A Newsletter of Humorous Writing #440
A Newsletter of Humorous Writing
For April 15-21, 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. Thanks so much to everyone who came out to the hangout on Tuesday night! It was a blast. And if you couldn’t make it this time around, hope to see you at the next one!
What We Enjoyed This Week
Transcript from the Meeting Where They Invented the Mammogram Machine by Casey Rand (McSweeney’s) These characters’ tone is delightfully unhinged and their dialogue is zippy and well-paced. The run of potential names for the mammogram machine towards the end is also fantastic. A great piece in the vein of other greats like The Pitch Meeting for Wishbone, Human Teeth Development Meeting Notes, and The Mastermind Box Cover: What the Hell Were They Thinking?
How to Baby-Proof Your Home by Mary Heitkamp (McSweeney’s) We don’t want to give too much away, since part of the fun of this piece is the a-ha moment that you get when you realize what the title ACTUALLY means, but we do have to say that the images Mary creates involving swarms of babies trying to break their way into a house are terrific.
Report: Hearing ‘One Way or Another’ Still Best Indicator That You’re Involved in a PG-Rated Movie Chase Scene by Steve Packosky (The Hard Times) A gleeful but loving skewering of a certain type of “kids rule!!!” PG movie. The details in this piece are all really well-observed, and Steve does an impressive job rendering these cinematic tropes in (very funny) prose. This also has a great “here we go again” button.
-- ADS --
Hosted by Lana Schwartz (The New Yorker, The Onion, McSweeney's) Letters & Sodas brings together standup comedy, humor pieces, fiction, and essay readings in a way they never have been before (or at least not in recent memory). The next show is Wednesday, April 29 at Greats of Craft in LIC at 7 p.m. and features:
Rachel A.G. Gilman (Wine and Pine Reading Series, Hobart)
Brandon Follick (Reductress, The Onion, Late Stage with Ella Yurman)
Ariella Elovic (Author of Cheeky and the forthcoming Thirty)
Arti Gollapudi (Boys I've Kissed and Hated)
Maya Deshmukh (Girls5eva, The Other Two, High Maintenance)
Zach Zimmerman (The Late Late Show, author of Is It Hot in Here (Or Am I Suffering for All Eternity for the Sins I Committed on Earth))IT’S 1890 AND WE’VE GOT BEEF: NEW DUO COMEDY BRINGS BIG LAUGHS TO EAST VILLAGE
Introducing CORNED BEEF (AND OTHER ARGUMENTS), a duo comedy that’s best summed up as “The Odd Couple” meets Mel Brooks meets “Fiddler on the Roof.”
The 19th-century romp follows a Jewish immigrant and Irishman on their quest for the American Dream. But chaos erupts when they discover they have the same mission: To bring corned beef to the New World.
April 23-May 10 at Theater For the New City, 155 1st Ave.
Thursday-Saturday 8 PM, Sundays 3 PM.TIX $20 ($15 FOR SENIORS AND STUDENTS)
(Do you have an ad you'd like to place in the Newsletter? Fill out this form!)
An Old Favorite
Eight Excuses I Have Told My Son to Use for His Failure to Hand in English Homework, Excuses I Have Learned are Acceptable During a Thirty-Year Career in Journalism, Books, and Film by Nick Hornby (McSweeney’s) The juxtaposition at the core of this piece—grade school specifics rendered in the tone of a successful writer graciously passing on a gig—is tremendously funny: “As you can imagine, I am swamped here by many similar inquiries—everyone wants homework, it seems!” Teachers often say things like “When you have a job, you won’t be able to ask for an extension,” but this piece gets at the truth that in “the real world” things are often more flexible than kids are led to believe (particularly for people in certain professions).
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
Luke’s got just FOUR spots left in his intro to short humor writing workshop starting on May 7th! He’s also got an advanced class starting on May 7th in the afternoon and classes starting on May 6th in the afternoon AND evening. Writing from previous workshops has gone on to be published by The New Yorker, McSweeney’s and more!
And the Best Literary Film Adaptation Bracket that James worked on for Lit Hub wrapped up this week — was the winner “as you wish”ed?