A Newsletter of Humorous Writing

For July 7-13, 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. Somebody keeps burning effigies of us on the street outside Humorous Readings Headquarters (HRHQ). We're not really mad, we just want to know if it's a "hey, you're doing something I don't like, cut it out" thing, or like a "keep up the good work" thing. If you're the person behind this, let us know what the deal is!
 

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What We Enjoyed This Week

People Who Accomplished Incredible Things at a Young Age, Taken Down a Peg by Lucas Gardner (McSweeney's) The voice of the narrator is very funny, and it quickly and efficiently sets up who this character is and how the piece is going to work. ("I’ve never heard it, and I don’t know anyone who has.") The piece builds nicely, with lots of surprising angles on the premise, and the Frankenstein 2 runner is a great touch.

My Typical Day on Unemployment by Kathleen O'Mara (McSweeney's) This piece has a lot of fun exploring the imagined version of life on unemployment, but it never lets the reader lose sight of the reality of the situation--an impressive balance to strike.

Sorta but Not Really Scary Emails That Jason Vorhees Sent Me in Lieu of a Good Old Fashioned Machete Slice by Ryan Ciecwisz (Points in Case) The tone of Jason's emails is wonderfully specific and unexpected. Ryan also mixes up Jason's email signoffs ("Your friend, J-Man"), so if that's the sort of detail you usually skim over in an epistolary piece, slow down and check these out.
 

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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 #27.

How to Move Heavy Furniture by Yourself by Bizzy Coy (The New Yorker) Bizzy is a longtime friend of the show and newsletter, and this piece is not only fun, but hits on an essential truth about moving--namely that it's terrible.

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

Luke's got a new edition of his workshop "Let's Write a Short Humor Piece" starting on Sunday, August 8th! In it, you'll write a McSweeney's-style short humor piece over the course of four weeks, working with a small group and getting feedback every step of the way. More info and signup right 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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