Hello and welcome to my monthly recs post, which is only just barely making it out before February is over! (It’s maybe already over in certain parts of the world, but this newsletter is operating on Mountain Standard Time.)
This month’s wrap-up is a short one (brought to you by my hectic month), but keep reading for what has been making me laugh and some writing-related opportunities.
-JV
Youth sports humor: I have thought of this piece from Shelly Mazzanoble many times during this youth basketball season. Highly recommend for comic relief/feeling better about your kid’s team losing a game by a lot of points.
Jokes: I enjoyed this joke from a crowd-sourced collection of memes that always make people laugh, and also, this ChatGPT joke seems accurate.
Funny movie: The Anaconda reboot made me and my middle schoolers laugh, and I can report that I (a person who is scared of snakes) could handle watching it.
Olympics humor: I appreciated this luge-related SNL Olympics skit. Also, this Colin Jost experience seems to indicate Bobsled is just as scary. Don’t even get me started on Skeleton.
Funny poetry contest: Wergle Flomp is taking funny poetry submissions through April 1st. I am pondering entering, so I went down the rabbit hole a bit on reading some interviews with the judges and past winners, which seems like a good plan if you want to enter too.
Brevity blog wishlist: I’ve written humor and essays for the Brevity blog in the past and have had good experiences. This recent post about their wishlist for 2026 has some helpful hints in it if you are looking to submit there.
Virtual freelance conference: I’m planning to (virtually) attend the IIJ conference happening next week. I’ve been in the past and always get some useful tips from it.
Jezebel submissions: I also spotted this call for Jezebel freelancers on Threads that may be of interest.
That’s it for this month. In March, I’ll be at the Erma Bombeck conference, and will hopefully see some of you there!
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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I loved Shelly's piece! Thank you for these recommendations. I may not have any pitches for the Brevity blog, but I'd love to read the essays they're seeking. See you in a few weeks!
Yes, maybe I will see you in a few weeks. If you, or anyone else seeing this, wants to share something for feedback, I was thinking of discussing work sent to me in advance during my Erma workshop and to use as an example. Snowmanexpert@gmail.com