Overthinking Comedy, Library Hold Roulette, and Gift Recs

November links roundup

Photo by Lucas George Wendt on Unsplash

Welcome to Humor Me’s monthly links roundup where I share funny stuff and writing links of interest.

I recently got an influx of new subscribers thanks to the lovely shout-out in this roundup of the creative writing Substacks by Sarah Fay at

Writers at Work

. If you are a recent new subscriber, welcome! (And if you are an existing subscriber, welcome back!)

If you don’t already know about Writer’s at Work, it’s a great resource for building and improving your Substack. The workshop on SEO helped me figure out how to fix an SEO problem that had previously been making me pull my hair out. So if you like learning things and holding onto your hair, I would check it out.

This month I’ve got your usual humor and writing recs and a few bonus gift recs because, well, it’s that time of year.

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Funny stuff and other distractions

newyorkercartoons

A post shared by @newyorkercartoons

• The above chart from cartoonist Roz Chast seems accurate to me. This November felt very short and January and February are definitely the longest months.

• SNL clip: In what seems to be becoming a regular feature of this newsletter, I will now recommend to you an SNL clip: Washington’s Dream. This also led me to watch Nate Bargatze’s standup special on Netflix “The Tennesee Kid,” which I also recommend, particularly for the anxiety Starbucks ordering bit.

• Short humor: This McSweeney’s piece had me at the headline.

• Books: I have recently been playing library audiobook hold roulette with mixed results but some books I’ve enjoyed include David Sedaris’s Happy Go Lucky (which made me laugh but also deals with his father’s death and his complicated relationship with him) and Susan Cain’s Bittersweet (which I’m not quite done with, but I’ve found to be an interesting exploration of the allure of melancholic things. So not exactly funny although I suspect many comedic people will relate to the attraction to melancholy at times).

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Writing-related links

• You’ve got a couple of days left to get your McSweeney’s column contest entry in.

• This

  The Sub Club Newsletter
  interview with the Points in Case editors Court Sullivan and James Folta had some great info on the pub and submitting and writing humor in it.

• I attended one of the helpful Editor on Call talks Estelle Erasmus runs recently and the Shondaland editor she talked to mentioned the site is open to humorous essays. Estelle’s podcast and book also offer helpful tips for freelancing—you can learn more on her Substack.

• This Jane Friedman business clinic about gaining traction on Substack with Field Research Substack writer

  Amran Gowani
  is worth your time. I also appreciated Amran’s recent post about his path to writing a novel and finding an agent.

• I related to this post by

  Steinbergdrawscartoons
  . After I had my first New Yorker Shouts acceptance I thought I had cracked the code, but then it took several more submissions before they took a second piece.

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Gifts Recommendations

It’s that time of year!

Thing I kind of want:

Image: Amazon

I saw a gooseneck electric kettle like this in a hotel I stayed at a few years ago and wanted it but haven’t felt justified in getting it because I already have another (less aesthetically pleasing) electric kettle in my life.

Thing that would make a good gift for the writer in your life (or yourself).

Image: Amazon

I wanted a typewriter keyboard like this for a while before receiving it for my birthday last year. I like using it and as a bonus, it has helped me to (mostly) get off the couch while working and sit at an actual desk.

Toy my kids have played with a lot

This is your living room on Mag Formers

My kids are 9 and 12 and I think a set of Magformers first came into our life when they were in preschool. We have since added to our collection of them and both my kids will still build with them at times so they are a good gift option for the kid in your life. They are not cheap but Costco sometimes has them and they come in a variety of different set sizes

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News from me

• I contributed to a couple of recent Zibby Magazine author roundups including this one, where you can see one of my 80s Halloween costume.

• I was excited to see my book in this

  Nebula Notebook
  gift guide.

• I’ve got some great humor writers lined up to share prompts for the two-week humor writing challenge I’m running in January. Find out more here:

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