Can a normal human be as funny as a New Yorker cartoonist? The odds would seem to be against it, but perhaps, just as Dr. Allan Pearl sat next to the class clown and learned from him, we can learn from the new blog for New Yorker cartoonists. The blog starts out with Mick Stevens as “blog captain” and in his first post, he wonders if his fellow cartoonists might have taken to the way of Barry Bonds.

To see the same sort of thing among the older artists was a bigger surprise. Jack Ziegler has bulked up considerably. When I first knew the guy, he subsisted almost entirely on hamburgers and beer. He was always a big man, larger than life, even, but never necessarily in the muscular sense. I was surprised to glimpse him and Bob Mankoff arm-wrestling when it was Jack’s turn to go into Bob’s office. (I think Bob won.) David Sipress was at the meeting, too, wearing a tight-fitting black T-shirt. His powerful biceps twitched as he made a few quick changes to a rough sketch before it was his turn in Bob’s office. The biggest surprise was Roz Chast. Apparently, she’s been training for a Ms. Cartoonist pageant, a contest I was previously unaware of. I must say, I’ve never seen her quite so buff.

Yes, much to study.

[Link via Emily Gordon]