Social Media Comedy/Art: Sad Dad Cards are Redefining Dad Jokes

By Ghia Vitale

Photo Credit: Sofiya Alexandra and Nick Ross

​Sofiya Alexandra is a feminist comedian who creates and posts #saddadcards along with illustrator Nick Ross. These cards offer a new take on dad humor as we know it today.

Sofiya Alexandra hosts a podcast called Private Parts Unknown. She also has a thing about dads. She jokes about dads at length in her comedy album, Father’s Day, in which she also tells jokes about being bisexual, a feminist, and a Russian American from an immigrant family. Now, she’s taking out her daddy issues on social media in a big way with Sad Dad Cards. She even posted the first Sad Dad Card ever on Father’s Day.

Sad Dad Cards combine Sofiya Alexandra’s biting humor with Nick Ross’s illustrations into quirky, offbeat visual content in a way that’s totally Instagrammable. The cards joke about absent fathers, abandonment issues, therapy, and all of the other issues that fall under the daddy issue umbrella. Also, all of the cards feature a woman who kind of looks like Sofiya. 

The humor has a dark tinge to it, but I also appreciate how it’s unique and edgy without being tryhard about it. Every card only has one or two sentences, so they’re punchy and digestible. My favorite Sad Dad Card is the one with a woman standing in front of a bathroom mirror with lipstick smeared across her face like The Joker from Batman. The black makeup smears beneath her eyes indicate that she’s been crying. Beneath her, the caption reads, “Really thought this new shade of lipstick would bring my dad back guess he’s not a berry fan.”

Photo Credit: Sofiya Alexandra and Nick Ross

​Another Sad Dad Card I like takes a shot at the healthcare system for perpetuating daddy issues. In this card, Sofiy—I mean, uh, the woman in the drawing is sitting on the edge of her bed watching television. A pair of socks strewn about the floor emphasizes the disarray of her life. Meanwhile, the words “I GUARANTEE IT” scrawl across the screen she’s staring at. At the bottom of the art, the caption reads, “Before I had health insurance, instead of therapy I would just pretend the Men’s Wearhouse guy was my dad.” OUCH. Looks like unequal healthcare access needs some ice for that burn.

Photo Credit: Sofiya Alexandra and Nick Ross

When people think of dad jokes, we usually think of corny, playful jokes that carry Big Daddy Energy. That kind of humor usually involves a  family-friendly pun, one-liner, or short jokes that middle-aged and older men usually tell. Well, the new kind of dad humor that Sad Dad Cards introduce definitely isn’t SFW. Sofiya proves that daughters can tell good dad jokes too. In the world of today, the scope of dad jokes is broadening into dark humor and social media shareables, and I’m totally here for it.

If you want to see more Sad Dad Cards, look up #saddadcards on Instagram. For more updates, follow Sofiya Alexandra on Instagram as well as Nick Ross.