A Newsletter of Humorous Writing #143
A Newsletter of Humorous Writing
A Newsletter of Humorous Writing
For July 29-August 4, 2020, a roundup of the week's finest prose humor and prose humor-related news.
Hello and welcome to A Newsletter of Humorous Writing, the email propaganda arm of the acclaimed humorous readings show, An Evening of Humorous Readings. We're back! Aw shucks, we missed you too. We took a short summer hiatus to reset, and to remember our pal/collaborator/co-founder Brian. But we're back and we've got some great picks for you this week.
What We Enjoyed This Week
Why Are Men Are Judged On Their Potential and I Am Judged On That Time I Keyed Dylan’s Car? by Alyson D'Lando (Reductress) A classic premise formulation: a general statement that is juxtaposed with a very specific observation or situation. The challenge is then to get increasingly specific about that latter part of the premise, and Alyson does a nice job here of showing us more and more of the situation around keying Dylan's car. (Sounds like he deserved it!)
The Dark Side of the Moon Is Coming Along Well, But Let’s Not Lose Track of the Big Picture, Which Is That We Need This Album to Synch-Up With The Wizard of Oz by Geoff Waite (McSweeney's) One of the great joys of short humor is that it can make you think about a familiar topic in a new way. This piece expertly explores what it would actually mean to produce a whole album with the secret goal of having it ~kind of~ sync up with a movie.
I Am A Man With A Grand Piano by Libby Marshall (Slackjaw) The details here are wonderful, revealing just how slimy and out of touch the narrator is, and the prose is precise and on-point. ("I begin to play, heavy clumsy plunks, like a bird hitting a window a hundred times in a row.")
This Neighborhood Was So Much Cooler Back When I Was 23 by Eddie Small (McSweeney's) Gotta be a coincidence. Gotta be. Sidebar: did you know that in addition to being a humor writer and Friend of the Show, Eddie is also a real estate journalist who was on The Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC last month talking about real estate and humor? Well he is and he was, and in our books that is very cool!
Hear Me Out: Hot Dog Salad by Tamar Adler (The New Yorker) These recipe ideas actually seem pretty legit, but there's no getting around the fact that hot dogs are inherently funny, and it is inherently funny to discuss them at length. If anything, the more serious you attempt to be while discussing hot dogs, the funnier the whole situation will be. Hot dogs.
An Old Favorite
Actual Stories From American Window Cleaner Magazine by Martin Schneider (McSweeney's)
Folks, American Window Cleaner Magazine is not only real, you can also check out back issues on their website.
Do you have an Old Favorite of your own? Let us know by filling out this form and we may run your pick in a future edition of the newsletter.
Updates From Your Hosts and Friends of the Show
Luke is going to be running another section of his workshop "Process, Process, Process: How to Get Yourself To Write Even When You're Stuck or Just Don't Wanna" via Zoom on Saturday, August 22 from 2-4PM Eastern. Spots are limited! You can get more info and RSVP right here.
Many of you already know about Friend of the Show (and recent Fulbright recipient) Bizzy Coy's ongoing project, Scribblewits. For those of you who don't: Every Thursday, on Twitter, Bizzy shares the story of a funny woman from history. And now we're pleased to let you know that Scribblewits has its very own website! Smash that bookmark button.
The awesome Brian Boone recently became the editor over at How Pants Work, and he's looking for submissions! Send him your stuff.
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.
This newsletter is free, but if you enjoy it and want to support the work we do putting it together, you can send us a tip via cash.app at $humorouswriting. Any amount is greatly appreciated, and 1/3rd of each donation will go to Stand Up To Cancer.
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.
This newsletter is free, but if you enjoy it and want to support the work we do putting it together, you can subscribe to our paid tier, or you can send us a tip here. Any amount is greatly appreciated, and 1/3rd of each donation will go to Stand Up To Cancer.
If you'd like to place an ad in the Newsletter, please fill out this form.
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!