A Newsletter of Humorous Writing #116
A Newsletter of Humorous Writing
A Newsletter of Humorous Writing
For December 5-11, 2019, a roundup of the week's finest prose humor and prose humor-related news.
Our next show is December 17th, 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. Keeping it short up top, since this newsletter is full to bursting with our gift guide below! But if you take one thing away from this edition, make it that we have a show next week with a fantastic line-up and you should get your ticket(s) now!
What We Enjoyed This Week
This Poem’s Gonna Be a Hit! by Evan Waite and River Clegg (The New Yorker) Two Friends of the Show in one byline, what a treat. Evan and River are a powerhouse two-some, and they're adept at silly takes on simple premises. That's why around here we say "Evan & River: Great Jokes? They Deliver!"
Some Other Trees in the Garden of Eden by Lily Feinn and Marian Blair (The New Yorker) We don't tend to feature a lot of illustrated pieces since they don't often have a lot of text (we're writing freaks 'round here), but this piece does a good job of quickly setting up a premise and delivering fun beats. It heightens nicely and unlike some list pieces, doesn't overstay its welcome nor feel too brief.
I Am Sad to Report There Are No More Hot and Horny Singles In Your Area by Jen Diamond (McSweeney's) Premises that are based on one turn of phrase can be tough to get a full-length article from, but Jen does a great job here of exploring the implications behind this spam phrase in a fun and satisfying way.
Please, Please, Please Don’t Psychoanalyze This Article by Tristan Wheeler (McSweeney's) Writing about this one's hard--err, uh, heh not hard like that, hard like difficult--because everything seems to satisfy-- not satisfy...uh... seems to do the very thing warned about in this piece.
If All The Bees Are Dying, Then Why Does An Enormous Swarm Of Them Carry Off My Car Every Morning? by Spencer Roth-Rose (Slackjaw) We've said it before, but readers are willing to go along with an insane premise if you're crystal-clear about it right at the top of the piece. If you set the table early and answer any questions about what's going on, you can have fun playing with your fun premise, like bees absconding with your car, for example.
An Old Favorite
Teddy Wayne's Unpopular Proverbs: Gifts by Teddy Wayne (McSweeney's)
Teddy Wayne's writing was always reliably funny, because he's reliably funny, but I have a fondness for this column's premise. Every time I hear one of these phrases, I'm reminded of Teddy's jokes. It's why whenever I hear "gift horse," I think "pronounced decay in its molars. Just my luck."
Updates From Your Hosts and Friends of the Show
We're eagerly prepping for next Tuesday's show! So eagerly!
Humorous Holiday Gift Guide
Looking for something to buy the humor fan in your life? Looking for something to forward to a clueless gift-giver to give them some idea of what you might like? Look no/little further than this guide!
Books. The ultimate gift. We've got a selection of things we like as well as new books by Friends of the Show. And just a little thing, but if you can, buy your books at your local bookstore. I know it's not possible for everyone, but the Bezoses of the world have enough money and every storefront is turning into a Chase Bank so it's nice to push back a little bit.- Build Your Own Christmas Movie Romance by Riane Konc
- Toxic Femininity in the Workplace by Ginny Hogan
- From the Campaign Trail or Thereabouts by Michael Bleicher and Andy Newton
- Nice Try by Josh Gondelman
- That Was Awkward by Emily Flake
- Keep Scrolling Till You Feel Something by 21 Years of McSweeney's Writers
- Ant Farm by Simon Rich
- Poking a Dead Frog & And Here's The Kicker by Mike Sacks
Writing Tools. Everything a writer needs to do their thing.
- Muji spiral-bound, dot grid notebooks are James' go-to. Solid paper, sturdy cover, and comes in two nice sizes.
- Fisher Space Pens are portable and reliable. Brian likes them, because when you use one, you can pretend you're an astronaut.
- Can't write without coffee. Brian loves Victrola beans. This year James also figured out you can make good cold brew at home with a jar and a nut milk bag.
- What better gift than the gift of education? Friends of the Show and absolute masters of short humor Colin Nissan and River Clegg are teaching a Magnet class in January, and I can't imagine a more productive way to start off 2020.
News About The Next Show
We've got our last show of the year next week! Caveat, 6:30 PM hang, 7:30 PM show, tickets for $10! And a line-up that is a real who's who of funny folks:
- Diana Chan (Flexx, Boogiemanja, The Comedy Local, @hidianachan)
- Emily Flake (The New Yorker, The Nib, That Was Awkward, @EmilyFlake)
- Colin Nissan (McSweeney’s [“It’s Decorative Gourd Season, Motherfuckers”], The New Yorker, The Best of McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, @cnissan)
It would be a gas to see you all one last time in 2019!
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!