A Newsletter of Humorous Writing #240
A Newsletter of Humorous Writing
A Newsletter of Humorous Writing
For June 8-14, 2022, 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 just found out that Congress double-booked us with the January 6th Committee hearings, which means that the hearings WE'VE been working on, about the funniest Jack Handey pieces, have been cancelled. If you know of any venues that want to put up a series of committee hearings, please let us know. (Mr. Handey has not responded to our subpoenas because we have no legal standing to issue them.)
What We Enjoyed This Week
Senseless Instant Pot Recipes For The Deranged Home Chef by Laura Bartel (Slackjaw) This would still be very funny if it were just a list of bad instant pot recipes, but the frenzied, mile-a-minute tone of the narrator really takes it to the next level.
The Other John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt Is Highly Exaggerating Our Friendship by Pete Lynch (The New Yorker) This piece does an impressive job of spinning an entire world out of a (very short) familiar song, building a very funny portrait of the OTHER John Jacob along the way.
Yes, I Would Be Positively Delighted To Throw Away Your Trash by Meghan Rosen (McSweeney's) When a piece is based on a character saying that they like something that most people don't like, it can sometimes be difficult to sustain--but this piece keeps things fresh, surprising, and funny with its lively rhythms and pacing, its relentlessly upbeat tone, and all its great details and specifics.
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 #15.
Retirement Planning vs. Quest for the Amulet of Nargoth: Which is Right for Me? by Tim Sniffen (The New Yorker) This piece does a great job bouncing back and forth between normal and crazy, and sticking the landing each time.
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 another edition of his Let's Write a Short Humor Piece workshop starting on July 9th! In it you'll write a short humor piece in four weeks, going from idea to draft, getting feedback every step of the way. (His other July workshop is almost sold out!) Writing from past workshops has gone on to be published by McSweeney's, The New Yorker, Points in Case, The Belladonna, Slackjaw, and more!
If you're in New York, next weekend is the second Pall Mall, put on by the fine folks at St. Nell's! The event is a celebration of the St. Nell's residency, plus a picnic and hang-out with fellow humor writers. Bring your funny writer pals and snacks to Prospect Park on Saturday, June 25th from 2-5 PM. The event is free, but be sure to RSVP for more exact location details!
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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.
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
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 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.
If you'd like to place an ad in the Newsletter, please fill out this form.
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!