A Newsletter of Humorous Writing #352
A Newsletter of Humorous Writing
For July 30-August 6, 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. What do you say when something is disgusting? We’ve historically been “blorgh” and “blech” men, but have lately been experimenting with “yeeck,” which has a more fresh and summery feel that we think is more befitting the season!
What We Enjoyed This Week
What a Nervous Flier Hears by Matt Porter (The New Yorker) We first ran into Matt’s excellent comedy work years ago, with his sketch team Good Cop Great Cop which did a lot of great stuff on videos and on stage, and we were excited to see his byline pop up The New Yorker! I particularly like the way that Matt pushes past the initial idea of framing this premise as a monologue from the flier (“I’m a nervous flier”), and instead puts us in the shoes of that main character. It’s an unexpected way to play this character game, and it works really nicely.
American Versus European Out-of-Office Replies by Tom Ellison (McSweeney’s) Tom sets up a simple pattern, quickly, and then is immediately off to the races. The first beat is subtle, but gets the game across clearly. And then look at the heightening in that second beat: Tom’s immediately taking big swings. And after that it never lets up — this piece is just filled with fun specifics.
At Pirate's Landing Funeral Home, We'll Treat You with the Dignity You Desaaarrrrve by Erin Ross (Points in Case) Such a fun premise with a really distinctive — but never overwhelming — voice! Erin does a great job balancing the push and pull between delivering on the pirate voice and breaking it with grounded bereavement language, sometimes within the same sentence: “Blackbeard particularly be a jack of all trades, havin’ his BFA in World Religions from Vassar College.”
Your Favorite Regional Theater’s (Honest) Season Announcement! by Jenny Stafford (McSweeney’s) A loving and incisive satire of a struggling theater and its aspirational programming. Jenny’s attention to the enticing language has just enough honesty to give us a sense of the reality of these shows, while not going so far that it distractingly breaks the fourth wall.
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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 #81.
A Response By An Aspiring Screenwriter Whose Screenplay Was Turned Down Because It's Exactly Like Robocop by Mike Lacher (McSweeney's)
Friend of the Show, Mike Lacher is a machine. His McSweeney's stuff runs the gamut of style and substance, but it's always funny. We could have picked any one of his pieces to feature here--but there's just something about this one that really works. The title gets you right away; you know exactly who this narrator is and what their deal is. The logic is just insane, and yet, weirdly makes sense (if you view it through the twisted lens he sets up). Finally--and this is important--Cyborg Policeman: Operation CrimeKill is just a great collection of words.
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
Don’t forget to mark your calendars for our next Hangout of Humorous Writing in August! We’ll be catching up and chatting humor at Peculier Pub (145 Bleeker St.) on Wednesday, August 28th at 6PM. Hope you can join us!
Luke’s got just THREE spots left in his upcoming humor writing workshop starting on September 3rd! He’s also got spots left in his workshop starting on September 7th! Writing from previous workshops has gone on to be published by the New Yorker (print and online), McSweeney’s, and more!
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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