Amateur Creampie by Karl Stevens & Gustavo Turner

Karl Stevens' Whatever - analyzed

This weeks strip of Stevens' Whatever has an excellent example of frame shifting in humor. Where the frame of what is happening takes a turn while in another frame. (literally in the panel and as a cognitive metaphor) This happens a lot in joke telling and metaphor.

Since Stevens starts the punchline at the beginning of the strip, the frame has to shift to the expected congruency, when it is not presented, the viewer rethinks the panel, then re-observes the strip. All of this is the cognition of the reader making congruent out of the incongruity setup within the narrative. This in itself can deliver a laugh.