A Newsletter of Humorous Writing #253
A Newsletter of Humorous Writing
A Newsletter of Humorous Writing
For September 7-13, 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. A quick reminder that if there's a short humor piece you love that came out a while ago, you can write up an "Old Favorite" pick of your own! Just fill out this form and we may run it in a future edition of the newsletter.
What We Enjoyed This Week
Interview With A Former Medieval Times Employee: "All the dudes who worked there were total babes" by Daniel Lavery (The Chatner) A very funny look at a very particular type of workplace that also captures a particular moment in time, and the particular dynamic of working your first job.How Much Do You Actually Remember About Avatar? by Rebecca Alter (Vulture) The quiz format is a fun, original way to point out some of the weird and, shall we say, less-than-artful elements of Avatar. And, hey, if you're excited to see where "Ol' Jimmy Cameron" is taking the franchise, this is also a quick way to brush up on key plot points before the next one comes out.
Free Dirt by Angella d'Avignon (The Paris Review) We're as surprised to be saying it as you are to be hearing it: The world of free dirt is utterly engrossing. You won't want to miss this deep dive into the subject.
An Old Favorite
A Year in Words That Sound Like Pasta Shapes When Pronounced as Such by Michelle Orange (McSweeney's) One of the joys of a list piece is seeing how ordinary words are transformed by the title. There's nothing inherently funny about the words on this list, but the well-crafted title recontextualizes them and makes them hilarious. And while the piece would still be very funny without the three words at the beginning of the title, their inclusion means that it tells a story as well. An impressive amount of meaning to pack into a piece that's only 26 words long (including the title)!
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 shares some expertise and craft secrets in his latest for McSweeney's, "The Secret to Great Writing Is Taking Dozens of Showers a Day". (A lesson that will be old news to those of you who have taken his short humor workshops, which are mostly focused on showering theory.)YOUR AD HERE!
Do you have an ad you'd like to place in the Newsletter? Fill out this form!
And feel free to send us an email if you have questions.
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!