A Newsletter of Humorous Writing #279

A Newsletter of Humorous Writing

A Newsletter of Humorous Writing

For March 8-14, 2023

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. Bad news: We had our identity stolen last week. So if you get any newsletters purporting to be us -- "Newssplash of Funny Stuff," "Dispatch of Chuckly Prose," "Laffs in Weekly e-Mail," "A Digest of Digital Mirth," etc. -- we're sorry in advance.

What We Enjoyed This Week

The Last of Us If Ellie Were Forty-One Years Old Instead of Fourteen by JiJi Lee (McSweeney's) Jiji writes snappy dialogue here that is not only a great parody of the show, but is also fun to read. Really strong specifics in this piece too --"Diet Snapple," "toots," "Sue Grafton book and a bottle of cab sav" -- which bring older Ellie to life.

How to Stop Bringing up the Weather in Conversation Even Though the Tornado Is Literally Right There by McKayley Gourley (Reductress) A perfect marriage of form and subject: the gently encouraging, low-stakes advice format juxtaposed against a destructive, fatal, high-stakes wind tube. McKayley's writing is, as ever, sharp and funny.

The NYPD’s Right-of-Way Regulations for Bike Lanes by Mike Langley (McSweeney's) Lots of great New York specifics here for bikers and non-bikers alike, but the length of this list is how Mike really sells the joke that the NYPD doesn't care about bikers.

The Curse of the Service Fee: A Choose-Your-Tip Adventure by Brandon Talley (McSweeney's) What a fun format! We're pro-unique formats here at the Newsletter, and this is such a fun use of choose-your-adventure language and links to explore a surprisingly in-depth story and world.  

-- ADS --

ABOLISH EVERYTHING: TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS is at Caveat on Monday, March 20th at 7 PM!

Chandler Dean (Lovett or Leave It, The New Yorker) hosts a rapid-fire comedy debate show where comedians deliver monologues about societal scourges they want abolished--and a panel of improvisers from the “political establishment” grills them with questions.

This month is the TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS—every winner from the last year of shows is back, including hilarious humorists like Ben Doyle, Maeve Dunigan, Rima Parikh, Lana Schwartz, Charu Sinha, Lauren Spinabelli and more.

In-person and livestream tickets are available here! Get $5 off with promo code abolishhumor.

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Emmy-award winning comedian and writer Taylor Kay Phillips has written her debut humor book, A Guide to Midwestern Conversation, based on her McSweeney's article series of the same name. This funny, loving, and beautifully illustrated guide to the language of the landlocked is available for purchase on April 11 and for pre-order RIGHT NOW from wherever you buy your books! How bout that! A Short Humorous Writing that turned into a Long Humorous Writing. (Hi, this is Taylor. It's been me the whole time! Please pre-order my book, I really think you'll like it. Okay, love you! Don't be a stranger.)

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(Do you have an ad you'd like to place in the Newsletter? Fill out this form!)

An Old Favorite

This week's Old Favorite pick and writeup come from Lizzie Logan, a comedy writer based in LA. Thanks for writing in, Lizzie!

An Open Letter to Myself When I Had Seven Cats by Jen Bingham (McSweeney's) Lizzie writes, "I have one cat, and the fact that my one cat doesn't like other cats is the only reason I don't have many more cats, so I relate very much to the woman who found herself accidentally collecting cats. This piece uses pets as a jumping off point for a sad/sweet/hopeful (and true!) story about connection and loneliness, and the author is kind to herself while admitting that, objectively, seven cats is too many cats."

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 Newsletter

James has two readings coming up! Come out, laugh, and meet some fellow writers and comedy fans.
 

Luke's got just THREE spots left in his Saturday short humor writing workshop starting on April 15th! Write three pieces in four weeks and get feedback in a supportive environment. And if you can't make a four-week workshop, he's also doing a single session workshop on April 23rd that's all about how to get helpful feedback on your writing and give helpful feedback in return, balancing constructive criticism with encouragement, and honesty with kindness.
 

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!