August Links Roundup

Featuring funny audio, submission opps, and a middle grade book for fall

Welcome to Humor Me’s August links roundup where I share links of interest.

This month has been a bit of a whirlwind with back-to-school for my kids and the start of my teaching semester. I also got a new Mac laptop after many years of being a PC user so I have finally transitioned over to the more “hip” side of things, at least according to the old Mac vs. PC ads.

The irony is that part of the reason I switched is because I want to be able to go in for tech support at an Apple store rather than having to call some random number, which strikes me as more of a thing the PC guy would do. So maybe there should be a new ad campaign that Mac people are just middle-aged people who want access to in-person support? Feel free to take this free idea, Apple!

While taking breaks from migrating to the new computer, I’ve found a lot to distract me this month…

• Short humor:

  • This Olympic-themed headline made me laugh.

  • I enjoyed this Social Media Apps at a Barbecue piece and could honestly not tell what format it was going to be from the title (which I think was a good thing).

• Audiobook: This month I listened to Leslie F*cking Jones on audio and it was less like an audiobook and more like her telling you a lot of unfiltered stories about her life. I think that the audio differs quite a bit from the print version (because she seems to allude to not really reading from her actual book and also goes on some tangents!). It is not a quick listen, but it’s funny and has a lot of interesting info about the work she put into building a comedy career. I am also a sucker for any behind-the-scenes info about working at SNL, which she 100% delivers on.

• TV: I watched a lot of Olympics and also the final season of The Umbrella Academy. I appreciated the humor in the new season — the show definitely gets pretty violent at times (which I do not love!) but the storylines and characters are interesting. I also am excited about the return of Only Murders in the Building, which is one of my perennial TV recs.

• Recipes: This Smitten Kitchen Mediterranean pepper salad and this NYT Slow cooker chicken taco recipe have been on rotation at my house recently. You might notice that they both involve a quick pickle. This reminds me that around this time of year, I also enjoy this pickled jalapeno recipe which is a good way to make use of garden jalapenos. So basically, I highly recommend you pickle something.

• Little Old Lady Comedy is back with a new site design and is accepting humor pieces.

• I appreciated this micro memoir exercise that

  Estelle Erasmus
  shared in her newsletter. Estelle’s book Writing That Gets Noticed also has good info on micro memoir (in addition to a lot of other great writing tips!) in it.

• Chill Subs created a Medium database of publications that is worth checking out (and yes you can search it for pubs accepting humor).

This month’s funny guest rec comes from

Sarah Allen

who writes the Substack Sarah’s Smorgasbord, which has lots of great content for writers.

Sarah has a new middle-grade book coming out next week called Monster Tree and here is the book’s description: “Stranger Things meets A Monster Calls in this spine-tingling, emotionally rich middle grade novel about a boy who must protect his neighborhood from a malevolent monster tree while dealing with the recent loss of his father.”

If the middle-grade reader in your life is looking for a new read, check it out.

Here is Sarah’s funny rec:

“So...I'm going to cheat a little bit and recommend two things, but both come under the head category of "Greg Davies."

Firstly, I discovered the joy that is Taskmaster last year and it officially takes top spot of things that have made me laugh harder than anything else. Taskmaster is a sort of British panel show/game show combo with a new batch of comedians each season, each assigned by the assistant, little Alex Horne, with completing a series of absolutely bizarre, ridiculous, and hilarious tasks for the Taskmaster, Greg Davies.

The footage is then analyzed and commented on in studio. What's so absolutely brilliant about this show is that you take hilarious, funny people (Think Richard Osman, Noel Fielding, Lee Mack, James Acaster, Jo Brand) and put them in situations where they are completely out of their comfort zone and watch utter chaos and hilarity ensue. I have genuinely had tears streaming down my face from laughing. And it's free on YouTube!

Secondly, for a more traditional narrative-type show, Greg Davies has his own sitcom that he stars in and writes, called The Cleaner. He plays Wicky, a crime scene cleaner, who inevitably finds himself dealing with some truly nutty and outrageous character as he attempts to do his job and clean up whatever crime scene he's been sent to.

Helena Bonham Carter is the guest in the first episode, and David Mitchell's in the second, to give you a sense of the caliber of this show. Seriously, it is absolutely wild, hilarious, and brilliantly written. It's on BritBox!”

Thanks, Sarah! You can find Sarah on Instagram, Substack, and her website.

julievickwriter

A post shared by @julievickwriter

• I wrote an Olympics-themed humor piece for Frazzled.

• I’ve also been spending a bit more time on Threads lately which has mostly been good. It feels very Twitter-like although maybe slightly less of a hot mess, at least for now. But I am also trying to not spend so much time on there that I am not getting a ton of writing done, which I guess is one of the eternal writer struggles!

---

Thanks for reading Humor Me, a newsletter featuring funny stuff and writing tips. In case you’re new here — I’m a humor writer whose work has appeared in New Yorker Shouts, McSweeney’s, Real Simple, and more. I’m the author of a humorous advice book for introverted parents that would make a great gift for the new or expecting parent in your life. Find out more about me at julievick.com.

*This newsletter contains affiliate links for which I will receive a small commission when you purchase through links at no additional cost to you.