanation. And sometimes, that leaves readers with comics that are so random, they just don’t make any sense (in the funniest way). Here areThe Far Side’s 10 funniest comics that don’t seem to make any sense!
10The Far Side’s “Cow Tools”
A Cow with ‘Cow Tools’ is as Random as it is Confusing
An anthropomorphic cow is standing at a table, far away from the barn behind them, with a bunch of weird objects spread out on the table in front of them.The caption reveals that these objects are ‘cow tools’, yetThe Far Sideoffers no explanationfor what that even means. Meanwhile, the cow is staring directly at the reader, adding a level of discomfort to this already confusing situation.
The Far Side offers no explanation for what ‘cow tools’ are, which is why this comic is so hilarious.
What areThe Far Side’s cow tools? Are they tools that are made specifically for cows to use? Are they tools made by a cow? And why is this cow staring directly into readers' souls while standing in front of them?The Far Sideneglects to answer any of these questionsin this comic strip, leaving fans to conclude that - while it’s hilarious - it doesn’t make any sense.
9The Far Side’s “Holsteins Visit the Grand Canyon”
A Family of Cows Visits the Grand Canyon… & That’s It
A family of cows stands for a photo at the Grand Canyonwhile they’re on vacation. The Grand Canyon is behind them while the members of the family all pose for a nice picture. At least, until the little brother cow put ‘bunny ears’ behind his sister’s head with his hoof. And that’s it. Just a family of cows visiting the Grand Canyon. No wordplay, punchline, or, indeed,jokeof any kind - with the fact that they’re cows just adding more confusion to the scene.
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Why does thisFar Sidecomic even exist? What isthe ‘cow joke’ thatFar Sidereaders are missing? Truth be told, there is no joke that readers are missing, andthat alone is kind of the joke: the random absurdism of a family of cows going to the Grand Canyon- and it just doesn’t make any sense.
8The Far Side’s “Cowboys and Aliens”
The Far Side Comments on the Non-Existent Romanticization of Cowboys & Aliens
Riding his horse through the wide-open planes,a cowboy is running for his (and his horse’s) life away from a fleet of alien spaceships. One of the UFOs is shooting lasers at the cowboy, and though it might be a futile counter-attack, the cowboy is firing back at the UFO with his pistol. The caption reads, “The often romanticized image of cowboys and aliens”, which leaves readers with only one question: what isThe Far Sidetalking about?
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The Far Side features a great number of seemingly random characters in its comic strips, including cowboys. Here are the 10 funniest starring cowboys!
Cowboys and aliens together isn’t a romanticized image.Cowboysaloneand aliensaloneare romanticized by people, sure, but not together- and certainly not in the mainstream. While that is the joke, it’s still super random, and simply doesn’t make sense (and, no, this isn’t a reference to the 2011 film, as this comic was published in 1994).
7The Far Side’s “Anatidaephobia”
A Man in The Far Side has an Irrational Fear of Ducks Watching Him
A man is sitting at his desk in his office at work, a large window behind him showing the beautiful cityscape. Except, this man isn’t enjoying his view, nor is he getting any work done in his office. He’s just sitting at his desk, paralyzed by fear, as he can’t shake the feeling that somehow, somewhere, a duck is watching him. Sure enough,his fears aren’t unwarranted, as there is actually a duck watching him from the building across the street.
The Far Side makes up a fear of ‘stalker-ducks’ for the sake of a hilariously random joke.
While it’s true thatthisFar Sidecomic is pretty self-explanatory, it’s still just so random. This comic makes up an entire phobia just for the sake of a joke, and the joke itself doesn’t make any sense. A fear of stalker-ducks? Absurd - yet still hilarious.
6The Far Side’s “Mr. Pembrose”
An Angry Eyeball is Seeing a Therapist in The Far Side
A therapist and an angry eyeball are sitting together for a therapy session, and the therapist shares his assessment of his patient. Thetherapist tells his patient, Mr. Pembrose, that he seems to have a lot of angertoward the world. As Mr. Pembrose is listening to his assessment, the sentient eye remains silent, glaring at the therapist as their anger is assuredly only rising.
