A Newsletter of Humorous Writing #243
A Newsletter of Humorous Writing
A Newsletter of Humorous Writing
For June 29-July 5, 2022.
Hello and welcome to A Newsletter of Humorous Writing, a roundup of the week's finest short humor pieces and funny articles, and a celebration of the fantastic writers who wrote them. Some people will tell you that the definitive dessert to make with leftover hot dogs is hot dog ice cream, but we still maintain that the desserts we make at Humorous Readings Headquarters (HRHQ) -- hot dog pie, hot dog cannoli, and our signature crème brûlée hot-dog -- are superior. Come on over and have a taste!
What We Enjoyed This Week
Why I Am Not a Writer by John Mancini (McSweeney's) Just a torrent of bad news, artfully written and beautifully organized. This is why we've thrown our lot in with the niche newsletter crowd.
I’d Rather Drag Your Lifeless Body from This Party Than Wait Here While You Go to the Bathroom by Joanna Borns (McSweeney's) A really relatable premise about the fear of being abandoned at a party. This is a great example of heightening and exploring, and Joanna takes us to so many places, both in the narrator's mind and around the party, and lets the anxiety and catastrophic thinking lead to unexpected and fun places.
Directive from the CEO of Women’s Beauty Standards Inc. To Invent More Problems by Caitlin Bitzegaio (The Belladonna) In this piece, a clever format and an original premise combine to open up a ton of space for bold and silly specifics. It can often be difficult to incorporate all-out wackiness like this into your satire, lest you trivialize or distract from your message, but Caitlin does a great job finding a satisfying blend of weirdness and critique.
An Old Favorite
My Wedding Hair by Emma Rathbone (The New Yorker) We love Emma's writing here at the Newsletter because it's always so specific and so sharp. The small portraits of folks with good hair are evocative and heightened, but the voice of the narrator is really what sets this piece apart. Her polite but insistent tone paints a very clear image, and the questions she asks to check in ("Is this clarifying anything?") work great as punch lines.
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
Space Council is back! On August 18th at 8pm EST/5pm PST, Luke and James are doing a Zoom version of their interactive, choose-your-own-adventure comedy show where the audience steps into the role of the titular Space Council, advisors to the King of Mars, and is tasked with helping to solve Mars’ most pressing crises! We'll be joined by the amazingly funny Nicole Adsit, who will be playing all the fun characters you'll meet on your Martian journey. Sign up here for tickets, which are a suggested donation of $5!
Luke JUST announced the dates of his August short humor writing workshops! Writing from past workshops has gone on to be published by The New Yorker, McSweeney's, The Belladonna, and more. There are still plenty of openings in these piping-hot, fresh-from-the-oven courses, check 'em out now!
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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!