{"product_id":"pandemic-panacea-laughing-through-quarantine","title":"Pandemic Panacea: Laughing through Quarantine","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003ePandemic Panacea\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003eis a collection of cartoons juxtaposing old magazine photos with crisp new captions. These absurdist cartoons are reminiscent of Gary Larson. Each cartoon first appeared as a postcard sent to a friend to share a laugh.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOn March 12, 2020, I began self-isolation, sheltering from the Covid 19 pandemic. I set about on a bit of house cleaning, ran across a box of \u003cem\u003ePopular Mechanics \u003c\/em\u003emagazines from the 1940s and '50s. They were full of racy race cars, speed thrills, and most of all rampant hilarity. Not intentionally humorous but rendered absurd with the passing of decades.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSo, I started to cut out vintage photographs and images to Scotch tape to an index card. At first, the cards were oddities—the sweeping fins on the cars or the peculiar fashions. Then I started adding captions.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eI laughed more—an anti-pandemic laugh. Laughter is communal. So I decided to make other people laugh—write a caption, imagine a friend laughing, put a stamp on it, and send it off.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe first few months of isolation stretched into six months, 10 months, 12 months and more without a return to normal. I kept making postcards though—through the summer, into the fall and right into 2021. Eventually, I had sent a new postcard every day for a year, excluding Sundays.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe humor I drew from the old \u003cem\u003ePopular Mechanics \u003c\/em\u003eshifted during that time. I began to see each image as a moment in a story, tailoring the caption to capture the human characters in the scene: how did they reach this moment and why. Nothing is funnier than humans struggling through the comic absurdities of life.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eI laughed alone when I made the cards, but I could imagine the laughter of my friends. For a postcard moment, I wasn't alone.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDAN HUNTER\u003c\/strong\u003e is a playwright, songwriter, teacher, and founding partner of Hunter Higgs, LLC, an advocacy and communications firm. Hunter is the inventor of H-IQ, the first assessment of individual imagination, h-iq His plays include \u003cem\u003eUn Tango en La Noche\u003c\/em\u003e (winner of a national Kennedy Center award) and \u003cem\u003eLa Mujer Sin Cara\u003c\/em\u003e (The Woman Without a Face). His play \u003cem\u003eThe Monkey King \u003c\/em\u003ewas a finalist for the 2004 Heideman Award from the Actors Theatre of Louisville. Hunter's play, \u003cem\u003eRed Elm\u003c\/em\u003e, was nominated in 2005 for the Best New Play of the Year award by the Independent Reviewers of New England (IRNE). \u003cem\u003eThe Boston Globe \u003c\/em\u003ecalled Hunter's \u003cem\u003eLegally Dead\u003c\/em\u003e, a black comedy, \"uproarious\" and \"over the top.\" \u003cem\u003eLegally Dead \u003c\/em\u003ewas produced by Boston Playwrights Theater. Hunter is also a columnist for the online journal Arrowsmith Press. He performed for many years as a singer, songwriter, and humorist known for songs like \u003cem\u003eWalkin' Beans\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eBallad of the Iowa Pork Queen\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003ePlease Don't Burn Perry Como\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Itasca Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54526344855827,"sku":"9781737800705","price":24.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0948\/3521\/2563\/files\/img_proxy_3f17d9a9-18ee-4382-9018-f120665766f0.jpg?v=1785851325","url":"https:\/\/danuc.net\/products\/pandemic-panacea-laughing-through-quarantine","provider":"Danu's Wardrobe","version":"1.0","type":"link"}