A Newsletter of Humorous Writing

For October 6-12, 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. Luke here! James and I (along with Friend of the Show Lucas Adams) went to the Met's new "Surrealism Beyond Borders" exhibit this weekend, and while there we saw a hilarious short film called "The Flat". The short, which you can check out here, is a great example of a work that is VERY funny and VERY weird without being overly random. Though the film is about a wacky apartment where nothing works the way you expect it to, there's still an internal logic (dream logic, perhaps, but still logic) and a consistency to the reversals that keep it feeling cohesive and makes all the beats feel earned. (Okay, admittedly "Man With Rooster" is pretty random, but by the time you get there the randomness feels earned.) All lessons that can be applied to short humor as well.

---

What We Enjoyed This Week

Advice-Seeking Alternatives To “I’d Love To Pick Your Brain” by Michelle Spies (Slackjaw) This list of variations on a familiar phrase does a great job of heightening by increasing the specificity of the metaphors, and is packed with a wonderful variety of scenarios and imagery. A particular favorite: "I’d love to break into your nervous system’s headquarters and pore over your documents with my inquiry flashlight for anything of value!"

My Platoon by Django Gold (The New Yorker) "Veteran reminiscing about the war" is a great narrator character, not just for the specificity of the voice, but also because it provides a structure that allows Django to quickly spotlight a bunch of characters and get to the (very good) jokes as quickly as possible.

That There's Oil. Texas Tea. Economy Slime. Hot Rockolate. by Lillie Franks (Points in Case) Another piece involving riffs on a familiar phrase! In this case different slang terms for oil. It can often be difficult to sustain a piece like this, but Lillie keeps the reader engaged by switching the focus to new topics (different terms for oil barons and money) that mix things up but are still relevant to the original premise. The narrator's vivid voice also gives the whole piece an extra level of cohesiveness.
 

---

An Old Favorite

This week's Old Favorite pick and writeup come from David Guzman, a writer and Friend of the Show whose work has been published by the New Yorker, McSweeney's, and more. Thanks for writing in, David!

Surgery Is Easy by Wendy Molyneux (McSweeney's) David writes, "One of my favorite types of format: the disembodied voice from nowhere, propelled by an unspoken insistence that you will want to hear what they are saying. This format lets the writer play things pretty loose, so they've got to be able to bring ideas that are funny in almost a vacuum, and this piece has not just those kind of pure jokes but also plenty that work as coming from the character's demented POV. Like Jen Spyra, Wendy Molyneux is one of those comedy writers with an impressive list of TV credits, but who I can't help but be most excited when seeing they have a new humor piece out."

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

Enrollment has just opened for the November edition of Luke's workshop, "Let's Write a Short Humor Piece"! In it you'll write a short humor piece in four weeks, getting feedback and support every step of the way, and learning broader lessons about humor writing that you can take beyond the class. Signup form and more info can be found right here.
 

---

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!