A Newsletter of Humorous Writing #386
A Newsletter of Humorous Writing
For March 26-April 1st, 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. A reminder: Luke and James are hosting a show with McSweeney’s to celebrate Jason’s Roeder’s book Griefstrike!, which is a finalist for the Thurber Prize for American Humor!
It’s on April 23, at 7 PM at the Francis Kite Club, and will feature readings by Jason Roeder, Josh Gondelman, Jiji Lee, Colin Nissan, Jen Spyra, and us! The event is totally free and there’s no need to RSVP! Hope we see you there!
What We Enjoyed This Week
Son, I Forbid You to Join That Rowdy, No-Good Zorba the Greek Fan Club by Nathan Kamal (McSweeney’s) If there’s one thing we love to see in a short humor piece, it’s delightfully, ludicrously specific details — and Nathan delivers big-time, with all the great material he pulls from Zorba the Greek. Even if you’ve never seen the movie, you’ll still laugh because of just how specific all these details are, and how they’re juxtaposed with the wonderfully-executed “parent giving their kid a talking-to” tone.
Telltale Signs Your Mysterious New Boyfriend Is Actually Rumpelstiltskin by Ines Heyworth (Points in Case) And speaking of tone, it’s very funny whenever Ines pivots into a more old-timey, folkloric tone in this piece. “Is that the tinny sound of online pornography or the dull whir whir whir of the spinning wheel?” It’s always funny to read about a weird little gnome guy — and Rumpelstiltskin is one of the all-time great weird little gnome guys.
We Are the People Who Buy Red Delicious Apples by Ryan Abbott (McSweeney’s) Finally, red delicious apple eaters get taken down a peg. As James put it when he saw this piece, “These guys have had it coming for a long time.” Ryan does a great job building out this character’s worldview and exploring their very funny philosophy.
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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 #45.
A Letter to Willy Wonka From Mrs. Bucket by Sarah Shockey (Points in Case) Sarah Shockey does a great job with this one--mining a piece of classic material for a new take. The result is hilarious. Sarah is a big favorite around Humorous Readings HQ. For a blast from the past, check out her comedy band, the Shock T's.
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 humor writing workshop starting April 19th! Writing from past workshops has gone on to be published by The New Yorker (print and online), McSweeney’s, and more!
And one more reminder: Come on out to An Evening With Jason Roeder and Friends on April 23rd!
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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