The text in Richard Prince’s monochrome joke paintings are described as borscht-belt style humour. Jokes like, “I met my first girl, her name was Sally. Was that a girl, was that a girl. That’s what people kept asking me.” These are the kind of crude, below the belt, old school raunchy one-liners our parents’ generation might remember telling during cocktail parties and the like. Maybe eating fondue was involved as well.
If you’re a New Yorker reader, then hopefully you’re familiar with the cartoon contest every week. It’s where you, the reader, are given an opportunity to supply text to a cartoon drawn by one of the esteemed New Yorker cartoon artists. So, in response to the Richard Prince Spirtual America show here at the Walker we’ll give you a chance to come up with your own one line joke to win prizes and other Walker Art Center swag. Sound exciting, then keep reading!
This contest is a little different. You, the gallery goer,the blog reader, the joke enthusiast, will be asked to supply a one line joke that is about jokes in time for our Richard Prince Gallery talk on June 5th. This third in a series of three specialized gallery talks will attempt to explain what makes a joke funny, what is borscht-belt style humor, and the history of humor. It’s being led by Twin Cities funny man Joseph Scrimshaw who is an internationally produced writer, performer, and independent theater producer. He’s created multiple best-selling shows in the Minnesota Fringe Festival including Die, Clowns, Die and Macbeth’s Awesome Scottish Castle Party. His hit interactive romantic comedy, Adventures in Mating, has played in New York, Seattle, the UK, Bulgaria and every Monday night right here in Minneapolis
Submit your joke by June 4th. Again, the rules are simple. It has to be a one line joke about a joke. Submit them to this address: allison.herrera@walkerart.org. Include your name, email address and phone number.
First prize wins two tickets to Joseph Scrimshaw’s current show Adventures in Mating plus two free tickets to Walker on the Green: Artist-Designed Mini Golf, which opens May 24th. Runner up is two free tickets to Walker on the Green: Artist-Designed Mini Golf and a B.T. McElrath Salty Dog chocolate bar from the Walker Art Center Shop.
To win, you must make Joseph Scrimshaw laugh!
Let the games begin!