December Laughs and Recs

Funny standup clips, a winter side dish, and a McSweeney's writing tips podcast episode

Hello and welcome to my monthly links email!

We’ve reached the end of 2025, and I have been spending the end of the year trying to take advantage of the downtime and make some plans for next year.

To that end, I’m going to run a low-key set-your-own writing goals challenge in January. We’ll set our own goals and then check in weekly to keep each other accountable. You can find more details and opt into it here.

In other news, I’ve recently been exploring the exciting world of orthopedic footwear due to some foot pain and have realized that my days of wearing certain kinds of shoes are probably over. But on the upside, it’s given me some good humor writing material.

In any event, keep reading for more of what I’ve been enjoying this month…

-JV

• Book: This month, I listened to Run for the Hills and was reminded how much I enjoy Kevin Wilson’s books for their endearing characters and humor. This one focuses on half-siblings on a road trip to find their father, who keeps leaving and creating new lives and families.

• Standup clips: My family has been listening to standup clips on a Sirius comedy station in the car, and this Flute Man one, and pizza tracker one made us laugh a lot.

• TV: This post from Beth Lisogorsky convinced me to try the Apple TV Pluribus, and I quickly got hooked. It explores some interesting ideas, and it’s a show my husband and I enjoy watching together, which is sometimes hard to find.

• Winter side dish: I made this Ina Garten Potato-Fennel gratin recipe on Christmas Eve and recommend it if you are looking for some winter comfort food. I’ll definitely make it again.

• Avoidance advent: This idea of creating an avoidance advent for tasks you have been putting off spoke to me, and I think it could be good to adapt to January tasks.

• McSweeney’s tips: This episode of the Editrix podcast, which features McSweeney’s editor Lucy Huber, has some helpful tips (secrets?) for writing for the site.

• 2026 Book coverage: I spotted this post from an Elle writer about 2026 books coverage. If you’ve got a book releasing in 2026, you might check it out.

• Behind-the-scenes book post: I also enjoyed Andromeda Romano-Lax’s post about her book almost making a bestseller list.

• Book and cookie recs: I was happy to contribute to this book and cookie rec post from A Wonderful Mess. There are lots of great recs in it!

• Funny book recs for my newsletter in 2026: I’m still figuring out my plans for 2026 funny book recs, but will likely mix things up a bit with different posts. If you have a book with humor in it releasing in 2026 that you want to get on my radar for the newsletter, you can fill out this form.

That’s it for this month — hope you have a happy New Year!

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Thanks for reading Humor Me, a newsletter featuring funny stuff and writing tips. In case you’re new here, I’m a humor writer and freelancer whose work has appeared in New Yorker Shouts, McSweeney’s, Real Simple, and more. Find out more about me at julievick.com.

Any typos in this newsletter are a result of the text being written by a human and not AI.

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