A Newsletter of Humorous Writing

For August 29-September 4, 2019, a roundup of the week's finest prose humor and prose humor-related news.
Our next show is September 24th, tickets here.

Hello and welcome to A Newsletter of Humorous Writing, the email propaganda arm of the acclaimed humorous readings show, An Evening of Humorous Readings. Fall is coming up soon and you know what that means: it's time for us to start planning our famous indoor hayride at Humorous Readings Headquarters (HRHQ). Last year's theme was "Hayride Under The Sea" which was really well received. This year we want to go bigger and better than ever but we can't decide on a theme. We're torn between "Hayride on Ice" or "The HRHQ Hayride's Tribute to Michael Mann's 'Heat' (1995)." Let us know what you think!

(We had a technical difficulty sending the newsletter yesterday -- sorry for the delay in getting this edition to your inbox!)
 

What We Enjoyed This Week

Why Doesn't My Roommate Understand That a Witch Put a Spell on Me and Now I'm Not Allowed to Wash the Dishes by Celenia Lugo (Points In Case) This sort of petulant idiot voice can be hard to maintain because the logic can quickly become unbelievable, but this piece cleverly folds in an origin story to get more of that sweet, sweet comedy juice out of this premise-orange.

Is Everybody Mad That I Ate (a Variety of Eggs for) Lunch at My Desk? by Emily Clouse (Slackjaw) A really specific and funny situation told in a compelling way!

So You're 35 and All Your Friends Have Already Shed Their Human Skins by Austin Gilkeson (McSweeney's) This one is great because it finds an evocative way of describing a common feeling. It really crystalizes how that specific kind of life FOMO makes you feel insane.

My Barbeque: F.A.Q. by Alex Watt (The New Yorker) Friend of the Show Alex Watt is always good for a wacky and fun take on a simple premise. Lots of great jokes and well-observed details take this from well-trodden premise to a premise trodden well! (Editorial update: James is currently being sued by Luke and Brian for this turn of phrase.)

Bigger than before! A larger neural net tries to write fanfiction by Janelle Shane (AI Weirdness) We're big fans of the AI Weirdness blog, which features lots of fun experiments in artificial intelligence. This post features a neural network generating fan fiction based off an opening line. We particularly enjoyed the story where Darth Vader is baking in a room full of ghosts, or is maybe on stage at an experimental stage show. Hard to tell.
 

An Old Favorite

This Gap Sweater Is Fucking Awesome (The Onion)

One way to write a really great monologue piece is to find a super-specific and recognizable character that you can give voice to. This Onion op-ed really reminds me of some guys I've seen ambling down the street in Manhattan, full of confidence in their unimaginative outfits.
 

Updates From Your Hosts and Friends of the Show

We've been busy working on our tans before summer ends, so we don't end up with embarrassing tan lines on the hayrides this fall.
 

See you next week!

@brianagler, @lukevburns, & @jamesfolta

Did we miss a piece you loved? Did you love a piece we mentioned? Let us know! This is an experiment and we're hoping to continue to make it better and better. If you have any thoughts, notes, wishes, or dreams for this newsletter, please email us or respond to this email and tell us what the score is.