A Newsletter of Humorous Writing #416
A Newsletter of Humorous Writing
For October 22-28, 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. Hey guys, James here. Please don’t tell Luke, but for the fourth year in a row I’ve eaten all the Halloween candy that we’re supposed to hand out at Humorous Readings Headquarters (HRHQ). I’m not sure he’s going to buy “it all melted and was sipped up by hummingbirds” again, so if he asks, just back me up and say that you don’t know what happened to the candy or why my face is smeared in chocolate. Thanks!
What We Enjoyed This Week
Healthy! This Woman Just Chose Chips Over Gummy Worms Because They Seem More of the Earth by McKayley Gourley (Reductress) This piece, written by one of our favorite writers, is filled with great lines but we want to zoom in on a very small detail: the closing phrase in the title, “They Seem More of the Earth” is excellent. It’s so specifically weird and stilted in a way that immediately conjures a character.
New Rules For The Moat by Luís Leal Miranda (Slackjaw) Very impressive breadth of exploration here. Luís hits moats from a lot of angles, which is a good reminder to really take the time to think through all the implications of your premise. It pays off!
Our Wedding Gifts: Ten Years Later by Kristen Mulrooney (McSweeney’s) Such a simple, clear pattern to this piece. Kristen has so much fun exploring and sticks the landing with a perfect final beat that caps off a bunch of threads in one go. We also love a zoodles reference.
-- AD --
Django Gold (Colbert, the Onion) is bringing a BRAND-NEW hour (plus or minus five minutes) of stand-up comedy to the Gutter on Friday, November 7 as part of the New York Comedy Festival!
Come get silly, Django style - grab your tickets today!
Devised Comedy @ Adler from Matt Gehring
After fifteen years in comedy and five years shaping talent with Ars Nova CAMP, I’m launching the Devised Comedy Winter Immersion at Stella Adler Studio (open to all). The program takes comedy seriously, offering six original courses: Devised Comedy, Writing for Sketch, Acting for Sketch, Body & Comedy, Improvisation for Stage, and Improvisation for Film/TV/Audio—taught by DC Pierson, Chet Siegel, Moujan Zolfaghari, Mahayla Laurence, and me. It’s a chance for actors to sharpen their comedic craft or comedians to deepen their acting. The goal: treat comedy with the same artistic rigor as drama.
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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 #56, an edition Brian pumpkin spiced.
Everything I've Done That Made A Rich Old Lady With Opera Glasses Faint Or A Monocle Fall Out Of A Rich Guy's Eye by Alex Watt (New Yorker) This piece was so funny, it made me want to eat a horse's ass! (Ed note: This is only funny if you've read the piece beforehand. Now, it's just weird.)
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 still got a few spots left in two short humor workshops starting in exactly one week: A Thursday afternoon class and a Thursday night class. Writing from past workshops has gone on to be published by The New Yorker (print and online), McSweeney’s, and more!
Oh and—James again—Luke found out about the candy so I’m going to be in time-out until the next edition. Sorry I roped you all into this!
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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