Canadian Celebrities, Caricatured

It’s not libel, it’s fun!

by Charles Checketts

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Comments (21 comments)

Jean Cretien: Eh, I take offense to dis. I am not senile - not yet at least - and how dare you pick on Navet, what he do to you, eh? eh? Wait...where am I? February 08, 2008 06:09 EST

Joel: Love Mansbridge! My favourite of the bunch. He will always be full 1080p HD for me - spigot ears and all. February 08, 2008 06:12 EST

Siobhan: These are wonderful! I'll keep my eye on Eugene Levi's eyebrows from now on. Fascinating. February 08, 2008 06:24 EST

Mike: Ha Ha!!
A very witty description of Black, Charles! That bit about the anagram is great.
February 08, 2008 08:55 EST

Susan: I hope I can get Celine's help with watering this summer. So much talent in one small frame! February 10, 2008 17:25 EST

Andrew C: it`s brilliant charles, love all February 10, 2008 18:35 EST

Peter: I never knew that about David Cronenberg. These drawings are great - best to you Charles C! February 11, 2008 11:31 EST

Anonymous: these are terrible. i'm pretty sure an eleven year-old wrote the captions February 11, 2008 14:51 EST

Anonymous 2: I'm with anonymous. these are dumb.
also, it seems odd that 2 of the 4 females' intelligence is deprecated in cute rhymes (nit wit, ding-a-ling). Is Sandra Oh really so stupid, or were you just out of ideas? February 13, 2008 12:39 EST

David: I have never been able to understand why saying pointlessly rude - and usually assenine - things about famous people is considered screamingly funny. If small children did this they would be sent to bed without any supper. The awful thing is that I feel I must be missing something or that my sense of humour is below standard. But it isn't! I laugh a lot when there is something worth laughing at. I think perhaps many years of TV sitcoms, where the plot line consists entirely of everyone insulting everyone else and each insult is greeted by gales of canned laughter played at full volume, may explain this strange phenomenon. February 13, 2008 14:05 EST

Izzy Mathews hiskett: Hiya charles
We'r all loving the pictures in norwich and jamies still wears his t-shirt none stop.Hope your havin a lovely time and keep drawring

love from all the Hisketts in Norwich
February 14, 2008 11:57 EST

Wanda: I agree with David and Anonymous'—these are mean and stupid and not the least funny—c'mon Walrus!! February 16, 2008 08:17 EST

Ben Wicks: Refreshing. Your work reminds me of someone.... February 16, 2008 20:18 EST

Mrs. Paula: There is absolutely nothing redeeming about these mean spirited stupid drawings.
February 22, 2008 00:23 EST

Kathryn: What a refreshing change from the normal, dull, serious and polite stand-in for humour we often get. I love the absurdity of Checketts' take on these celebs, and the way he paints them as quirky and human like the rest of us. The portraits are refined and gently funny. I don't think they are in the least mean. On the contrary, they are animating those long caricatured by their own celebrity, making us see them in a new and more lively light. As well, they are little micro stories. Lovely. February 23, 2008 07:20 EST

Anonymous: How did you know about my crush on Mansbridge!? Fantastic work! February 24, 2008 05:37 EST

Eddy: Some lovely art you've created. Pity it has gone over so many gormless heads here.
If Eugene Levy's sweater were real, I would pay a premium for it.
February 25, 2008 18:29 EST

Douglas: Cruelty is fun! February 26, 2008 07:49 EST

Nina: Meh. These are absurd, but not in a clever or funny way. Just boring. March 02, 2008 23:14 EST

GN: I have to admit I didn't fully "get" these cartoons. I agree with several of the other posters: why is needlessly insulting famous people supposed to be funny? Some, like the George Strombo one didn't even make sense.
But my issue with these goes a little deeper: I found it distracting at best and upsetting at worst to be reading about the nuclear mess in Ontario or the fate of endangered elephants in Borneo and then happening upon one of these caricatures. They were SO far out of context as to be jarring. It really bugged me to have to switch gears from the headspace the article put me in to this weird, mocking humour.
Is there no hope for the format? I'd disagree—the New York Times manages to do it. I think I merely objected to how far apart the cartoons were from the content.
March 04, 2008 06:06 EST

ruaraidh urpeth charleses brother: hi charles ur really gettin on in life havin a kid married good job and give my love to heather ur brother ruaraidh!! March 08, 2008 12:45 EST

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