A Newsletter of Humorous Writing #86
A Newsletter of Humorous Writing
A Newsletter of Humorous Writing
For May 9-15, 2019, 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. Are you dealing with a rodent problem? Here's a little trick: When you see a mouse in your apartment, don't give it a high five! High-fiving mice only encourages them to return to your home by creating the perception that you are and the mouse are bros, and that the mouse is invited to crash at your place whenever they feel like it. That's the opposite of what you want to happen (you want the mouse to go away).
What We Enjoyed This Week
“Someday I’ll Be Dead, and Then How Will You Feel About It?”: A Mother/Daughter Custom-Engraved Bracelet by Leigh Hopkins and Marissa Korbel (McSweeney's) Mother's Day may be over, but this piece, with its great specifics and compelling, unique structure, is an evergreen read as far as we're concerned.
Introducing the Brand-New Historic District by Jeremiah Budin (The New Yorker) Here at the Newsletter, we also take an interest in architecture and urban design in addition to short humor, so this piece really spoke to us. It also pairs well with some of the great (and often very funny) articles that were recently written about Hudson Yards.
Your Shitty Boss or That Shitty Subway Line? by Melody Hughes (Robot Butt) List/quiz pieces may seem simple, but they're actually quite difficult to get right. Especially ones like this, where the Venn diagram of the two categories you have to choose between is (spoiler alert!) a perfect circle.
An Old Favorite
Conversations With Hockney by Jessica Francis Kane (McSweeney's)
This piece has a complicated premise, but the author sets it up clearly, simply, and quickly. And once the background work is out of the way, the piece can freely explore its concept. These imagined conversations between the painter David Hockney and the museum security guards whose portraits he's drawing are very funny, but the jokes never come at the expense of the guards. They are given a depth and humanity that the piece suggests may not have come through in the actual Hockney portraits, perhaps because the artist focused on the conceptual aspect of the project at the expense of capturing his subjects' character. (Which is something to be mindful of in humor writing as well.)
Updates From Your Hosts and Friends of the Show
Luke's sketch team, A Few Sandwich Lovers, has another performance of their romantic comedy sketch show coming up on May 30th at 9PM at the UCB Theater in Hell's Kitchen. The last show was sold out, so get your tickets soon! And on a similar note, spots in Luke's humor writing workshop are also going fast. If you like the newsletter, you'll enjoy the workshop.
This week in McSweeney's Brian took a look at ads targeted at millennials. Which reminds us, reply to this edition of the newsletter using the code #HaveMoreLife to get 15% off your next newsletter!
Other Humorous Writing News
Dan Reilly interviewed a bunch of TV writers and wrote this great Vulture piece, "The Secret Lingo of the Best TV Writers Rooms." There are tons of fun and useful phrases here, but it also got us wondering: Are there terms out there that people use for short humor that we haven't heard of? Do you have a fun term for a list of unused beats? Got a silly name for your stock of ideas or premises? Is there something you whisper to a beloved joke you have to cut? Let us know and we might include some in an upcoming newsletter!
News About The Next Show
Our next show is ONE WEEK AWAY: May 23rd at (le) Poisson Rouge. Doors at 7PM, show at 8! And the lineup can't be beat:
- Caroline Doyle (Reductress, Little Old Lady, The Pink Canoe, @cd0yl3)
- Dru Johnston (The Chris Gethard Show, The New Yorker, UCBT, The Onion News Network, Improvised Seinfeld, @drujohnston)
- Taylor Kay Phillips (McSweeney’s, Reductress, The Belladonna)
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.
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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!