ThisFar Sidecomic is especially weird, and is open to a number of interpretations. Perhaps Mr. Pembrose is a magical ‘evil eye’ from a witch’s cabinet, or maybe Mr. Pembrose is just a sentient eyeball who is angry at the world because he’s literally just an eyeball and his life is pure misery as a result. But the most likely explanation? ThisFar Sidecomic just doesn’t make sense.
5The Far Side’s “Raining Pianos”
A husband and wife are spending the day inside together, and after the husband looks out the window, it’s clear to see why.It’s raining pianos instead of water, which is incredibly hazardous and could mean instant death for anyone who finds themselves outside on a day like this. The husband tells his wife, “My word! I’d hate to be caught outside on a day like this”, verbalizing what is immediately obvious by the illustration.
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What is going on in thisFar Sidecomic? Obviously,the joke is a play on heavy rainy days, and how people will stay inside if it’s too gross outside by taking that common situation to an absurd extreme. But, why pianos? And why are these people so unfazed by pianos falling from the sky? This comic is so hilariously random, and just doesn’t make any sense at all.
4The Far Side’s “Copycat Killer”
Detectives Don’t Know If They’ve Caught Their Suspect, or If This is Just a Copycat
The police have been after a killer who has more than a few decidedly unique calling cards. The killer wears flippers on his feet, a fishbowl with a frog in it on his head, a full suit of armor, and Christmas lights wrapped around his body. By all accounts,the perp tied up in this room is their guy, but the detective isn’t so sure, as he believes this might just be a copycat.
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TheFar Sidethrows fans into some sort of crime thriller, where a bizarre killer is being chased by the police, only for fans to be left wondering if they actually caught him in the end. As if that’s not random enough, the ‘calling cards’ of this killer are just so stupid, readers can’t help but laugh at the utter absurdity.
3The Far Side’s “Flat Porcupine”
A Man’s Porcupine Inexplicably Goes Flat in The Far Side
A man is standing in the middle of a group of people, all of whom areenjoying a party evidently dedicated to porcupines. Each person is holding their very own porcupine, and there’s even a framed picture of a porcupine hanging on the wall behind them, which really hammers home the theme here. However,the porcupine that this man is holding inexplicably goes flat, as if it was an inflatable porcupine that got popped by one of the real ones.
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ThisFar Sidecomic leaves readers with so many questions. Why are these people having a party dedicated to porcupines? How did this man’s porcupine ‘go flat’? Why would this man show up to a porcupine party with an inflatable porcupine? It’s absurd, it makes no sense, and it’s absolutely hilarious.
2The Far Side’s “Goldfish Snare”
Two Goldfish Trap their Human in a Snare (Somehow)
Two goldfish swimming in their little fishbowl are celebrating after their human gets caught in a snarewalking inside from the grocery store. As she’s hanging helplessly upside down in the doorway, the goldfish exclaim, “It worked! It worked!”, proving that they are the ones responsible for making the snare and catching their human.
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Far Side’s fishing comics combine everyday life with Gary Larson’s surreal sense of humor - including everything from giant fish to nuclear war.
Just like so many otherFar Sidecomics, readers are left with more questions than answers. There’s no explanation as to why these goldfish wanted to catch their human in a snare, just as there’s no explanation as to how they even achieved this feat at all. They’re goldfish, after all, so there’s no way they could have even survived outside their fishbowl, let alone set up a rope snare. The absurdity is why it’s funny, and it’s also why this comic doesn’t make sense.
1The Far Side’s “Condiment Dance”
The Condiments in This Guy’s Fridge are Having a Party, & He’s Shutting It Down
A man is standing in front of his open refrigerator holding a banner that reads, “Condiment Dance Tonight”, and he begins scolding the condiments in his refrigerator.The condiments are apparently playing the music for their dance way too loud, and the man can hear it from his bedroom. It’s the middle of the night, he’s trying to sleep, and his condiments won’t keep their music down.
Okay, what?!The Far Sidejust introduces the idea of a ‘condiment dance’ like that’s a thing, and then presents readers with a scenario where one of these condiment dances gets too loud, and the homeowner (or fridge-owner) has to tell them to quiet down. It’s presented as if this is the most relatable thing in the world, but - like the rest of these 10Far Sidecomics - it doesn’t make any sense at all.
