The Singing Elephant

i could argue that birds were singing long before cavemen...

Really? Birds?

Why is the elephant under a sheet? Does he have a horrible scar or maybe an embarrassing pimple?

Shawn: I am sure he is merely embarrassed by his severe case of elephantitis.

Elsewhere: Welcome back, BSR. Great to meet you at south-by. I still chuckle every time I look at your b-card and that enormouse salt shaker.

Perhaps, the singing elephant is unable to sing without a sheet reader. A clear indication of that is the sheet.

Welcome home!

No, cheetahs shouldn't host our game shows, or koalas drive our buses. But cheetahs should drive our buses. Think how much more efficient our mass transit system would be. Faster service, etc.

Come to think of it, a koala could be a great replacement for the venerable Bob Barker when he retires soon. Plus, the koala would know how to treat those lovely Barker's Beauties with class.

Terry - Great to meet you too! And next year... big pepper shaker.

Somejeff - Haha - NICE.

Testmonkey - You make a good point. I'll start sewing up some feline-specific uniforms. Do cheetahs have names?

Mozart had a bird that could sing one of his songs (at least i think it was Mozart). Does that count? At any rate, I'd say the elephant is largely self taught, if he doesn't know how to read music.

So did the Wombat stewardess let you take any blankets home?

Surely you don't want cheetahs hosting game shows, call me stupid but won't they just cheat? I think the clue is in the name, but maybe I'm just being over cautious.

DD Wishmore - Good observation. Maybe if he spent more time at music lessons, and less time stripping bark from trees, he'd had made something of himself.

BigA - I KNEW there was something odd about that stewardess. She didn't even hand OUT blankets.

Relain - Hahaha! :D

Hey! Beavers make great dams. I don't mind you making fun of cheetahs, birds, elephants, or even Mozart, but I need to stick up for the noble beaver...Truly a wonderful (albeit funny looking) creature.

Hey! Beavers make great dams.

I don't know about that... have you ever been in a beaver dam? They don't even have a microwave.

Far be it from me to criticize your brilliance and unerring comic perceptions, but it occurred to me that (ahem) this strip would be funnier if it was the guy who asking the question rather than the elephant...

Like - he's not satisfied that the elephant can merely sing...

Heheh... that sounds like the unique humor of a musician ;)

It's a curse.

Anaglyph: Color me confused. I totally thought it was the guy asking the elephant. Furthermore, I read the panel as it being the elephant's handler asking the question. Meaning, he just lied to the dude who walked up and now had to produce a singing elephant because... well... apparently no one would be excited about an elephant who could simply talk.

It occurs to me further, that this is the type of strip that could wear a multiplicity of punch-lines.

How about the elephant says:

'Hey, watch it with the cold hands!'

How about the guy says:

"What did you think of Richard Gere in 'Chicago'?"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZ860P4iTaM

...truth is stranger than fiction...

Alpacas sing very well I have you know, but only when they are threatened, or feel threatened (like at three in the morning when a leaf blows across the pasture), so to have a choir you would need to constantly be scaring them, which would allow you to employ a lion or tiger or bear. For some reason I feel like I should have followed that with the words "Oh My," but we'll just leave it at that. The Koalas Bear bus drivers sounds intriguing though.

Koalas driving our buses....? That makes very little sense to me. Surely they would be used to driving on the other side of the road. And I'm not impressed by other singing species if they can't read sheet music. It's just one more thing that separates us from them....now I'm even more proud of my musical prowess and of course my opposable thumbs.

Bah... opposable thumbs aren't such a big deal. you can't breath through them, or pick up peanuts with them. I'd much rather have a trunk.

wait... i don't get it - which one's saying hi, and which one is saying hello - could you be more direct with your speech bubbles... it could confuse a stupid person - which one wants to know if the other can read sheet music?