A Newsletter of Humorous Writing

For October 13-19, 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. Today is, apparently, the International Day of the Nacho! And if you think about it, aren't nachos a lot like short humor: a solid base providing the foundation for lots of small and exciting bits, some sweet, some salty, some spicy, all coming together in a delicious whole? In the spirit of this holiday, join us in snacking on one of these tasty forced metaphors today!

What We Enjoyed This Week

FAQ About Your CSA by Janine Annett (McSweeney's) A tried-and-true format like the FAQ can feel just as fresh as an innovative framing device if the details are precise. The specifics really make this piece, from the detail about botulism to the justification for slot machine fruit images. 

Study Finds That Women in Olden Times Fainted More Often Because They Thought It Was a Funny Bit by Liva Pierce (Reductress) Reframing a historical situation for a humor premise is something that satirical news does really well: by couching this as a rediscovering of lost letters, Liva can sidestep a lot of preamble and get right into the funny, historical details. 

A Tour Through My Inbox Of Newsletters I’ve Never Read by Rachel Siemens (Slackjaw) A solid premise that's also a great vehicle for describing funny newsletters, but if we're being honest, this was is a nerve-wracking read for newsletter purveyors such as ourselves.

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 #72.

I Am A Pacific Northwest Man On Tinder And I Will Die If I Go Indoors by Sara K. Runnels (McSweeney's) It's easy to forget that written pieces need characters with clear, strong points of view. This piece does not forget that, and that's why we'd all want to date it, if we didn't fear the outdoors.

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

Luke's got four spots left in the November edition of his 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. And check out this thread to see writing that's come out of previous workshops!

Alex Baia is putting together a “Short Humor Sprint” group, which will be a small group (or groups) of 5-6 people who will swap writing and notes on a new draft and new pitches every week. If this sounds like something you'd be into, the sign-up form is 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!