A Newsletter of Humorous Writing #461
A Newsletter of Humorous Writing
For September 9-15, 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. One last reminder: THIS WEEKEND, on Sunday, September 20th at 2:30PM, Luke and James are 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 at Caveat NYC (21A Clinton St. New York, NY), and will include a Q&A conducted by Luke and James as well as performances from Ginny and Carlos and a bunch of other great humor writers and stand-ups. You can get tickets here!
What We Enjoyed This Week
My Ideal Building Contractor by Maria Choong (McSweeney’s) It can be tough to get humor out of things NOT going wrong, but Maria avoids that potential pitfall by giving the reader just enough information to let them figure out what the bad version of each contractor situation would be without making it TOO obvious. It’s very satisfying, and funny, to connect the dots in that way.
How You Can Write Two Novels in One Weekend, Probably by Justin Courter (Points in Case) As the title primes us to expect, the tonal shifts in this piece, from extreme confidence to shoulder-shrugging uncertainty, are very funny. It’s quite impressive how Justin manages to work different hedges into so many of his sentences: “Pack the kids and the spouse off to grandma’s house or something. Like on Friday afternoon, maybe. That way, I guess you could get a head start, Friday evening, on that first novel.”
Faculty Search Committee Feedback on Applications from Founding Figures of the Fields for Tenure-Track Positions by Juliet Zhou (McSweeney’s) A fun and clever exploration of the disparity between academia in its most idealized form and academia’s actual day-to-day realities. This piece will also make you think (in a funny way) about how different fields of study evolve and develop their own particular conventions and requirements over the years.
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Head on over to Flag Division to buy the most efficient band shirt on the market!
Twice the bands in half the number of shirts! The deal of the century!
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, September 23 at Greats of Craft in LIC at 7 p.m. and features:
Kendra Singh (Reductress, Asian AF)
Eddie Small (The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal)
Allison Kelley (The Washington Post, Slate, author of Jokes to Offend Men)
Ben X. Kim (The Onion, Asian Comedy Fest)
Gabe Mollica (Solo, Einstein)Tickets available online and at the door.
Heidi Lux is teaching Screenplay Structure Made Simple (and Fun!) on Saturday, October 3rd through Writing Workshops! The class breaks down structure in a way that’s process focused, going over the purpose of each beat and how it relates to character arc, so that when you sit down to beat out your screenplay (or other three-act story - novels count, too!), you can think with it. Structure is a tool, not a rigid formula! You can find out more info here.
Develop Your Comedic Voice at Stella Adler Studio
Led by Comedy Division Director Matt Gehring, upcoming programs:
The Comedy Workshop: An 8-week program on Sundays starting October 18. Focus on solo performance, stand-up, or custom writing projects through weekly feedback, bespoke assignments, and flexible development. Space is limited.
Devised Comedy Winter Immersion: January 4–15, 2027 (30 hrs/week, NYC). A 2-week intensive blending improv, sketch, physical comedy, and solo work for stage and camera.
Please pass this along to anyone in your network looking to enhance their writing/performing chops. Email [email protected] with questions!
(Do you have an ad you'd like to place in the Newsletter? Fill out this form!)
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 #96.
Please Consider My Application To Give You Labor So I Can Stay Alive by Chandler Dean (McSweeney's) For us, this piece works because it does a fantastic job of doing what satire is supposed to do at its purest level--offer a new perspective and critique on something we're all familiar with. In this case, it's jobs and capitalism writ large, so put on your Che Guevara T-shirt and buckle in.
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
Friend of the Newsletter Lucas Adams wrote a great piece on Coyote vs. Acme for the New York Review of Books. If you’re looking for some thoughtful analysis of the film, you’ll definitely want to read this.
Luke just announced his lineup of short humor workshops for October. Check it out here!
And if you simply can’t get enough of Luke helping to lead literary discussions, you won’t want to miss him moderating the panel “From Moebius to Marvel: How French Comics Helped Shape American Fantasy”. Free (RSVP required) at Villa Albertine on Saturday, September 26th at 11:30AM.
Okay one ACTUAL last reminder for real: We hope to see you at the Obey in Advance book launch party this Sunday!
