2012-10-27
Explanation
This comic depicts a man at a bar using an unconventional pickup line: he openly announces that he has a tiny penis. A woman responds with skepticism, asking "That's your pickup line?" The man then explains his strategy: because his penis is so small, it affected his body image and forced him to spend every spare moment "mastering the sensual arts." He claims to have more anatomic knowledge than a doctor, more knowledge of nerves than a neurologist, and more erotic expertise than a gigolo, knowing every inch of a partner's body "by touch, by smell, by taste."
The joke escalates as the man continues his pitch with false modesty, acknowledging that there are other men in the bar with tiny penises, "but none so tiny, so thimble-like, as mine." He then quotes Shakespeare -- "Sweet are the uses of adversity" -- and claims Shakespeare was talking about his own situation. The woman, now thoroughly won over by this bizarre display of confidence and self-deprecation, responds with "Take me now."
The humor works on multiple levels. It subverts the expectation that pickup lines should highlight one's best qualities by having a man lead with his worst attribute and somehow spin it into an advantage. It satirizes the idea that supreme confidence can overcome any deficit, and it parodies the trope of the smooth-talking seducer by making the seduction technique hilariously over-the-top. The votey panel shows the man lying in bed afterward, thinking "God, I'm clever" -- confirming that the whole approach was a calculated strategy rather than genuine vulnerability, and that his smugness is the real punchline.