A Newsletter of Humorous Writing #372
A Newsletter of Humorous Writing
For December 18-24, 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. Happy Day After Christmas and Day After The First Night Of Hanukkah -- it's one of the world's sleepiest days! We hope you had a restful and joyful yesterday, and got to have one little treat that you don't normally get to have.
What We Enjoyed This Week
Christmas in the Lobby by Mary Gulino (Points in Case) Premises are like gifts — the more specific and unique, the better. And this holiday week, we’re regifting three uniquely specific premises, each a clever spin on a classic holiday idea. Mary's take on parties and decorations is very city-centric, and really relatable for us as NYC guys. Anyone who has lived in a big building will recognize the specifics here: “Our lobby’s potted ficus plants may be fake, but our Christmas cheer is not.”
The Three Kings Arrive, but One of Them Brings a Shaq-a-Roni Pizza Instead of Myrrh by Stephen Ruddy (McSweeney's) Another wonderful specific — Shaq-a-Roni is such a silly, stupid name for a food, and dropping it into ancient Bethlehem anachronistically makes for a lot of fun jokes and reactions:
“Aren’t all pizza slices ‘foldable’?” asked Mary.
“How does one Shaq-a-Roni?” asked the Little Drummer Boy.
I Am Whoville’s Only Home Insurance Provider, and I Am So Screwed by Tom Smyth (McSweeney’s) And one last gift of specificity: adapting Dr. Seuss’ recognizable cadence for a home insurer who is slowly melting down on the periphery of a heart-warming holiday classic. This one is short and sweet, and heightens quickly while never breaking the form.
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Humor writer BIZZY COY changes the course of the universe with her NEW BOOK
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“PERSONAL SPACE” - a collection of 20 short humor pieces originating from The Newer York, M.C. Sweeney, The Donnabella, Cases of Points and SideSplitron
Foreword by non-human entities FOLTA, JAMES and BURNS, LUKE
Blurbs from rogue operatives HUBER, LUCY and BOONE, BRIAN
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Government fears that book reveals TOP SECRET KNOWLEDGE of The Bizzy Coy Creative Process and Humor Writing Journey
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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 #118.
New Hallmark Original Christmas Movies From Your Favorite Hollywood Directors by Riane Konc (New Yorker) We all know Riane is the queen of Christmas-related short humor. In fact, she has a book to prove it. She defends her crown with this gem, a fantastic take on the vintage, McSweeney's-style humor construction, "What if famous authors did X."
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 got just TWO spots left in his advanced short humor workshop starting on January 7th! (His other two advanced workshops starting in January are SOLD OUT.) Get a jump on your 2025 writing goals by writing three pieces in four weeks and getting notes and feedback in a supportive environment.
And James just released his big end-of-the-year list: The Top 100 Most Frequently Used Words I Published or Produced in 2024. Check it out and see if any of your favorite words made the cut this year.
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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