A Newsletter of Humorous Writing

For May 19-25, 2021, a roundup of the week's finest prose 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. This week we'd like to take a moment to salute Humorous Readings Headquarters' longtime librarian, Old Gus. He was already here when we moved in and we just figured, why not put him to work? Thanks for everything, Old Gus! We couldn't do it without you.

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What We Enjoyed This Week

Please, the Only Way I Can Parallel Park Is If You Constantly Stare at Me by Julien Perez (McSweeney's) This piece does a great job of letting the underlying stress of the scenario register without selling out the idea that the character actually THRIVES on this true nightmare of a situation--and it's all pulled together by the well-chosen vocabulary and lively tone of the narration.

I'm a Legendary Matador Whose Passion Is Shopping at Costco by Angela Kidd (Points in Case) There’s a lot going on in this piece (bullfighting, matador ghost, possession, costco!), but all the elements are well-balanced, and the descriptions of the action are clear, well-rendered, and very funny.

An Open Letter to Sleep: We Need to Talk by Viktoria Shulevich (McSweeney's) A fun angle on an all-too-relatable dilemma that heightens beyond the initial setup by detailing the lengths the narrator has gone to in order to try to accommodate Sleep.
 

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An Old Favorite

Charles Grodin Finally Reveals His Brief Tryst With Miss Piggy by Charles Grodin (Vulture) A parody of Hollywood memoirs, narrated in a classic Grodin deadpan, this article is deeply, deeply silly, but also a surprisingly poignant exploration of the way an actor's true self can become entangled with and subsumed by their on-screen persona. Rest in peace, Charles Grodin.

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.

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Updates From Your Hosts and Friends of the Show

Friends of the Show Taylor Garron and Eva Victor's book, Look I Bought Plants: And Other Poems about Life and Stuff, came out this week!

There are just THREE spots left in Luke's June "Let's Write a Short Humor Piece" workshop. In it you'll write a short humor piece over the course of four weeks, working with a small group and getting personalized feedback every step of the way.You can find more details and the signup form here.
 

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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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