A Newsletter of Humorous Writing #355
A Newsletter of Humorous Writing
For August 21-27, 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. Thanks so much to everyone who came out to the Hangout of Humorous Writing last night! It was a blast to get to meet so many of you and we hope you had a good time!
What We Enjoyed This Week
Breaking News Chyrons for a First Date by Emily Zauzmer (McSweeney’s) Using the vocabulary and tropes of breaking news to describe a bad first date is such a fun idea. Emily takes us through the whole delightfully disastrous evening with fleet pacing, and without ever getting too plotty.
Times I Have Suspected My Therapist Might Be a Baby by Lillie Franks (Points in Case) The high-status idiot (that is, someone who is not very smart, but behaves with unearned superiority and confidence; think Steven Colbert’s Colbert Report character) is a classic comedic archetype. A baby therapist is such a great rendition of this type of character—a person in a position of authority who truly has no idea what they’re doing. It’s hilarious to read pronouncements that are completely off the mark delivered in such a self-assured, almost condescending tone.
Soggy and Crowded by Tom Scocca (Indignity) We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: We love an article that makes the case for the righteousness of an esoteric complaint. This denunciation of hotel towel storage practices is a worthy successor to another favorite article of ours, Tom’s takedown of lies about caramelized onions (a frustration we wholeheartedly share).
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An Old Favorite
Heaven Be the Cross-Section of a Ship by Mitchell Russell (Points in Case) The voice of this narrator is just terrific and we particularly enjoy the surprising introspective turn the piece takes towards the end: “I shudder to think what would become of me were I to turn this bisecting view upon myself. What would we find within this humble man?” And though his tone may be heightened and silly, we have to confess that we very much agree with the main point this character is making. Truly, there’s nothing better than “children’s informational books depicting the cross-sections of ships.”
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’s still got a few spots left in his advanced humor writing workshop starting on September 7th! Write three short humor pieces in four weeks in a fun, supportive environment; get notes, deadlines, and feedback; and meet other funny folks.
Other Humorous Writing News
This week, Ian Frazier, the writer of many great Shouts and Murmurs pieces, including Coyote v. Acme, did an interview with the New York Review of Books, in which he shared some thoughts on comedy and comedy writing.
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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