Judge — April 25, 1931 — page 11: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis This page contains two distinct comic pieces from Judge magazine. **Top cartoon ("Natural Ability"):** Two promoters—Big Bill McCluskey and Abe Schmaltz—discuss a talented performer. McCluskey pitches an act featuring a saxophonist who can also perform acrobatic feats (flips, handstands, cartwheels). Schmaltz expresses skepticism about the act's viability without experience, but McCluskey insists raw talent alone will succeed. The satire mocks overconfident promoters who overvalue natural ability while dismissing the need for training or experience—a recurring theme in entertainment industry criticism. **Bottom cartoon:** A woman sits bedside with an ill person. The sick person says they won't forget their troubles, and the visitor replies "Of course you'll get well. Just try to forget yourself." This is absurdist humor mocking the vapid platitudes offered to the sick—well-meaning but entirely unhelpful advice that dismisses genuine suffering with cheerful willful ignorance. Both pieces use humor to critique human folly through exaggeration.