"And my father was a comic. He could play any musical instrument. He loved to perform. He was a wonderfully comedic character. He had the ability to dance and sing and charm and analyze poetry"
About this Quote
A father who’s “a comic” and can “play any musical instrument” reads less like a résumé than a child’s attempt to trap a flickering presence on the page before it vanishes. Johnston piles verbs the way a cartoonist layers panels: perform, dance, sing, charm, analyze. The list is deliberately excessive, almost breathless, because the point isn’t accuracy; it’s momentum. This is the energy of a household where attention was earned through charisma, where humor wasn’t just entertainment but an organizing principle, a way to keep air in the room.
The subtext sits in that last pivot: “analyze poetry.” It reframes the clown as a complicated adult, a performer with an interior life. Johnston quietly resists the cultural shorthand that the funny parent is shallow, or that comedy is a mask for nothing. Here, comedy becomes a form of literacy. He doesn’t merely joke; he interprets. He reads the world for meaning, then turns that meaning into a routine.
As a cartoonist, Johnston is steeped in the idea that personality is built out of small, legible gestures. Her intent feels archival: to preserve a father as a character, yes, but also to honor the craft of being one. The “wonderfully comedic character” phrasing is telling. It’s affectionate, slightly distanced, as if she’s acknowledging that when someone performs everywhere, even love arrives in bit-sized scenes. The result is tender without being sentimental: a portrait of a parent who made life vivid, and maybe made it safer, by insisting it could be turned into art.
The subtext sits in that last pivot: “analyze poetry.” It reframes the clown as a complicated adult, a performer with an interior life. Johnston quietly resists the cultural shorthand that the funny parent is shallow, or that comedy is a mask for nothing. Here, comedy becomes a form of literacy. He doesn’t merely joke; he interprets. He reads the world for meaning, then turns that meaning into a routine.
As a cartoonist, Johnston is steeped in the idea that personality is built out of small, legible gestures. Her intent feels archival: to preserve a father as a character, yes, but also to honor the craft of being one. The “wonderfully comedic character” phrasing is telling. It’s affectionate, slightly distanced, as if she’s acknowledging that when someone performs everywhere, even love arrives in bit-sized scenes. The result is tender without being sentimental: a portrait of a parent who made life vivid, and maybe made it safer, by insisting it could be turned into art.
Quote Details
| Topic | Father |
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