A Newsletter of Humorous Writing #115
A Newsletter of Humorous Writing
A Newsletter of Humorous Writing
For November 28-December 4, 2019, a roundup of the week's finest prose humor and prose humor-related news.
Our next show is December 17, 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. Here's a question for you: How come you never see any humor writing-related Christmas ornaments? Imagine seeing a tree decorated with a little keyboard, or a tiny pen? And what if it was topped with a kind, but firm rejection letter from Chris Monks? We don't know who to talk to about this, but we really think we've got a winner on our hands.
What We Enjoyed This Week
The Oral History of a 1999 Comedy Movie by Keaton Patti (New Yorker) Wow. There is so much happening in this piece, and it all works. This thing is absolutely jam-packed with jokes, but what really makes it sing are the specifics (which, interestingly enough, aren't that specific). We don't have a ton of details about "the movie," but we don't need them. Whichever 1999 comedy you're imagining as you read this piece is correct--the details still work.
My Vagina has Closed for Business to Make Way for an Artisinal Deli by Giulia De Vita (McSweeney's) Sometimes, in writing a piece, you come up with an A+ title--one that's big, bold, and will absolutely kill the second anyone sees or hears it. And then, a couple of paragraphs in, you realize that it was just a title, and not a conceit for a whole piece. Lucky for us readers, that's not the case here. This piece starts strong right off the bat, and then keeps on going strong. It's a great, creative idea, that's fantastically executed.
A Guide to Horse Breeds by Sarah Lazarus (New Yorker) These types of pieces--I'm talking about one thing, but really I'm talking about something else--are a great format, but sometimes crumble under the weight of their own game. Not this one. The throughlines aren't just balanced, they inform one another; the second makes so much more sense because of the first, and the piece is all the funnier because of it.
An Old Favorite
Unfortunately, We Will Be Unable To Publish Your Crossword Puzzle: “The One Thing I’m Afraid Of” by Dan Caprera (The Big Jewel)
We're big fans of Dan Caprera here, and the reason why is that he takes big swings. He's constantly experimenting with different formats and voices, and never relies on easy tropes in order to get a piece over the finish line. Also, he's prolific. There are literally dozens of pieces we could have chosen, but this one stood out. When you read it, you'll see why. He establishes the premise, sticks to the voice, does an expert job building, and manages to keep things logical even though it gets supremely weird by the end. Also, and this is just a bonus tidbit, Dan actually did publish a crossword...so you know the piece comes from a real place.
Updates From Your Hosts and Friends of the Show
Come see Brian, and his speechwriter co-workers, talk about words! SpeakEasy, featuring Sarah Cooper (100 Tricks to Appear Smart in Meetings) and Randall Otis (The Daily Show) comes to Caveat on December 10 at 7pm. Get your tickets now! (That's a "call to action." Little speechwriting tip there for ya.)
Luke got interviewed by Alex Baia over at Hyoom. If you can't get enough deep-dive analysis and discussion of short humor writing, and want to know some types of jokes that Luke thinks are totally worn out, head on over to the site (which also has a wonderful archive of interviews with other humor writers)!
**For our next issue, we're putting together a gift guide--our favorite humor books, writing tools, etc.--for the humor writer in your life. If you have anything we just have to include, drop us a line here!**
News About The Next Show
My, my, my do we have a show for you.
On December 17th at Caveat...with a hangout starting at 6:30p and the show starting at 7:30p...you'll see...
- Colin Nissan (McSweeney’s ["It's Decorative Gourd Season, Motherfuckers"], The New Yorker, The Best of McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, @cnissan)
- Diana Chan (Flexx Mag, The Comedy Local, The Gloss, Femsplain, @hidianachan)
- And more!
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!