For September 2-8, 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. Some exciting news: Luke and James are going to be hosting the book launch party for Ginny Hogan and Carlos Greaves’ Obey in Advance: How to Survive (And Thrive) Under Authoritarianism, published by McSweeney’s and out now!

The party is happening on September 20th at 2:30PM ET, at Caveat NYC (21A Clinton St. New York, NY). Ginny and Carlos will read, and there will also be a Q&A with Luke and James and a killer lineup of humor writers and stand-ups. You can get tickets here!

What We Enjoyed This Week

Selected Calendar Times for Someone Self-Employed Who Works from Home by John Moe (McSweeney’s) The “selected calendar times” form is a really clever one, allowing John to jump around to the funniest moments and find the cleanest way to heighten. You could imagine this being written in “daily itinerary” form, progressing linearly from morning to night, but then John wouldn’t be able to, for example, jump from 7PM to 10:30AM and then all the way to 2AM.

FAQs About the Round Table's New Hot-Desking Policy by Heather Talty (Points in Case) A very funny mashup with some wonderful juxtapositions and great Arthurian legend details:

If a false knight were to sit in the Siege Perilous, he would of course be immediately swallowed by the earth, burned to a crisp, or awkwardly side-eyed to death.

How do I recognize the Siege Perilous?
It looks like all the other seats.

US Open Ticket Options for Ordinary Folks by JiJi Lee (McSweeney’s) This is one of those pieces where you immediately have a sense that the author really knows their subject. It feels like JiJi is drawing on some very specific knowledge of, and frustration with, the US Open—but crucially, it’s never too esoteric or reference-y for the uninitiated among us (Luke and James included) to appreciate. (JiJi, let us know if we were on the mark!)

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An Old Favorite

Hardy Boys Novel or Death Metal Album? by David Epstein (McSweeney’s) Are the Hardy Boys more metal than we give them credit for? That’s the bold question posed by this short and sweet list piece. We certainly don’t want to give anything away, but, like the best “this or that” list pieces, this quiz proves to be surprisingly difficult. Also please write in and let us know if you’re a fan of any of these albums or have read any of these Hardy Boys books.

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

James is going to be on an episode of Abolish Everything, created and hosted by Friend of the Newsletter Chandler Dean, later this month! There are a handful of tickets left for the NYC taping, also at Caveat on Friday, September 25, at 10 PM!

And once again, we hope we’ll see you at the book launch party for Obey in Advance: How to Survive (And Thrive) Under Authoritarianism on September 20th, 2026, at 2:30PM ET, at Caveat NYC (21A Clinton St. New York, NY).