A Newsletter of Humorous Writing #159
A Newsletter of Humorous Writing
A Newsletter of Humorous Writing
For November 18-24, 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. The edition is arriving a day later than usual because we were too busy yesterday celebrating -- you guessed it -- the anniversary of French satellite Astérix's 1965 launch. A metal homonym of "asterisk" floating just above Earth, implying that the universe has placed an annotation or correction on our planet, is the funniest moment of the space race, and well worth a day of celebration!
What We Enjoyed This Week
Quiz: The McRib Sandwich or My Absent Father? by Carrie Pinkard (Points In Case) List pieces generally, though not always, have the same underlying premise: the way we talk about two very different things is actually pretty similar. Carrie's piece is so fun because the two things being compared couldn't be more dissimilar, and it's a delight to imagine each beat of this list being about both a dad and a sandwich.
Resume Updated Two Minutes Into ‘Photoshop Basics’ Tutorial by Ben Doyle (The Hard Times) A very relatable exploration of a feeling we've all had to a greater or lesser degree when updating (embellishing) a resume.
Sounds of the Eighties by Jonathan Zeller (The New Yorker) Jonathan's heightening and specificity are great, but the commitment to the tone and language of the format he's parodying is what really makes the piece.
How to Return a Shirt in Just 89 Days by Reuven Perlman (Points In Case) A great example of a simple idea that is executed uniquely and creatively. Reuven does an excellent job of inserting lots of little asides and mini-runners in this piece.
An Old Favorite
This week's Old Favorite is a Brian Agler Selection (TM)--a piece whose accompanying note was written by Brian--from Newsletter #9.
Thanksgiving with David Caruso by Cara Michelle Smith (The Belladonna)
Some premises are so simple and so perfect that they must become humor pieces. This is one of them.
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
If you've been to our live show, you know that we love Jen Spyra's writing. We were extra excited to see the announcement that her forthcoming book of short stories, "Big Time", is coming out next March! We assume the book's title is a reference to what we've been saying about it: "Jen Spyra's book is going to be BIG TIME funny." Preorder it here and use the code "Friend of the Newsletter" to get an exclusive "code not valid" error!
James' Parody Writing class with Pandemic University has only five spots left! It's going to be a blast, come on and join us. The first class is on December 8th. There's more info here, and a link to sign up!
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 here. 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!