A Newsletter of Humorous Writing #190
A Newsletter of Humorous Writing
A Newsletter of Humorous Writing
For June 23-29, 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. July is National Hot Dog Month, and it's a special holiday for us here at the Humorous Readings Headquarters (HRHQ). We're all big dog-heads, but none more so than our co-founder and pal Brian Agler, who presented this amazing analysis of a speech by former NYC Mayor Bloomberg at the Coney Island Hot Dog Eating Contest. Join us in raising a dog or two this month -- if you're in the NY area, Eater put out a great list of spots to try -- and let us know if you have a particularly good one, and we might feature it in a future edition!
What We Enjoyed This Week
Elaborate Lies to Get Out of Something You Could Have Said No to Without an Explanation by Janie Beaufore (Reductress) Really heightened and fun choices take this simple premise and turn it into something silly and memorable. This piece is also a good reminder that you don't always have to start pieces with a grounded, "warm-up" beat -- sometimes the best choice into to dive right into something heightened!
Lesser-Known Rejection Stories by Taylor Kay Phillips (The New Yorker) Expertly done parodies of those pithy anecdotes that are meant to inspire, but so often end up being anything but. Some really clever, invented gatekeepers in this one too, from all throughout history.
A Very Good Personality Test by Katherine Bellantone (The Belladonna) Sometimes when a piece doesn't have a hook in the title or a premise that jumps out from the very start, it can be hard to sustain the reader's attention. As a writer, you have to find another way to keep the reader turning the pages. In this piece, Katherine makes a big choice tonally that really pulls you along -- you want to keep reading to find out what fun things this personality-test writer says next.
I’ll Come Out of Retirement for This Top Secret Mission, But How Will It Affect My Social Security? by Ben Lyons (McSweeney's) Deconstructing or examining unexpected implications of a common trope is a short-humor well that keeps on giving. This is a fun, unique idea and Ben does a nice job of pulling in other specifics and details from outside of movie cliches to round the piece out.
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 #24.
My Letter to Time Warner Cable by Eugene Mirman (eugenemirman.com)
Eugene Mirman is the Babe Ruth of writing letters to protest minor inconveniences. This one may be his finest example. Is a letter mocking Time Warner Cable humor prose? The judges say yes. Also, we are the judges, so that one wasn't really up for debate.
What makes this letter (and really, the rest of Mirman's stand-up) so wonderful is his "corkboard full of red yarn connecting pictures" style of comedy. He'll make a reference that comes out of nowhere--one that just toes the line of non-sequitur--and then deftly land the joke. By the end, you're not quite sure how you got there, but you're happy you went on the journey.
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
Nothing from us this week, but stay cool in all of the heat waves!
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!