For May 27-June 2, 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. Like all right-minded New Yorkers, we were watching the Knicks last night, and while we were elated that they won, there’s one thing we have to say: Wow, all these guys are really tall! (Especially that one guy, wow!)

What We Enjoyed This Week

I’m Sorry, Sweetie, You Can’t Have a Cell Phone Because I Don’t Know How to Add You to Grandma’s Family Plan by Emily Bressler (McSweeney’s) This is a very funny way to explore a very particular modern problem. You have to imagine that people have actually had some real conversations along these lines (that’s what makes the premise, and the observation it’s based on, so compelling, after all), but Emily finds some very clever ways to heighten beyond reality.

The Only Opening Songs on an Album by Caleb Coy (McSweeney’s) An impressively thorough taxonomy. Caleb doesn’t mention any specific songs by name, but each type of song he lists is instantly recognizable. There’s a Rorschach test element to this piece that’s part of the fun: What’s the first song that comes to mind when you read, “Honestly, this is the only track worth listening to, but it’s the pre-digital age, and we just forced you to buy a whole album.”

‘Spy Hard’ Revisited: An Origin Story by Keith Phipps (The Reveal) This isn’t a short humor piece (though it does end on a really funny kicker) but anyone interested in the early days of The Onion and The AV Club will want to check this one out. It’s a wonderful evocation of what those publications were like, and what Madison, Wisconsin was like, in that era.

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Maeve Dunigan's 'Read This To Look Cool,' a humorous essay collection that Stylist magazine calls "a bible for overthinkers," is OUT NOW wherever books are sold! Both cringe-inducing and uproarious, 'Read This To Look Cool' is a deeply relatable meditation on the absurdity inherent in the constant performance of ourselves, offering a fresh perspective on self-love and the true meaning of cool. It’s a book that says “I see you” and also “Don’t look at me, though, my hair is doing something weird.”

Order here or from your local bookstore!

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Award-winning dark comedy movie Honeyjoon won $1 million (!) and is coming to theaters June 2026. The movie opens in NYC on June 10 at IFC, with Q&A June 10 & 11. A smart, sexy, laugh-out-loud emotional rollercoaster... by local writer-director Lilian T. Mehrel. Sign up here for more screenings, tickets, and updates. Hope to see you there!

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An Old Favorite

Trying to Understand the Eagles by Robert Christgau (Newsday) There’s some truly exceptional hating going on in this piece from June 1972:

“Another thing that interests me about the Eagles is that I hate them. ‘Hate’ is the kind of up-tight word that automatically excludes one from polite posthippie circles, a good reason to use it, but it is also meant to convey an anguish that is very intense, yet difficult to pinpoint. Do I hate music that has been giving me pleasure all weekend, made by four human beings I've never met? Yeah, I think so. Listening to the Eagles has left me feeling alienated from things I used to love.”

There’s a lot to like about this paragraph (and the whole article), but the shift from the extremely confident tone to “Yeah, I think so” is particularly funny, as are the rhythms of that first sentence. Hat tip to Noel Murray for putting this one on Luke’s radar.

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 a single-session short humor workshop coming up on June 18th! In it, we’ll do some fun exercises to explore different types of forms and narration in humor writing. He’s also got an advanced workshop that’s going to be running on Friday afternoons in July.

And if you came out to see James’s talk at Cree Myle’s book salon last night, thanks! It was a blast to talk The Dispossessed, unions, Gramsci, Ishi, relationships as federative, Tribe Called Quest, and more.

Finally, Luke’s wife Marina is writing a craft book about sketch comedy that’s going to be published by Bloomsbury in 2028! If you like this newsletter and our analysis of short humor, you will also definitely like this book. Sign up for updates here.