A Newsletter of Humorous Writing

For July 13-19, 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. Here's a fun prank to play on a chef: Take three bay leaves, label them "#1," "#2," and "#4," and put them into the chef's soup! The prank isn't about the chef going crazy trying to find non-existent #3, it's about throwing off the delicate balance of seasonings they were trying to achieve. Haw!

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What We Enjoyed This Week

The Complete Guide to Manipulating Me by Alex Baia (The New Yorker) A very fun premise with a great format that gives Alex the flexibility to bring in a lot of different types of jokes. The piece heightens by giving us more and more details about both the titular guide and the guide's author, and those two elements never feel out of balance.

Why Are We Overcomplicating Finger Foods? by Aditi Shrikant (Eater) We always love a highly specific food opinion. Aditi makes a compelling and impassioned case, and even if you don't come away fully convinced, you may, at the very least, be inspired to pick up some calamari.

Please Watch My Big Break as an Actor on a New HBO Drama Where My Character Is Dragged Nude Behind a Horse with My Penis Showing by Rick Stoeckel (McSweeney's) The more visceral imagery in the piece (which we find very funny, but concede may not be to everyone's taste) is nicely balanced out by the charming earnestness and sweetness of the narrator. It can be tricky to sustain a piece when starting from such a heightened place, but Rick does a great job of building it all out with increasingly absurd details.
 

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An Old Favorite

Generational Stereotypes for the Next Millennium by Katie Burgess (McSweeney's) Katie nails the vocabulary and tone that people use when talking about different generations, and packs the piece full of delightful, deeply wacky scifi specifics. The syntax and rhythms of the prose are crisp and satisfying--an element that's particularly important to get right in a list piece like this one, where each entry is just a sentence or two.

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

Another performance of SPACE COUNCIL, our interactive sci-fi comedy where the audience votes to determine what happens in the show, is coming up on August 18th at 8pm EST/5pm PST on Zoom. The last time we did the show it ended with Space Council wrongfully imprisoned in the King's dungeon, framed for treason and murder. Think you can do better? Reserve your ticket and find out!

Just THREE spots left in the August edition of Luke's "Let's Write MORE Short Humor Pieces" workshop! Write three short humor pieces in four weeks, getting feedback and advice in a supportive environment.
 

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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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