A Newsletter of Humorous Writing #178
A Newsletter of Humorous Writing
A Newsletter of Humorous Writing
For March 31-April 6, 2021, 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. Sorry if we’re a little flustered, but Humorous Readings Headquarters (HRHQ) has become infested with pranksters. I suppose it was only a matter of time. We’re having exterminators come in ASAP to lay out traps, but until then we’ll just have to put up with saran-wrapped toilets, flour in our hairdryers, loosened salt shaker tops, and heaven knows what other pranks.
What We Enjoyed This Week
DUDE CORNER: I’ve Never Seen My Friends Be Sexist Because I Have A VR Headset on Most of the Time (Reductress) This is a very funny premise that hits the sweet spot of having a clear and concise headline joke but also enough space to explore in a fun piece. Lots of really great specifics here, but what really makes it is the obnoxious and oblivious tone of the narrator. And as we've said before, if you have any insight into who wrote this headline and who wrote this piece, let us know! We'd love to shout them out.
Tastes Funny! 3 Natural Hair Products With Enough Shea Butter And Coconut Oil To Double As Dessert by Simone Allison (Flexx) The desire to taste forbidden almost-foods is very relatable, and this piece does a great job of specifically conjuring fantasies of trying these hair products, and suffering the consequences.
This Trojan Horse Is A Family, So Maybe Stop Having So Much Attitude About Being In the Butt Part by Rima Parikh (Widget) A letter from the management of the Trojan Horse is a really fun format for this piece, and is a nice juxtaposition to all the very good butt jokes.
Shipwrecks Down 300% After Sirens Get Really into Nu Metal by Patrick Coyne (Hard Times) Another very funny premise that is expanded on nicely in the piece. Pulling in details about impacts on shipping, the fashion choices of the Sirens, and then a fun kicker that expands the universe of mythical creatures with terrible taste in music.
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 #60.
My Trip To The Tattoo Shop...As Imagined By My Mom by Cara Michelle Smith (The Belladonna) This piece features great character work--something that you don't always see in humor pieces. We know exactly what "Mom" thinks, and how she views the world. All in just a few sections.
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
In May Luke is doing TWO sections of "Let's Write a Short Humor Piece", his multi-session workshop. In it you'll write a short humor piece over the course of four weeks, taking your idea all the way from brainstorm to full draft. As we discuss attendees' work in class, you'll also learn broader lessons about humor writing that you can take well beyond the four weeks. One starts on May 8th and one starts on May 22. Click through to check out the full schedule and sign up.
Other Humorous Writing News
The window to apply for the summer editorial fellowship at Reductress is currently open! The position is paid and a great chance to work for an amazing publication. More info about applying is on their website.
News About The Show
Thank you so much to everyone who came out to the show last week! It meant a lot to see so many of you out there in the comments section of the e-crowd. We hope you enjoyed all the readings as much as we did, and we especially hope you got a copy of Big Time so you got to hear the thrilling conclusion to the piece Jen read. Can't wait to see you all in person very soon!
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!