Phrasal Overlap Portmanteau time, starting with one from yesterday’s Wayno / Piraro Bizarro, which is (by accident) regrettably topical; and going on to a more complex one from cartoonist Leigh Rubin’s Rubes strip back in 2016 — complex because Rubin probably was thinking of the joke as a cute pun (I told you it was complex).
But first, yesterday’s Bizarro:
(#1) Drag queen meets legendary lumberjack: the POP RuPaul Bunyan = RuPaul + Paul Bunyan (If you’re puzzled by the odd symbols in the cartoon — Dan Piraro says there are 4 in this strip — see this Page)
Drag queens. From my 5/25/22 posting “The Stanford Dragfest”:
The history of drag — so-called in English, though cross-dressing has a long history — is complex, associated with gay black men, minstrel shows, male brothels, vaudeville, burlesque, night club acts, comedy performances by straight men, female impersonators, gay bars, organized crime, effeminacy, drag balls and courts, African American and Latino drag ball culture in NYC, and more, but modern drag is primarily a performance art (turning crucially on the doubleness of the performer) strongly associated with gay men and gay culture [through the figure of the drag queen].
As here:
(#2) Poster for season 9 (2017) of RuPaul’s Drag Race
From Wikipedia:
RuPaul’s Drag Race is an American reality competition television series [first aired in 2009], the first in the Drag Race franchise, produced by World of Wonder for Logo TV, WOW Presents Plus, and, beginning with the ninth season, VH1. The show documents [drag queen] RuPaul in the search for “America’s next drag superstar.” RuPaul plays the role of host, mentor, and head judge for this series, as contestants are given different challenges each week.
And again from Wikipedia:
RuPaul Andre Charles (born November 17, 1960 [in San Diego CA]) is an American drag queen, television personality, actor, musician, and model. Best known for producing, hosting, and judging the reality competition series RuPaul’s Drag Race
… His parents were both from Louisiana. He was named by his mother; “Ru” came from roux, the term for the base of gumbo and other creole stews and soups.
All this is regrettably topical because of recent widespread attempts in the US to ban drag performances wherever they might be seen by children — as part of a large-scale attack on LGBT+ people currently underway.
The Paul Bunyan legend. From Wikipedia:
(#3) The Paul Bunyan statue in Bangor MEPaul Bunyan is a giant lumberjack and folk hero in American and Canadian folklore. His exploits revolve around the tall tales of his superhuman labors, and he is customarily accompanied by Babe the Blue Ox. The character originated in the oral tradition of North American loggers, and was later popularized by freelance writer William B. Laughead (1882–1958) in a 1916 promotional pamphlet for the Red River Lumber Company. He has been the subject of various literary compositions, musical pieces, commercial works, and theatrical productions. His likeness is displayed in a number of oversized statues across North America
RuPaul Bunyan is then an especially delicious combination, of fabulous feminine performance and legendary masculinity.
Club sandwiches. I start with a variant of Rubin’s cartoon, with a POP title supplied by me:
(#4) A Mickey Mouse club sandwich = Mickey Mouse Club + club sandwich: Mickey from the Mickey Mouse Club in the top layer of a two-layer club sandwich (with visible tomato slices, lettuce, slices of chicken, turkey, or ham, cheese slices, and mayonnaise)
The Mickey Mouse Club. From my 2/11/17 posting “The terror of Disney”:
I grew up with Disney comic books, which I enjoyed a lot; I now have several reprint volumes of the Carl Barks and Don Rosa strips. I also grew up with Disney animated shorts, which I detested.
The Mickey Mouse Club tv show started when I was 15, and I detested it too, for its forced cuteness.
About the show, from Wikipedia:
The Mickey Mouse Club is an American variety television show that aired intermittently from 1955 to 1996 and returned to social media in 2017. Created by Walt Disney and produced by Walt Disney Productions, the program was first televised for four seasons, from 1955 to 1959, by ABC. This original run featured a regular, but ever-changing cast of mostly teen performers.
… The opening theme, “The Mickey Mouse March”, was written by the show’s primary adult host, Jimmie Dodd. It was also reprised at the end of each episode, with the slower “it’s time to say goodbye” verse
You can watch the opening theme presentation here. With the evil Mickey Mouse March. Its first verse:
Who’s the leader of the club
That’s made for you and me
M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E
Club sandwiches. I start with the OED entry:
club sandwich n. originally U.S. a thick sandwich containing several ingredients, as chicken or turkey, lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise, etc.; also figurative.
— 1903 R. L. McCardell Conversat. Chorus Girl 69 All we need is a club sandwich and a bottle of beer.
— 1945 New Yorker 25 Aug. 14 This is a club-sandwich sort of story, combining a hotel, a secretary, and an electric fan.
— 1966 ‘G. Black’ You want to die, Johnny? v. 88 It was a club sandwich, three layers.
And then with further information from Wikipedia:
A club sandwich … is a sandwich consisting of bread (traditionally toasted), sliced cooked poultry, fried bacon, lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise. It is often cut into quarters or halves and held together by cocktail sticks. Modern versions frequently have two layers which are separated by an additional slice of bread.
[The late 19th-century origins of the sandwich and the name are unclear]
(#5) From the Spend with Pennies cooking site (“easy home cooked comfort”), a club sandwich recipe from 5/10/19: “layers of ham, bacon and turkey with juicy tomatoes, crisp lettuce and cheddar cheese”… As with a BLT, toasted white bread is standard, along with iceberg lettuce, bacon, and tomatoes. The sandwich is usually dressed with mayonnaise. Variations on the traditional club sandwich abound. Some replace the poultry meat with eggs (a “breakfast club”) or roast beef. Others use ham instead of, or in addition to, bacon, or add slices of cheese. Various kinds of mustard and sliced pickles may be added. Upscale variations include the oyster club, the salmon club, and Dungeness crab melt.
Note the usage for names of non-traditional club sandwiches — breakfast club, oyster club, salmon club — all with the beheading club ‘club sandwich’. (On beheading, see the Page on this blog about my postings on the phenomenon.)
The actual Rubin cartoon. Here:
(#6) Now you see the complexity: Rubin might well have intended this to be the beheading Mickey Mouse club, the name of a non-traditional type of club sandwich — so that the cartoon provides a pun on Mickey Mouse Club, the name of the tv show
Which is a sweet joke all on its own.