A Newsletter of Humorous Writing #411
A Newsletter of Humorous Writing
For September 17-23, 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. In Robert Altman’s film 3 Women, one of the titular three women is named Millie, and another one is named Willie, and that can only mean one thing: This acclaimed 1977 psychological drama is secretly the basis for the characters Mario and Wario.
What We Enjoyed This Week
Seeking a Nodding Acquaintance by Ralph Gamelli (McSweeney’s) Ralph does a terrific job depicting a type of relationship that just about all of us have had at one time or another. This is one of those brilliant premises that perfectly captures a thing we all know, but didn’t necessarily KNOW we knew (if you know what we mean).
Analogies Are The Rolls-Royce Of Comparisons by Luís Leal Miranda (Slackjaw) There’s a real poetry to the analogies that Luís has concocted here. These combinations of words are delightfully unexpected, have extremely pleasing rhythms (try saying some of them aloud), and also contain undeniable truths about the world around us. You’ll find yourself nodding in agreement as you read this piece: “Yes, yes… Ducks truly are the champagne of chickens.”
Chefs and Owners Share Their Most Unhinged Yelp Reviews by Andrea Strong (Plus Chefs, Restaurant Owners, and an Assortment of Yelpers) (Eater) A jaw-dropping collection of some truly outrageous reviews, expertly selected, curated, and assembled by Andrea. You can’t make this stuff up, folks!
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An Old Favorite
The Hottest Restaurant in France Is an All-You-Can-Eat Buffet by Lauren Collins (The New Yorker) Not a traditional short humor piece by any means, but we think you’ll agree that there’s something inherently funny about all-you-can-eat buffets. This article is stuffed full of great details and wonderful comic descriptions of massive piles of food. “Guillaume showed me a picture of the crystal-curtained lobster tower—seven layers of vermillion crustaceans, topped by an upright specimen thrusting its claws to the sky, as though it had just slayed a halftime show, amid a cloud of mist.”
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 THREE spots left in his intro to short humor class starting on October 11th! And he’s got THREE spots left in his advanced short humor workshop taking place on Wednesday afternoons in October! He’s only got a few more classes coming up in 2025, so snag a spot before there aren’t any left!
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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