Review: The Cyanide & Happiness Show “Strongbird”

OVERVIEW

An old man with bread draws the attention of a muscular bird, which terrorizes him for more.

OUR TAKE

Well, first thing that probably stood out to viewers like myself is that this episode is completely devoid of dialogue (aside from the archival audio coming from the old guy’s TV). We get plenty of noise coming from objects, though that feels like it was emphasized more to make people more aware of there being no talking. This is definitely an uncommon approach for Cyanide & Happiness, which typically prides itself on its witty banter and anecdotes, but I can get behind them trying something different. It actually reminds me a lot of more classic western cartoons like Tom and Jerry, which also were had next to no talking and relied on the visual humor to sell the story.

But while that’s plenty novel, I can’t help but be a bit confused about the purpose of this sort of story stretching out for ten whole minutes aside from juxtaposing the overtly horror tone with rising escalation in how the Strongbird is continuing to make the old man’s life a living hell, and all for just some more bread. That’s not to say that this show hasn’t dipped a toe in other kinds of tones besides the humorous, but since this whole thing was meant to ultimately be a gag, I have to question what the reason was for dragging it out so long. This seems like something to be split up into bits over the course of the episode or even the rest of the season, but the longer we just focus on just this joke premise, the more I find myself wondering why the old man doesn’t just give him the bread or why the bird doesn’t just take it instead of invading his house OR simply harassing other old guys. There’s too much that seems overly convenient just to hold the premise together.

Then again, humor is probably the most subjective thing out there, so it could simply be that this episode just didn’t hit the mark for any number of reasons. Maybe for someone else, just having the sight of a bird with thick arms beating up an old man is enough to tickle their funny bones. But for me, simply having a wacky scenario isn’t what I need to laugh. I need something that is as funny as when I think about it later as when I’m first seeing it now. I’m pretty sure that’s not too much to ask for.