For January 14-20, 2026

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. Earlier this week, there was a chance for North Americans to get a peek at the Northern Lights. If you were able to spot them, let us know: we paid for some night sky writing to promote the Newsletter, and want to ask for a refund if any of it got upstaged by the aurora.

And a reminder: If you have any feedback on the Newsletter, we’re all ears! Just reply to this email with any thoughts, suggestions, ideas, etc.! We’d love to hear from you.

What We Enjoyed This Week

I Am the Person Who Controls Your Appliances by Broti Gupta (The New Yorker) Always exciting to see a writer you like publishing again, and we were especially excited to see Broti’s byline. This is a classic short humor premise: a weird guy you didn’t know existed tells you their deal. Broti locks into a fun, laid back voice for this character, and the piece is full of great specifics.

These Deep-Sea Creatures Liked You on Hinge by Emily Stearney (McSweeney’s) Emily does some excellent juxtaposing here, giving the familiar format of Hinge profiles a new wacky spin. Sea critter things alongside dating specifics makes for some great runs like, “Giant squid: Fifteen feet long, Catholic, figuring out my dating goals”. We especially like the small detail in the title that these are the creatures that liked you—the added layer that all of these swimmers want to date the reader is very fun.

Everything You Learn About Landmen by Watching ‘Landman’ by Elizabeth Nelson (The Ringer) As people who are very out of the loop on the work of “juggernaut red-state laureate Taylor Sheridan”, this piece is service journalism for us. It’s also a great collection of musing and explanations to help you get your arms around whatever the hell is going on in one of the biggest shows in America. Elizabeth’s attempt to catalogue the knowledge to be gleaned from the show is a very fun ride. (And thanks to John Vail for tipping us off about this one!)

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Greetings funny guys 'n gals! The SCENIC WRITER'S SHACK annual Humorous Short Story Competition is on again. Cash prizes up for grabs and all details can be found on the SWS homepage HERE.

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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 #94.

But What About by River Clegg and Evan Waite (The New Yorker) Friends of the Show and Newsletter, River Clegg and Evan Waite, have another winner on their hands. If you're a writer looking for some good examples of voice (or if you're a reader who's into that kind of thing) go and check out their back catalog--easily accessible by clicking their names on the top of the piece. River and Evan do a fantastic job of imbuing their narrators with a specific perspective. It's often the "high-status idiot," but it's so much more than a trope; it offers a very clear view on their world, which makes the piece feel grounded, even in its absurdity.

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

A new year reminder: James makes some book world Venn diagram jokes on Lit Hub every Friday, if you’re looking for some funny news bits to usher in the weekend.

Luke’s got just TWO spots left in his Wednesday night advanced short humor workshop starting February 18th, and also just TWO spots left in his Tuesday afternoon workshop starting February 17th! And you can out his full lineup of courses here.