A Newsletter of Humorous Writing #400
A Newsletter of Humorous Writing
For July 2-8, 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. Issue 400! We proud that the Newsletter is joining other famous “400”s including the elites of NYC high society in the 19th century, the “bad request” HTTP error, and the number of S&Ps in the stock market.
What We Enjoyed This Week
The Morality Of Finger Licking by Miles-Erik Bell (Slackjaw) This alignment chart for situations where you might lick your fingers is a really surprising and inventive premise. Miles-Erik comes up with a lot more finger licking situations than we would have guessed were out there.
Let’s Be Bad! by Henry Block (Points in Case) This is a masterclass in heightening. Henry’s uses the logic of his premise and character to drive this idea to wackier and wackier places.
It’s Time to Release Bob Dylan’s Full Dharma & Greg Tapes by Devon Ivie (Vulture) This is not our usual short humor fare, but it’s such a strange and funny interview that we couldn’t help but share it. If this wasn’t a true story, “Bob Dylan improvises on a sitcom” would be a great premise, and these real-life specifics are so charming and surprising.
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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 #18. And after Zohran's big win, we're eager to reshare this bit of NYC pride!
No, I'm From New York by Susanna Wolff (The New Yorker) This newsletter is proudly made in NYC. We're New Yorkers through and through (Subways! Bagels!) So, it is for that reason that this piece speaks to us on a deeply personal level. But that's not why it's great. It's great because it does so much all at the same time. It has a simple, but perfect premise. The voice is unique. It builds so naturally. And, most importantly, it somehow turns the name/word "Ralphs" into an insult. Give it a read, unless you're from LA, at which point you can just unsubscribe because your kind aren't welcome here.
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
Jim Spanfeller’s G/O Media sold off Kotaku last week, continuing their streak of decimating every beloved media property they touch. As always, Defector pulls no punches: Samer Kalaf wrote a great piece about the poor writing and bankrupt ideas in Spanfeller’s “Epilogue” statement.
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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