Humor is basically a cognitive process. And it's a creative process not only on the part of the cartoonist but on the part of the viewer.
Robert MankoffI know everybody wants humor to be subversive and speak truth to power. I don't think power's been listening, incidentally.
Robert MankoffCartoons, often, that you do for the New Yorker don't appear for months afterwards, and the record for that is a cartoon that was bought by James Stevenson in 1987 and didn't appear until 2000.
Robert MankoffWhen you look back at the older cartoons, they're very much more observational cartoons. And the cartoon, the people in the cartoons are not making the joke.
Robert Mankoff