Tales from the Theme Park #16

This happened around 1993 or so at a short lived nightclub complex in downtown Minneapolis called “Mississippi Live”. I had set up a single artist location in a big commons area where patrons could come out of the various clubs and bars that opened into the area with their drinks. Lots of very drunk people.

One of the staples of a live caricaturist’s repertoire in an adult setting like that are “boob gags”.  Not exactly highbrow humor but your play to your crowd. Quite a few of the women joke about giving them bigger breasts in the drawing, and 100% of the men with them joke about it. The artists joke that their tips increase with each cup size they add, etc. etc. It’s harmless fun, and you can pretty easily tell the type of customers that will think this sort of thing is funny and those that would not.

One night I was drawing there and got a run of couples who were all about the boob gags. The ladies had them prominently on display (the boobs, not the gags), and each drawing I did got a little more riské. I progressed from drawing major cleavage and the guy oogling it to buttons popping and bouncing off the guy’s head to beach scenes and “flotation device” gags. I had a huge, very drunk crowd and was playing to them when a drunk and very belligerent feminist got in my face and started screaming very loudly.

Her: “THOSE DRAWINGS ARE SEXIST CRAP!!! YOU ARE OBJECTIFYING WOMEN!”

This hushed up the crowd.

Me: “Uh… yes. However my customers are enjoying the sexist crap. You are free to not watch.”

Her: “YOU AREN’T EXAGGERATING THE SIZE OF ANYBODY’S PENIS!!! WHAT DON’T YOU DRAW SOMEONE WITH A GIANT PENIS???”

Me (short pause): “Well, I ordinarily don’t do that but with you I’ll make an exception.”

Crowd erupts. “Dropping the mic” was not a thing back then but if it was I’d have done that move. Woman kept screaming but the crowd yelled her down.

Not sure I would get away with that in 2016.