WCAX.COM Local Vermont News, Weather and Sports-Drawing out laughs

South Burlington, Vermont - September 10, 2010

His factory is a cramped South Burlington studio; his assembly line-- his precise hands.

"I could've been a surgeon," cartoonist Harry Bliss said.

Bliss is a prolific exporter.

"I think humor is a pretty spiritual thing," he said.

He's one of the nation's top cartoonists for magazines like The New Yorker, with a daily dose of humor called "Bliss" running in more than 60 major newspapers including the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, and the Boston Globe.

"When you put work out there, you never know what's going to happen or who's going to see it," he said.

He learned that lesson when he got an email with a surprising photo. It shows the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism holding one of his cartoons.

"I was thrilled when I saw the photo," Bliss said. "I was really happy."

Bliss's friend-of-a-friend, journalist Rona Elliot, met with the Dalai Lama in India and brought him the drawing as a gift.

"His Holiness cracked up-- as did everyone in the room," Elliot said.

The cartoon shows a husband and wife in their mundane morning routine when he asks her "Is it just me, or is the Dalai Lama a great guy?" Bliss's wife Sofi Dillof wrote the line.

"Viscerally, there's just something funny about it," Bliss said. "Of course he's a great guy! He's the Dalai Lama!"

Elliot says the Dalai Lama did need help from a translator to understand the setup. Bliss likes to poke fun at language and the ridiculousness of daily life. In this case, how we sometimes think what we say is so profound when it's really just sort of silly.

"Most people probably sit down with His Holiness the Dalai Lama and ask things like 'what's the meaning of life?' I wanted to bring some joy," Elliot said.

"It's important for me to make anyone laugh. That's why I do what I do," Bliss said.

Bliss says this whole experience is a reminder that whether you're a doctor or bus driver, a farmer or a lawyer-- or even the Dalai Lama-- when it comes to humor we're not that different.

"We're all the same," Bliss said.

Harry Bliss will keep drawing out laughs with his creations that are Made in Vermont.

Jack Thurston - WCAX News - Made in Vermont