A Newsletter of Humorous Writing #360
A Newsletter of Humorous Writing
For September 25 - October 1, 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. According to the US National Archives, October is American Archives Month. To celebrate, why not check out our archive of past Newsletters, full of years of great humor and advice! And it’s got a search function, so you can zoom in on the stuff you want to see, like just the editions that mention “hot dog” or “hot dogs” — 27 Newsletters, which seems low, to be honest.
What We Enjoyed This Week
How to Not Humiliate Yourself as an American Abroad by Lily Blumkin (Points in Case) This is a very straightforward premise, one that could easily trend towards a predictable or random joke bucket treatment. But Lily aggressively and cleverly heightens the idea into more absurd territory, keeping the piece surprising and engaging.
I Am Not Mad That You Denied My Permit Application for a Taylor Swift–Themed Butcher Shop Called “Enchanted to Meat You” by Pete Reynolds (McSweeney’s) Specificity opens so many doors in short humor, and Pete’s details and choices are hilarious: “…promotional photos from the Eras Tour that I have screen-printed onto a country ham (they do this with cakes all the time; it is not weird simply because it is a country ham)”. Never skimp on your details, folks!
The Eric Adams Indictment Is, Unfortunately, Very Funny by Anna Merlan (Mother Jones) Like many New Yorkers, we’ve been unable to look away, with anger and embarrassment, from the unfurling corruption scandals in our city. NYC deserves so much better than Mayor Adams and his various cronies, but Anna Merlan combed the legal documents to find a little silver lining in the situation: Some Coen-Brothers-style bleak humor in the bumbling quid pro quos and cover-ups.
I Survived Jimmy Fallon’s Tonightmares Torture Basement by Rebecca Alter (Vulture) Another thing that’s making New Yorkers mutter under their breath to themselves are the ubiquitous subway ads for Jimmy Fallon’s Tonightmares, a haunted house that takes place in Fallon’s mind. Rebecca Alter braved Fallon’s frights and wrote a very funny review. It’s full of great lines (“You thought it was funny when he used to break? Well, now Jimmy’s gonna break you.“) and genuinely answered a lot of questions we had about this strange branded event.
-- AD --
Abolish Everything is back at Caveat on Saturday, October 5th at 9:30 PM!
Comedians roast their pet peeves. Improvisers grill them with questions. YOU decide what gets abolished!
Hosted by Chandler Dean. Featuring Charlie Bardey, Ryan Ciecwisz, Virginia Dickens, Sydney Duncan, Rayne Fisher Quann, Fareeha Khan, Xavier Maurice, Adam Mitrani, Josh Nasser, Carson Olshansky, and Andy Vega.
Tickets are available here. Get $5 off with promo code abolishhumor!
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It’s a Jungle in Here: The Friends & Family Show
See NYC’s funniest writers read satire + humor about their friends and family. Featuring Emily Flake, Carlos Greaves, JiJi Lee, and more! Sunday, Oct. 6th, 5 pm @ Caveat (21A Clinton Street).
Use code FAMILY for $5 off
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An Old Favorite
And speaking of mayors, this week's Old Favorite is a Brian Agler Selection (TM)--a piece whose accompanying note was written by Brian--from Newsletter #90.
As Mayor, I’m Saving This City By Getting a CSI Set Here by Keaton Patti (Slackjaw) Friend of the Show, Keaton Patti, hits it out of the park here. Not only is the main thrust of the piece fantastic, but it's filled with hilarious specifics and runners that take it to the next level.
Updates From Your Hosts and Friends of the Show
Luke’s October workshop is sold out, but he’s got two more scheduled (so far) for November/December! An intro class starting on November 9th, and an advanced class starting on November 12th!
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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