A Newsletter of Humorous Writing #174
A Newsletter of Humorous Writing
A Newsletter of Humorous Writing
For March 3-9 2021, a roundup of the week's finest prose humor and prose humor-related news.
Our next show is Friday, April 2nd on The Squirrel Theater's Twitch
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 have a show coming up on April 2nd to celebrate Jen Spyra's new book! You'll find all the details and our full lineup of great guests if you scroll down, but right now we want to talk about lawyers. Do you know any good and funny law firms? If some newsletter writers you knew were, hypothetically, being sued by their neighbors for "laughing too drolly at all hours" and "making a distractingly big show of licking their pointer fingers and flipping the pages of their books," who might these kindly humorists hire, hypothetically, to be their attorneys? Let us know!
Jobs You Can Add to Your Résumé as a Single Person by Sara K. Runnels (The New Yorker) Everyone embellishes on resumes, but here Sara Runnels imagines going farther in resume-padding than any job seeker in history.
A Look Back at March 12, 2020 by Craig Thomas (The New Yorker) Great commitment to the old-timey language! The heightening of the slowly unspooling, hard-boiled story of the day never breaks that tone, which make the juxtaposed cheery commentary a treat.
Collegiate Pro Wrestler Unsure If He's Getting Exploited Or Not by Calder Holbrook (Flexx) This is a great premise, and a good example of how you can subtly build a rich world with small details. Specifics like "Dr. Doomstruction" and "NCAASS-Kicking" really make collegiate pro wrestling feel like it has history and breadth.
3 Signs He’s Thinking About Colonizing Mars During Sex by Dima Kronfeld (Reductress) Friend of the Show Dima Kronfeld has great specifics in this piece that really bring the premise to life -- one of the few times in my life I've laughed at the phrase "haptic technology," but I hope it won't be the last.
This week's Old Favorite is a Brian Agler Selection (TM)--a piece whose accompanying note was written by Brian--from Newsletter #115.
A Guide to Horse Breeds by Sarah Lazarus (The 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.
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.
By popular demand, Luke is doing another edition of his multi-session workshop "Let's Write a Short Humor Piece." In it you'll write a short humor piece over the course of four weeks, taking your ideas from brainstorm to full draft, getting notes and feedback every step of the way. Schedule and signup form right here!
And we're not the only ones hosting an event to celebrate the release of Jen Spyra's Big Time. There are lots of really fun readings and conversations coming up, too:
- A Great Week For Women is hosting a Zoom reading on March 13 at 8 PM EST, with lots of Friends of the Show: Broti Gupta, Evan Waite, Alexandra Petri, and of course, Jen. This will be a very funny, very free show! Tickets and more info on their killer line-up here.
- The Strand is hosting a conversation on March 16 at 7 PM EST with Jen and Mike Sacks (And Here's The Kicker, Stinker Lets Loose!, Slouchers). Two great writers, chatting writing. Free! Tickets and more info here.
- Book Lady Bookstore in Savannah, GA is doing a virtual conversation on March 17 at 7 PM EST with Jen and Patricia Lockwood (No One Is Talking About This, Priestdaddy). This is a hell of a bill! $10. Tickets here.
- E. Shaver Bookseller is doing an event on March 22nd at 9 PM EST with Late Show with Stephen Colbert writer and Friend of the Show Ariel Dumas and Late Show writer Jay Katsir. Free! Tickets and more info here!
News About The Next Show
But the only show where you can see and hear us, live and in pixels, is at the next Very Special and Virtual Evening of Humorous Readings! Please join us on Friday, April 2nd at 8 PM EST, on the Squirrel Theater's Twitch and YouTube pages, at a show honoring the release of Jen Spyra's Big Time.
We will be featuring these spectacular readers, Friends of the Show all:
- Jen Spyra, our Guest of Honor (The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, The New Yorker, The Onion, McSweeney’s, Big Time)
- Karen Chee (Late Night With Seth Meyers, The New Yorker, McSweeney’s, Reductress)
- Taylor Garron (The Onion, The New Yorker, Reductress, College Humor)
- Riane Konc (The New Yorker, McSweeney’s, Reductress, Build Your Own Christmas Movie Romance)
- Colin Nissan (McSweeney’s, The New Yorker, The Best of McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, "It's Decorative Gourd Season, Motherfuckers")
Now that's a line-up! If you use a Google calendar, you can click this link to add the event to your calendar! Otherwise, you'll have to note it down the old-fashioned way, with an abacus and a sundial.
We can't wait to see you there! All you have to do is click on The Squirrel's Twitch link at showtime, no signing up, ticketing, or anything required!
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!