A Newsletter of Humorous Writing #57
A Newsletter of Humorous Writing
A Newsletter of Humorous Writing
For October 18-24, 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. You'll notice that this issue of the newsletter is coming out on a Friday, not a Thursday. Well, here's what happened: We were enamored with the crisp fall weather, and we decided to go apple picking. A few hours in, we realized we were lost in the orchard! We had plenty of apples to eat, but no way of telling you about the great humor from the past week. Quite the "Monkey's Paw" situation if there ever was one. Thankfully, we made it out no worse for the wear. Also, we got apple cider donuts! Feel free to stop by HQ for a taste.
What We Enjoyed This Week
What I Think My Friends Do Because I Was Too Nervous To Ask And Now It's Too Late by Karen Chee (New Yorker) Friend of the Show, Karen Chee, puts to paper that feeling we've all had. Karen is an exceptional...I want to say, writer? Who, writes? Maybe? Can you get paid for that? I dunno.
Casey "At The Bat" Responds To That Mean Poem About Him by Jeremiah Budin (McSweeney's) Great premise meets great writing. Also, this is the perfect piece to read as you watch the World Series! Peanuts, Cracker Jacks, and humor pieces. That's what baseball is all about.
The Things You Notice On Your First Run In A While by Declan Cross (Points in Case) Running is cool because it can help you get from one place to another. Like, say, from in the middle of an apple orchard, to outside of said orchard.
An Old Favorite
I Think I Should Get More Credit For Killing Hitler by Dru Johnston (The Occasional)
The Occasional (RIP) was Funny or Die's humor writing outlet. It was, in no uncertain terms, fantastic. The pieces were always top notch, the writing staff was full of all-stars, but most of all, the stuff that went up was always different. The Occasional never had a problem with a bizarre premise, so long as the writer was willing to put in the effort to make it work. And when it worked...it worked. This piece, by Dru Johnston, is the perfect example. Sure, it takes a diagram to figure out. But, it's worth it. Do yourself a favor, go get lost in The Occasional's archives (but don't get lost for too long, becasue then you won't be able to send out your humor newsletter!) We promise you'll have a great time.
Updates From Your Hosts and Friends of the Show
Nothing from us this week. Unless you want a bunch of apples! We have...so many apples.
Other Humorous Writing News
We tend to think of humor writing as something that can only exist on a "fancy" site. But the fact is, there's humor writing all around us! Even in the comments of your favorite websites. You just have to know where to look.
News About The Next Show
Mark those calendars! (Literally. This is a link to A Calendar of Humorous Readings!)
An Evening of Humorous Readings
November 1.
Doors at 7p. Show at 8p
Free!
(le) Poisson Rouge
Guests:
River Clegg (The Opposition with Jordan Klepper, The Onion, The New Yorker, Clickhole)
Bizzy Coy (McSweeney’s, The New Yorker)
Milly Tamarez (Creator of Flexx Mag, Co-creator and producer of the Diverse as Fuck Festival)
Jen Spyra (The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, The New Yorker, The Onion)
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!