A Newsletter of Humorous Writing #374
A Newsletter of Humorous Writing
For January 1-7, 2025
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 New Year! It’s time once again for our annual Newsletter Survey. We always love getting your feedback and hearing what’s on your minds, so we’d greatly appreciate you taking the time to fill out this (short) form. Thank you in advance!
What We Enjoyed This Week
Expanding Our Two-Factor Authentication System by Talib Babb (The New Yorker) Talib’s starting point is a very relatable frustration, but he quickly finds ways to heighten beyond reality, exploring a bunch of very funny authentication scenarios. We particularly like “card trick.”
Are You a Waymo or a Woman? by Grace Fetterman (McSweeney’s) Too often in these types of quiz pieces, the “results” section at the end is barely an afterthought. It’s treated as something that HAS to be included because of the quiz form, rather than an opportunity to heighten further or get in a few last laughs. We don’t want to spoil anything, but Grace’s jokes in the “results” section of this piece are great (as are her other jokes).
Introducing Georg Property, the Long-Lost Third Property Brother by Seth Rubin (McSweeney’s) Georg Property is a tremendous character. There are so many great details about him that get revealed over the course of the piece, but perhaps the most revealing detail of all is his delightful syntax, his way of speaking. You understand who Georg is not just because of what he says, but also because of how he says it: “Why do you avert your eyes? Can you tell that I am nude beneath my velvet cloak?”
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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 #127.
What I’ll Think If You Schedule a Meeting But Don’t Specify Why by Ginny Hogan and Laurence Pevsner (Little Old Lady) The thing about our mainframe is, it doesn't have Outlook, so whenever we want to schedule a meeting, we have to scream the date and time into the void and hope for the best. Though, as seen in Ginny and Laurence's piece, it sounds like calendar invites can be bad. What we like about it, in particular, is that, as a list, it feels connected. Each item builds on the ideas that came for it. There's a clear voice and character and neuroses. It just clicks.
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
Friend of the Newsletter Mark Paglia has released his latest solo RPG: Falling Leaf Simulator. The game is clever and funny (it’s premise, after all, as you may have gleaned from the name, is that you play a leaf falling from a tree) but Mark also invests it with real poignancy. Give it a whirl!
Luke JUST announced a new batch of short humor workshops! He’s got advanced classes starting on February 1st and February 4th. Write three pieces in four weeks, practice giving notes to others, and get feedback 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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