A Newsletter of Humorous Writing #358
A Newsletter of Humorous Writing
For September 11-17, 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. We strongly recommend hand-washing, but if you insist on running the newsletter through the dishwasher, don’t forget: Top rack only!
What We Enjoyed This Week
More Facts About Possums by Steve Macone (The New Yorker) We particularly want to highlight how Steve handles the ending of this piece. It can be really tricky to wrap up a joke bucket piece like this, but Steve brings it to a satisfying conclusion by introducing a small bit of nicely balanced narrative towards the end. The coda isn’t too long or plotty, it has plenty of fun jokes, and doesn’t feel like a jarring departure from what came before. It’s an ending that also feels earned because earlier in the piece, Steve fully delivers the kind of jokes a reader expects in a joke bucket piece. (E.G.: “If possums get the sense that their inherent perfection is wrecking your self-esteem, they’ll eat some garbage. That’s the main reason possums eat garbage. It’s for you.”)
Character from My Unfinished Epic Fantasy Novel or IKEA Product? by Susan Taitel (Points in Case) This piece sets itself apart from other “this or that” format pieces by also being a very funny parody of fantasy novels, and by having the fantasy novel within the piece completely unravel by the end in truly delightful fashion.
The Big Ol' Flag! by Sam Weiner and Joey Dundale (BigOlFlag.net) We love parody projects like this. The central premise, a company selling a ludicrously huge flag, would certainly have worked as a regular short humor piece, but Sam and Joey went the extra mile and made a whole dang website, and it really paid off. We’re big fans of Sam’s going way back, and it’s great to see him exploring this kind of unique comedic space.
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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 #133.
I'm Going to Close This Deal Using Business Word I've Heard Men Yell at Airports by Wendi Aarons (McSweeney's) Pieces that simply repeat funny phrases from popular culture are a dime-a-dozen. The jokes have already been made, the piece is simply re-using them and asking, "Hey, remember these?" Wendi takes a different route. She focuses on character. She's not just dropping in random words, she's building a character--a deranged, self-important lunatic who actually believes in the value of what she's saying. What's more, we don't just get a character, we get a setting. We feel like we're at the airport, listening to this person yell. It adds so much more texture than would have been present if this piece were simply, "Someone Uses Business Slang." This piece is a joy to read, and the inspiration would be terrible to experience in real life.
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 Editors and Friends of the Newsletter
James wrote about a funny literary project for Lit Hub that readers might enjoy: A short interview with th writer who added “lol” to the end of every sentence of In Search of Lost Time. Less humorously, James also wrote something long on one of his favorite writers, Robert Caro.
Luke’s got just ONE short humor workshop coming up in October (it starts on the 8th), and it’s got just FIVE spots open! Write three pieces in four weeks, meet other funny folks, and get feedback and notes in a supportive environment.
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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