A Newsletter of Humorous Writing #215
A Newsletter of Humorous Writing
A Newsletter of Humorous Writing
For December 15-21, 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. Well, it happened again. Looks like the Grinch stole all of our premises and left us with only "doctor who thinks he's a duck" and "upside-down tree nursery!" Will that dastardly green fool return our premises in time for the holiday to be saved?!
What We Enjoyed This Week
Sugar Cookie Toast Crunch Cereal by Katy Luxem (McSweeney's) A humorous review can all too often fall into the rut of hyper-specific mocking and extravagant dunks. Katy's cereal review is nicely balanced and full of vivid observations and well-articulated, scenic moments (“I notice one of the toasty square mascots on the box licking its own eyeball, and another one has teeth angled like it’s shivering.”) It makes for a surprisingly tender and intimate review of what sounds like a box of very sugary cereal.
15 Book Club Discussion Questions That Are Not Trying To Steal Your Identity by Rose Bueno (The Belladonna) Rose has a really solid premise here, and the execution doesn't need much embellishment or fancy footwork to get to a fun piece. Seeing premises like this makes us all the sadder that the Grinch absconded with ours.
The Bizarre Story Of Rockstar's Cancelled Austin Powers Kart Racer by Andy Kelly (The Gamer) Even if you're not a gamer, or an Austin Powers fan, we guarantee there's fun to be had in this article. Allow yourself to be transported back to a time when you "couldn't go five minutes without someone nearby doing a bad Austin Powers voice or the Dr. Evil pinky-to-mouth thing," when you almost had the chance to play a video game where your race car could get horny in order to go faster.
An Old Favorite
I Wish To Speak To The Chef by Bob Vulfov (McSweeney's) This is a rarity in short humor: a piece where the premise isn't fully articulated in the title. You wouldn't know it before reading, but Bob takes a hard and specific turn at the top of the second paragraph and spends the rest of the piece exploring and following that choice. It makes for a really fun piece that is heightened and kinetic. Bob also allows his narrator moments of doubt ("Oh, no. Have I made a terrible mistake..."), which not only makes the character more grounded, but is also a great way to rest the game.
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
Merry Christmas, if you're celebrating! Tuck a piece of short humor in your loved ones' stockings for the merriest holiday! And if you see the Grinch, tell him to fly right and give us our stuff back!
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
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.
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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!