Luc Vernimmen

The interview

1 - A memory of Salone and Bordighera

In 2023 I was invited to the 53rd Salone Internazionale dell'Umorismo Bordighera because I won the 'Dattero d'Argento'. I enjoyed the nice weather, the friendliness of the organisers and cartoonists, the beautiful surroundings of Bordighera and also the nice comics exhibition with a tribute to Quino in the Anglican Church.
Since my knowledge of the Italian language is below all standards, I did not understand much of the explanation but I thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere!

3 - What is it the humour for you?

It is difficult to answer or to enclose in a definition. Also it is not the same for each of us…Humor is that which is funny, witty, laughable. Those who have humor have “an eye and a sense for cheerful contradictions” or “the tendency to bring out the best in events”.
You can discover humor by becoming more aware of the funny things in life, no matter how small they are. The more often you pay attention to this, the faster you see them. Humor is also an important tool for putting things into perspective…
You can discover my humor in my cartoons.

4 - Your life as a humorist, if you look back what cartoon do you see?

I see mainly the image of how it started: as a kid trying to invent a good story and represent it like in the many comics I read back then and tried to copy. Your past largely determines who or what you will become later: my drawing style and my way of being in life were determined then and have evolved into who and what I do or am now...
I try, where possible, to create a relativizing double bottom in my illustrations and cartoons.

7 - One of your cartoons that you'd like to dedicate today to the Salone, why?

... This cartoon represents the image of what "a cartoonist" desires: popularity, adoration, earning a lot of money, being known for what he can do, but the opposite is usually his fate: a cartoonist is simply not a footballer and is essentially invisible...

8 - The poster of Salone you like the most, why?

See Quino's poster with the sea of ​​bottles (from the 53rd Salone). It still hangs in my studio...

9 - Humor today: its state of health. And behind the curve what do you expect?

There is, partly thanks to the Internet, a glut of cartoonists and cartoonists: everyone is allowed to show their tricks, which means that not only beautiful and meaningful (good) cartoons but also a lot of garbage can be found on the web.

What worries me most is that good cartoons are no longer appreciated or are no longer recognized as valuable due to the glut of supply. Many cartoon contests are organized by organizers who promise cash prizes (or other prizes) but do not pay them: the cartoon is used as a promotion and the winning cartoonist(s) is/are thrown in the trash. Apparently, this is happening more and more often: organizers no longer have to account for "that unpaid prize to that far away cartoonist" who had fun drawing for our promotion. Nothing could be further from the truth; drawing a good cartoon is hard work and this in many cases should be better rewarded.