A Newsletter of Humorous Writing

For January 3-9, 2024

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. There's still time to fill out our (brief) 2024 Newsletter Survey! We always hugely appreciate the feedback -- and big thanks to everyone who has already taken the time to respond.

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What We Enjoyed This Week

Scared? Don't Be! Eric Adams Wrote A Book For You by Eamon Levesque (Byline) After the publication of this very funny article, a reporter asked Eric Adams about one of the incidents in the book, and the Mayor claimed that he didn't actually write the book, did not profit from the book, and did not even know the book had been published. Various outlets have noted that there are a number of odd things about this response, including the fact that the book was put out by a company that specializes in authors who are SELF-publishing. Suffice it to say, this is just another reminder for New Yorkers that, in the immortal words of The Onion, it's "not so easy to find a mayor that doesn’t suck shit."

A Customer Service Representative Goes on a Date by Eli Burnstein (Points in Case) It's very funny how professional and upbeat the customer service rep remains throughout the piece, even as the date just keeps going worse and worse. Let your characters remain in character--it works!

Rules of Derangement by Amy McCarthy (Eater) A truly delightful "sampling of some of history’s most unhinged entertaining advice." Admittedly, we did find the advice to "not throw your guests into an unbecoming shadow" to be quite helpful. In the past, when we've held one of our lavish dinner parties at Humorous Readings Headquarters (HRHQ), we've lit the whole thing with high-wattage flashlights pointing up at our guests from below them on the floor. We'll stop doing that!
 

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-- AD --

Do you like sea creatures? Do you have any terrible exes, or plan to some day? Pre-order Deep-sea Creeps: A Field Guide to Terrible Ex-boyfriends (As Sea Creatures), out January 16. Written by New Yorker contributor and bad-boyfriend scholar Danielle Kraese, this witty guide will take you through a taxonomy of mystifying exes, from The Self-Proclaimed “Nice Guy” to The Egomaniac, and even The Ex Who Wanted To Break Up (But Wanted You To Do It). Get a copy from your favorite indie bookstore or mega retailer!

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

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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 #48.

How To Talk About Your Screenplay In Any Social Situation by Bizzy Coy and David Baker (McSweeney's) Replace "screenplay" with "newsletter" and you have an accurate transcript of our lives. Friend of the newsletter, Bizzy Coy and David Baker knock this one out of the park.

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

Exciting announcement: Luke translated a book for New York Review Books' comics imprint! Masters of the Nefarious, a cult classic absurd comedy, and a satire of adventure and mystery stories, about twin paranormal investigators, is hitting stores on March 12th and is available to pre-order now! (If you order a copy, please let Luke know, either on social media or by replying to this email.)
 

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Other Humorous Writing News

The Hard Times, one of the great humor and satire sites, has just started a Patreon and they could really use your support. Even if you aren't able to become a patron, we highly recommend reading the linked article, which paints a picture of just how dire the social media ecosystem is for small outlets, and is a good reminder of how important it is to not passively let algorithms decide what you read.
 

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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!