(CLASS) Joke in the Box: An Introduction to Gag Cartooning

In this single-session class, we’ll be doing exercises meant to generate ideas, spark jokes, and inspire cartoons in the single-panel format. If we do this right, you’ll walk out with a stack of beginnings and ideas for comics that you’re excited about. If we do it wrong, I’ll be left tied to a pole covered in gasoline out in the desert somewhere. Worried about your drawing skills, or lack thereof? Don’t be. Some of the best cartoonists really can’t draw for shit. But we'll cover a bit of technique, too, promise.

Emily Flake is a cartoonist, writer, and comic whose work appears regularly in the New Yorker. She is the author of several books, most recently “Joke in a Box: How to Write and Draw Jokes.” She was nominated for a WGA award for her screenwriting work on Stephen Soderbergh’s “Command-Z” and was a Yaddo fellow in 2025. She is the founder of the St. Nell’s Humor Writing Residency in Williamsport, PA.

Supplies: Bring a hardbacked notebook or a clipboard and paper for note taking and drawing, as well as a pen and a pencil of your choice.

1pm Venue Opens / 1:15pm Class Starts (in downstairs Venue)

Ages 21+

Please check the FAQ below or contact [email protected] with any questions.

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Host or Publisher Union Hall