Patty Wooten presents ... 
The Get Well Book: An Interview With John McPherson
From Journal of Nursing Jocularity, Summer 1998, 8(2).I was delighted to learn that one of my favorite cartoonists, John McPherson, had just published a book of health care cartoons entitled, The Get Well Book.
Many of you may be more familiar with John's popular "Close to Home" cartoon series which is syndicated and published in more than 700 newspapers throughout the US and in 30 countries around the world. I was eager to interview him to find out more about how he came up with such funny situations that have left me roaring with laughter.
PW: John, tell us how you came up with the idea to do a book of exclusively medical cartoons.
JM: Actually, it was a friend of mine who was battling cancer. He enjoyed my cartoons about home and family life, but wanted something that would help him laugh about his situation. This book has been a quest for the last five years.
PW: Was it hard to create cartoons about hospitals and sick people?
JM: Well, yes and no. Yes, because I think there is a fine line between helping people laugh about their situation and offending them by making light of their suffering. Each of my cartoons are scrutinized by my editor who also reviews the work of several other cartoonists. We discuss each one, if we disagree on whether the cartoon is more offensive than funny, I take it to several other people for their opinions or redo it if necessary before I send it in for publication. Actually, drawing cartoons about health care is not too difficult for me because I believe that a stressful predicament creates a great opportunity for humor. And, there are few circumstances more stressful than being sick or facing a life threatening situation.
PW: How do you actually come up with the gag, the incongruity, the exaggeration that makes your cartoons so very funny?
JM: I picture my character in a particular setting, maybe a waiting room, on a treadmill, in the operating room. Then I try to imagine a calamitous event, something that would be extremely unlikely, perhaps even impossible, but if we stretch reality one could imagine it. In one cartoon, the nurse is hanging an 50 gallon IV bag while announcing to the patient that she will be going on vacation for a week and this should one should last until her return. Another one shows an adult patient spread across one of those infant sized bed-boxes next to other babies in the nursery and the nurse apologizes to the patient for the mix up in bed assignments.
PW: How do you trigger your creative process?
JM: For me relaxation is the key. I need to be in a quiet place, usually alone with my thoughts. Often this happens when I'm driving. This may sound strange but playing with "Silly Putty" frequently gets my ideas flowing. There's a book by Doug Hall called "Jump Start Your Brain", he recommends using PlayDoh to trigger the creative juices.
PW: What do you hope your cartoons will do?
JM: I want my cartoons to help someone step back and see their situation from a different perspective. To take stock of their situation and find some humor in it, however grim it may seem. A few years ago I received an email from a patient who experienced just that. This gentleman from Kansas City had a severe heart attack and was hospitalized. After several weeks in intensive care, he was scheduled for an angioplasty. The physicians gave him only a 50/50 chance of survival. Naturally he was very anxious, which only increased his risk factors. The morning of the angioplasty, the local newspaper ran a cartoon of mine with the caption: "Ted's balloon angioplasty gets off to a rough start." and the picture showed the balloon coming out the patient's ear. Well, the nurses saw this cartoon and immediately had it duplicated and then place copies in the patient's room, along the hallway to the Cardiac Cath Lab and had a big poster sized cartoon in the procedure room itself. The patient wrote to me about how helpful it was for him to see his situation with some humor and to laugh at his fears. Sharing this humor and laughter with the professional staff created a sense of comfort and trust so that he was able to relax for the procedure. You know, that letter meant so much to me. Cartooning is a very solitary, sometimes lonely job. You never really know how your work affects people unless they write to you. I welcome letters telling me of how my cartoons have helped them, how they've been used with others or even ideas for possible cartoons.
PW: Well, nurses certainly have front row seats in the health care arena, what can they do to help you create more and even funnier cartoons?
JM: They could tell me about their frustrations, things that exasperate them, crazy things that patients do, doctors do, families do, problems they have with insurance companies, hospital administrators. All of these will give me the fuel to create very funny and relevant cartoons.
PW: So how can people reach you and how can they buy your book?
JM: They could send me email. I love to get letters from people with ideas for cartoons or especially with stories about how my cartoons have helped people. My web site has an archive of many of my cartoons.
All of my books should be available in most bookstores, but if not, they can be ordered through any bookstore. We hope that nurses will encourage their hospital gift shop to carry the books too. Books can be ordered by phone at: . Or, autographed copies may be purchased directly from the JNJ catalogue.
PW: Thanks John, for helping all of us find some humor amidst the stressful situations that often create headaches and heart breaks. You work is truly healing for both patients and health care professionals.
Resources:
Other works by John McPherson.- The Get Well Book. Kansas City: Andrews & McMeel, 1998.
- Close To Home Unplugged. Kansas City: Andrews & McMeel, 1997.
- The Barber of Bingo. Kansas City: Andrews & McMeel, 1997.
- The Silence of the Lamberts. Kansas City: Andrews & McMeel, 1997.
- The Honeymoon Is Over. Kansas City: Andrews & McMeel, 1996.
John McPherson can be reached via email at
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This article was originally published in "Jest for the Health of It", a regular feature in the Journal of Nursing Jocularity.
Feature columnist Patty Wooten, BSN, is also a past President of the American Association for Therapeutic Humor, author of two books related to humor, and a national speaker presenting on the benefits of humor.
