Tiki for Two
I’m Dan Piraro, the creator of the Bizarro newspaper comic, and this is my weekly blog post. The large Sunday comic above is mine, as are all of the comments to follow.
Since January 2018, the Monday-Saturday Bizarro comics have been written and drawn by my comics partner, Wayno. For more fun, check out the latest edition of Wayno’s weekly blog post.
And here’s this week’s ANSWER KEY to my Sunday comic’s Secret Symbols.
Hola, Jazz Pickle. Thanks for popping into our Tiki bar.
Last week I talked about the latest production at the New York Metropolitan Opera, El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego. It was (IMHO) spectacular.
Since then, I discovered the following quote by Diego Rivera in reference to a product he would not allow in their home:
“The black water of Imperialism.”
He was talking about Coca-Cola. I love that expression because his instincts were dead right, and he was foretelling the future.
That delicious poison was injected into Mexico in the first quarter of the 20th century and is now a daily, lifelong staple of the diets of far too many people. Obesity and diabetes are rampant in Mexico for a variety of reasons, with Coke leading the way.
On a more amusing note, my Sunday cartoon above, written by my comics partner, Wayno, and illustrated by me, metaphorically describes a funny story that happened to me in Mexico many years ago.
I lived in Texas in my twenties, and my best friend was a Mexican-American. He invited me to go to Mexico City with him for a few days, and I accepted. It was my first visit to this country.
We wandered the city and visited many of the fascinating historical and cultural spots, including Chapultepec Park, the world-famous Museum of Anthropology, the enormous central plaza (El Zócalo), under which they had only just discovered and begun excavating the Templo Mayor, now an amazing underground museum of the main Aztec temple that the Spanish destroyed and replaced with a Catholic cathedral. (Imperialism at its worst.)
A major highlight of the trip was a visit outside the city to the great pyramids of Teotihuacan.
Another major highlight occurred later that night…
Because we were in our twenties and still had energy after dark, we decided to look for a club to go to after dinner.
Wandering the crowded streets, we spotted a nightclub with large posters outside advertising elaborately dressed chorus girls. It looked like something from the early days of nightclub floor shows, so we decided to give it a try.
Seated at a small table near the front of the stage, we sipped our cocktails, chatted, and waited for the show to begin. As curtain time approached, I looked around at the other audience members—well-dressed couples mostly—and began to sense something odd. As I looked more closely, I realized that everyone in the audience was male. Including the “women.”
I leaned over and whispered this to my friend just as the show began, and yes, it was a drag queen club. We got a terrific laugh out of our naivete, settled in, and enjoyed the show.
I can’t help but wonder if anyone else in the audience was watching us as we figured it out. It must have been hilarious.
Olive Oyl and I love Mexico City and have visited at least once a year since we moved here. I think of it as a tropical New York City. We still haven’t experienced all there is to see and do there, but we’ll keep at it.
When Wayno suggested this comic to me decades later, he knew nothing about my drag show story, but the memory of it, combined with my love of Tiki culture, made this a terrifically fun comic to draw.
Time to experience the tiki tickles that await us with Wayno’s Bizarro comics from the week…
You never know what to expect when you shop at Bunny Mart.
To be clear, a group of monks is not called “monkeys.”
The pie is essential, grasshopper.
Don’t feel sorry for him. His career will last decades longer than human soccer players. (“Football players,” for our readers not in the US, Canada, or Australia.)
Unsurprisingly, Sir Robin is afraid of cell phone technology and still uses a landline.
Once inconceivable, it is now every con-artist’s dream to one day be president.
That’s last call at the Bizarro Tiki Bar, Jazz Pickles. If you enjoy this nonsense and appreciate that we offer it a the low, low price of FREE, please consider helping us keep it that way via the links below. I’ll light a candle for you in thanks, the next time I visit the Templo Mayor in Mexico City.
The Naked Cartoonist…My every-other-week creative-writing subscription service.
Limited edition, signed & numbered prints of BIZARRO CARTOONS, and some ORIGINALS!
Bizarro TIP JAR …One-time or repeating. Your choice!
WAYNO’S TIP JAR …One-time or repeating. Your choice!
My (free) graphic novel in progress, PEYOTE COWBOY.
Watch my PITCH VIDEO and become a supporter of Peyote Cowboy here.
Super fun BIZARRO SWAG from ComicsKingdom, including our 2026 Bizarro wall calendar. (ALL the comics are still funny, no matter what month it is now!)