A Newsletter of Humorous Writing #88
A Newsletter of Humorous Writing
A Newsletter of Humorous Writing
For May 23-29, 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. Sooooooo, what are everyone's summer plans? Here at Humorous Readings HQ (HRHQ), we're thinking of heading out to the Hamptons. Maybe renting a nice house. Sitting out by the beach. Screaming at all the well-heeled financiers to sign up for our newsletter because the only way for them to assuage the guilt of propping up a parasitic late-capitalist hellscape is by supporting struggling humor writers working for publications that exist in the vortex of ad-supported digital media which itself has been corrupted by tech companies' complete unwillingness to adopt even basic common sense limits on content and conduct for fear of alienating the very myopically-profit-focused investors who won't invite us to their mansions. Oh, also, we're gonna grill some hot dogs!
What We Enjoyed This Week
Why Superman Sucks by Sam Weiner (McSweeney's) Friend of the Show, Sam Weiner, has a classic here. There's enough premise to keep the piece going, but what takes this to the next level is the narrator. Bits and pieces of character information get dropped throughout--some of it is substance, some of it is style--and they all come together so that by the time you finish, you know exactly who is writing this piece, and how they think.
Original Dialogue Behind Famous Improvised Movie Lines by Maddie Weigelt (Weekly Humorist) This piece works particularly well because each section is different from the last. With a format like this, it's easy to get trapped making the same joke over and over again. Not here. Maddie has a lot of fun going to unexpected places, and it pays off.
How Music-Festival Posters Look to Me Now by Eddie Small & Jason Adam Katzenstein (The New Yorker) Friend of the Show Eddie Small (with a great assist from illustrator Jason Adam Katzenstein) give voice to something that we all know but never say out loud, for fear that the teens might mock us on their many, many apps.
The Results of our Public Opinion Poll are In by Ali Ruth (The New Yorker) They say that 75% of statistics are made up. They also say that 100% of people who use that stat give you a sly look afterward as if to say, "See? Seeeeeee?"
An Old Favorite
Everything I am Afraid Might Happen if I Ask a New Acquaintance to Get Coffee by Hallie Cantor (The New Yorker)
There's a lot to love about this piece, but what stands out to us is the pacing. For a written piece--especially one that isn't necessarily meant to be read out loud--pacing can be a tough thing to put your finger on. But the rhythm of the piece, how one joke follows the other, is vital. Do you want to give the reader a break, so you can do another build? Do you want to rapid fire jokes to overwhelm them? Do you want to mix things up--big paragraphs followed by a sniper's bullet of a joke? (This happens about 3/4 of the way through Hallie's piece... you'll know it when you see it.) When the pacing isn't right, even the best jokes can fall flat. But, when the pacing is on, a piece can absolutely sing.
Updates From Your Hosts and Friends of the Show
The romantic comedy sketch show Luke co-wrote is TONIGHT (5/30/19) at 9PM at the UCB Theater in Hell's Kitchen and tickets are still available! It's an absurdist take on all your favorite romcom tropes, plus it has a song. And tomorrow night (5/31/19), you can catch a sketch show Luke directed at the PIT at 7PM. It's a show from the indie team Bridge & Tunnel, and as is their custom it is a very funny very weird show.
Other Humorous Writing News
Funny on Paper is an LA-based humor reading series hosted by Liz Galvao. She recently put out a call looking for readers who want to perform. Sign up here! And if you wind up going to the show or being a guest on the show, drop us a line and let us know how they do short humor readings on the West coast!
News About The Next Show
We've got some exciting news coming in hot... details to share soon.
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!