A Newsletter of Humorous Writing

For December 22-28, 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. We want to start the newsletter by issuing a (belated) Christmas terminology clarification: When someone says that they're "pulling a reverse Santa" it DOES NOT MEAN that they are stealing Christmas. Stealing Christmas is, of course, "Pulling a Grinch," whereas a "reverse Santa" is when YOU go to Santa's house and bring HIM presents. Thank you for your kind attention.

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What We Enjoyed This Week

The Accident Claus by Jen Spyra (The New Yorker) Friend of the Show Jen Spyra gives us the gift we didn't know we needed: a Double Indemnity crossover with Santa. The prose is a spot-on, hilarious parody of the hard-boiled style, and the themes explored in the piece reveal that film noir and stories about Santa have a surprising amount in common: in both you'll find accounts of greed exceeding all bounds, a fascination with the question of whether people are inherently good or evil, and lots of sneaking around in the middle of the night.

If You Think Buying Gifts for Your Dad Is Hard, Try Getting Something for the Son Of God by Anna Pook (The Belladonna) This is a great example of a piece that shows us the point of view of a character we're all familiar with, but whose side of the story we don't usually get to hear. It's a lot of fun to explore the different arguments Melchior uses to defend his (perhaps questionable) gift choices. (“This was before Christmas was even a thing.")

What a Cloud Thinks YOU Look Like by Patricia Lawler Kenet (Points in Case) Another great example of a piece exploring the POV of a familiar character--and in this case it's VERY literally about this character's point of view. The descriptions of what people look like to a cloud are very funny and deeply satisfying: "On a sunny day at the beach, I’m seeing a bunch of greased-up bacon strips in various stages of frying."
 

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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 #60.

Purify Your System With The Seven-Day Chili Dog Cleanse by Django Gold (McSweeney's) We spend a lot of time in this newsletter trying to break down what makes something funny--structure, style, tone, etc. The fact is, there's a lot thought that goes into humor writing. Every word is there for a reason, and understanding why leads to a better appreciation of the form.

But here's the thing: chili dogs are funny. Hot dogs are funny. Chili is funny. Chili dogs are funny. Talking about chili dogs in a way that is serious at all is very funny. Friend of the Show, Django Gold, understands that. Of course, a piece has to do more than just reference a funny topic. It has to do something with it. Here, Django expertly elevates the chili dog--having his "narrator" seem more and more serious with each section. He never once gives away the game. In fact, he only makes it stronger. That's why this piece is so funny.

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 three workshops starting in January! One section of "Let's Write a Short Humor Piece", which starts on January 15th, and two sections of "Let's Write MORE Short Humor Pieces", which start on January 15th and January 18th, respectively. Click through for the full schedules and more details. Drop Luke a line if you have any questions, and keep an eye on this thread to see some of the great writing that's come out of past workshops (lots of additions coming in the week ahead)!
 

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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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