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The Importance of Graphic Wit
Dave Anderson
The Importance of Graphic Wit
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Dave Anderson Dave was born and raised in Abergavenny, South Wales but moved hurriedly to London when he heard the streets were paved. Described by his university lecturer as “occupying his own unique cultural space”, he started doing illustrated stand-up performances at various dives across the city whilst at Wimbledon School of Art. A couple of years through Soho’s Animation companies, Dave then graduated with distinction with a Masters from Central St Martins.
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The Importance of Graphic Wit
Economy vibrator
Dave Anderson
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Dave Anderson
Diet coke
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The Importance of Graphic Wit
Dave Anderson
Why do you create humours work? I think if you’re in the habit of collecting them as they come along, you’re putting yourself in a comedy mindset you can apply to anything. For ten years I’ve been keeping a Bob Monkhouse-style catalogue of comic ideas, most of which never come to anything. It gives me peace of mind that when asked, I do have a joke about salad to hand. It could be a mental illness, but you start to see everything through a filter, making those humorous connections with greater ease. There could be such a thing as a comedy algorithm operating subconsciously, but it’s still a lovely surprise when that idea pops into your head. For me, the joke, the written idea is the real work. Then as they say, the form follows the function. The design should be whatever most eloquently communicates the joke. I don’t think I’ve managed yet to unite the design and the joke writing into a single and simultaneous process quite yet!
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Dave Anderson
Sphinxter
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The Importance of Graphic Wit
72 virgins
Dave Anderson
I always say it’s not the content but the intention. Now especially it seems there is a nervousness of offending absolutely anyone, even for using certain words, regardless of their context. A chicken crosses the road and there’s a stream of angry chickens on Twitter. Even though
my work might include some risky content I hope people see that the jokes are largely just being silly about language. I love a crap pun. I hope my eagerness to please, rather than attack anybody, will keep the jokes on the right side of evil.
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Dave Anderson
Royal gumble
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The Importance of Graphic Wit
Fifty shades of grey
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Dave Anderson
Traces of seamen
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The Importance of Graphic Wit
Dave Anderson
How do you create funny ideas? I think in anything you have to relax into yourself. You know when it doesn’t feel right, when you’re trying too hard. I’ve heard in stand up it’s more important to be interesting rather than funny. Perhaps it’s better to say what you have to say as naturally as you can and if it’s funny then great. The sad thing is there are people out there who just aren’t funny, but that’s okay too. A good sense of humour is always seductive. The question is will a joke stick around as long as a “proper” piece of art. Jokes don’t tend to age well.
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Dave Anderson
O-isis
I remember being told once I’d “blag it” somehow. It does bother me however that some people might think that jokes are easy and spontaneous (or even worse, when people mistake nastiness for wit). Like anything it takes practice, thought and many failures.
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The Importance of Graphic Wit
Gateau life
Dave Anderson
The Importance of Graphic Wit
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Dave Anderson
Nazi sympathizer
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The Importance of Graphic Wit
I hope I’m in some way challenging prudery or saying something interesting using perhaps rude language or references, rather than just pulling my trousers down. The Importance of Graphic Wit
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The Importance of Graphic Wit
Dave Anderson
Is there such thing as pure design humour? I’m not sure, but brevity is the soul of wit and nothing is quite like a delicately chosen few words or juxtaposition, a beautifully placed “fuck”, that blossoms a whole world of meaning in your brain. There is a difference between a rude joke that says something about your life and drawing a cock and balls on a toilet wall (although I challenge anyone not to feel a basic thrill drawing a cock and balls anywhere!)
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Dave Anderson
Tune!
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The Importance of Graphic Wit
Humberside
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OCD
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The Importance of Graphic Wit
Jacamo
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Dave Anderson
Your work for Jacamo encapsulates entertaining graphic wit. How did this project come about? My initial connection came through my agent. Jacamo were asking for some illustrations to go in their brand book, representing your average style-conscious bloke. Simple line drawings of absurd situations that lean towards a more true-to-life deadpan feel. These then developed smoothly into the animations when the opportunity came up.
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The Importance of Graphic Wit
Your chopping board
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Dave Anderson
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The Importance of Graphic Wit
Jealous plaques
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Dave Anderson
Your English Heritage style blue plaques are extraordinarily witty. How did this idea come to fruition?
I come from a small town where there were a lot of rumours when I was growing up of various affairs and wife-swaps amongst the Waitrose set. I imagined what it must be like passing the same houses every day knowing what your partner’s been up to, that they may as well have a commemorative plaque outside. It started as a drawing and when I was lucky enough to have an exhibition at
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Jealous Gallery in London, we thought it would be fun to produce actual plaques as a part of the show. The gallery owner then had the balls to hang the plaques around the local area, which got some press attention. A cease and desist letter from English Heritage means they are absolutely not available from jealousgallery.com for a very reasonable price.
The Importance of Graphic Wit
9½ Lives
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Dave Anderson
What’s your most successful work? It depends what you measure by success. Money is one thing but it’s the showing-off is why I do this nonsense. Nothing beats the feeling of your Mum sticking your first drawing on the fridge. The film I made with the musician Tom Rosenthal after Luis Suarez bit a player at the World Cup got hundreds of thousands of views and prompted interviews from several newspapers around the world. I listen to a lot of podcasts while I’m working. There was a British comedian on one asking for an animator to make something from of a clip of his podcast. I wrote to him but he said he’d rather find some students to do it for free. What an insult! In honour of my younger self and all students, I got into touch with another favourite podcaster and offered to animate, for free, a piece from his show. The final film sat on YouTube for ages, but then he recently appeared on the The Rogan Experience – one of the most popular podcasts in the world with millions of downloads – where they discussed the animation at length and since then the response has been overwhelming. It was a dastardly plan that came good in the end. It should have done considering it was a story about him fucking a cat with a pencil.
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The Importance of Graphic Wit
Dave Anderson
It’s a cliché that all comedians are depressed. I think that everybody feels sad sometimes, but it seems ironic to hear comedians are. But it’s true that your problems are diffused when you laugh at them. However I wouldn’t mistake laughter for not appreciating those problems. You’ve got to laugh because you know life can be serious. There may be other subconscious reasons why I use humour: an act of aggression, a means of being heard (I was the youngest of three boys), a way of controlling when people laugh at you, a display of lateral thought, an alternative power/status thing, self protection - who knows. The good thing is doing what I do, it’s obvious when the audience enjoy your work.
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Dave Anderson
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The Importance of Graphic Wit