A Newsletter of Humorous Writing #48
A Newsletter of Humorous Writing
A Newsletter of Humorous Writing
For August 16-22, 2018, a roundup of the week's finest prose humor and prose humor-related news.
Hello and welcome to A Newsletter of Humorous Writing, the email propaganda arm of the acclaimed humorous readings show, An Evening of Humorous Readings. Between Michael Cohen and Paul Manafort, there sure has been a lot of news this week about corruption, collusion, and shady characters. But you know what you'll never see in a federal courthouse being tried for tax fraud? A short humor piece. We're not saying all short humor pieces are perfect. Far from it! But largely speaking, they respect the Constitution and the rule of law. Just something to consider the next time you're deciding what kind of content you're looking to consume.
What We Enjoyed This Week
Please Let Me Join Your Heist by Karen Chee (New York Times) Friend of the newsletter, and all-around rock star, Karen Chee is pitch perfect in this piece. And that's to say nothing of the facts that heists are super fun (See: 11, Ocean's).
My Name is Gilligan, And I'd Like To Get Off This Island now by Kathleen Toohill (The New Yorker) This piece raises a lot of questions that we'd all like answered. Sure, Gilligan's Island provided us with fun and laughs--but at what cost?
How To Talk About Your Screenplay In Any Social Situation by Bizzy Coy and David Baker (McSweeney's) Replace "screenplay" with "newsletter" and you have an accurate transcript of our lives. Friend of the newsletter, Bizzy Coy and David Baker knock this one out of the park.
I'm the Protagonist of a British Rom-Com and My Dear, I've Been Lying to You by Graham Techler (Points in Case) It's one thing to simply parrot a genre, but it's another to accurately satirize it. This piece does a fantastic job of the latter. Also, it's a fun psychology experiment, in that it's impossible to read this piece in anything other than Hugh Grant's voice
An Old Favorite
My Mega Millions by Larry Doyle (The New Yorker)
Have you ever played the arcade game, Asteroids? You're a spaceship, and you have to shoot down asteroids (hence the name) coming at you from all directions. Everywhere you turn, Asteroids. Wham! Bam! There's one! There's another! All different directions. You can't predict them or stop them, they just keep coming.
That's what reading a Larry Doyle piece is like.
My Mega Millions is a perfect example. The jokes start fast, they pop up everywhere, and they don't stop until the end. And even though you never see the punchlines coming, the piece just makes sense. That's because Doyle does a great job maintaining a clarity of voice and character. And so, the piece feels smooth and cohesive--even logical, in a bizzaro way--while it's throwing jokes at you from all sides. Threading that needle is tough, but when a writer can do it, the results are always amazing.
*Also, check out the reference to a certain current president, and then check out when this was published.
Updates From Your Hosts and Friends of the Show
We were all too busy staying on the right side of the law, and making sure all of our paperwork is in order (we all need to register as agents of a foreign government--technically this newsletter is a product of the Estonian Ministry of Culture), so no news from us this week.
News About The Next Show
We're nailing down our next date as you read this very newsletter, so keep an eye on this space for updates!
See you next week!
@brianagler, @lukevburns, & @jamesfolta
Did we miss a piece you loved? Did you love a piece we mentioned? Let us know! This is an experiment and we're hoping to continue to make it better and better. If you have any thoughts, notes, wishes, or dreams for this newsletter, please email us or respond to this email and tell us what the score is.
See you next week!
@lukevburns & @jamesfolta
We started this newsletter with our dear friend Brian Agler, and we want it to always honor his memory and his love of all things humorous. You can find our newsletter tribute to Brian here.
This newsletter is free, but if you enjoy it and want to support the work we do putting it together, you can subscribe to our paid tier, or you can send us a tip here. Any amount is greatly appreciated, and 1/3rd of each donation will go to Stand Up To Cancer.
If you'd like to place an ad in the Newsletter, please fill out this form.
If you have any thoughts, notes, wishes, or dreams for this newsletter, please email us or respond to this email and tell us what the score is!