A Newsletter of Humorous Writing #107
A Newsletter of Humorous Writing
A Newsletter of Humorous Writing
For October 3-9, 2019, a roundup of the week's finest prose humor and prose humor-related news.
Our next show is October 22nd, 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. The Nobel Prize in chemistry was just awarded to the folks who developed the ion battery. It's certainly well deserved, but we're a bit disappointed that we were once again snubbed for our sparkling on-stage chemistry as hosts. Crossing our fingers for next year!
What We Enjoyed This Week
5 Trash Cans That Close So Gently You’ll Want Them To Touch You by Kendra Singh (Reductress) Sometimes, all you need is a well-written but simple point of view. And sometimes you need the gentle touch of a trash can lid. This piece has both.
The Secret to Success Is Failure, or I Guess Not Failing Would Also Work by Jeremiah Budin (The New Yorker) A clever undercutting of overworn advice tropes. This piece skewers both the blindspots of the kind of person that writes this stuff, and the way that they write -- a gorgeous two-for-one.
The Dangerously Cheesy Collectible Cheetos Market by Tove Danovich (The Outline) This amazingly detailed article is the sort of piece that makes you wonder if you could ever come up with something fictional that is as strange as the real world.
Why I’m Waiting Until Marriage to Replace the Brita Filter by Kate Anderson (McSweeney's) A classic mapping piece, using the antiquated language of chastity to discuss a chore that no one has ever once done.
An Old Favorite
I Can’t Believe I’m Going to Die On This Kid Rock Cruise by Lucas Gardener (McSweeney's)
Lucas always has great jokes and specifics, and this piece is a great example. If you can build a clear enough world, filling it with jokes and facts about that world can be a blast to read and write. Re-reading this always makes me hungry for bawitda-bratwurst.
Updates From Your Hosts and Friends of the Show
McSweeney's is gearing up to launch Keep Scrolling Until You Feel Something, a compendium of pieces from the site's 21-year history. Brian and Luke are performing at a free launch event on October 16 at 6pm in Dumbo, and would love to see you there!
Get your tickets now for SpeakEasy, a show about speechwriting, hosted by Brian and his buddies from work. It's at Caveat on October 22 and 7pm, and you just know it's gonna be good.
There are still spots open in James' Magnet parody writing class! It's going to be a lot of fun and you'll leave the class with a bunch of ideas and drafts. The class will be four Wednesday night sessions starting on October 23, so snag a spot while you can!
Finally, Luke wrote a standalone half-hour story for the narrative fiction podcast The Truth. The episode is called Self-Made Man, and it's a satire of the tech world and tech bros with a dash of Frankenstein and pinch of Cronenberg-style body horror thrown in, performed by a bunch of incredibly talented actors. It's funny and creepy and perfect listening for the Halloween season. (He also wrote another episode that came out earlier this year that is also creepy and funny that you might want to check out!)
News About The Next Show
Our next show on October 22nd is going to be a big one: Friend of the Newsletter, Riane Konc, has a book, "Build Your Own Christmas Movie Romance", coming out and we're putting on a special show to celebrate. There's going to be signings, book give-aways, and lots of that humorous writing you love so well! Come toast Riane (The New Yorker, McSweeney’s, Reductress, @theillustrious) along with a divine line-up of guests:
- Ziwe Fumudoh (Desus & Mero, Our Cartoon President, The Onion, Reductress)
- Josh Gondelman (Desus & Mero, Last Week Tonight, The New Yorker)
- Kate Sidley (The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, The New Yorker, McSweeney's)
Join us at Caveat, 10/22!
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.
See you next week!
@lukevburns & @jamesfolta
We started this newsletter with our dear friend Brian Agler, and we want it to always honor his memory and his love of all things humorous. You can find our newsletter tribute to Brian here.
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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!