Matthew Diffee

Matthew "Matt" Diffee is an American cartoonist whose works appear in the New Yorker magazine.

Biography Diffee was born in Denton, Texas and grew up in Texas and North Carolina. The son of an airline pilot, he attended Bob Jones University, planning to become a Christian missionary. While at Bob Jones, he co-founded a comedy troupe, the Leaping Pickes, whose motto was, "We put the fun in fundamentalism." Diffee's role in the group involved telling jokes, juggling and playing the banjo.

He has a background in art and stand-up comedy, which he still performs from time to time. As a struggling artist, he took various day jobs, including road work, construction, and as a convenience store cashier.

Diffee moved from Boston, Massachusetts to New York and began contributing to the New Yorker in 1999, after winning a cartoon contest the magazine and the Algonquin Hotel sponsored for an all-cartoon issue, in the process meeting Robert Mankoff, the cartoon editor, in person. Mankoff encouraged Diffee to contribute to the magazine. After three weeks of submission Mankoff chose one cartoon, which became Diffee's first published work. For the next year Diffee submitted fifteen cartoons per week; the magazine published a total of four. each at the standard rate of $675. He remains a devout Christian, not consuming alcohol and refusing to draw cartoons about sex.

Works His works are mostly single-panel satirical pieces.

Diffee also produces other artwork, and has hosted "The Rejection Show", a monthly off-Broadway production devoted to rejected works by successful artists.

He currently hosts The Steam Powered Hour, a "smart and cozy night of bluegrass music, standup comedy, and cartoons."

Publications