Who is publishing funny writing?
May 30, 2010 6:30 PM Subscribe
Where should I go to read laugh-out-loud humour writing? People talk about the golden days of Mad Magazine and National Lampoon... where can I find funny writing nowadays? It can be online, a blogger or tweeter you find funny, or it can be in print. Bonus points for a collection of writers grouped with a similar aesthetic (like Mad Magazine), but I'm open to anything that's making you laugh. I'm loving Shit My Dad Says, Overheard in New York, The Bugle. Thanks.
Joshua Allen's Twitter feed: @fireland
I don't know who he is or even how I heard of him, but he always makes me laugh.
Sorry for the lack of a link -- posting with my phone.
posted by MustardTent at 6:35 PM on May 30, 2010 [3 favorites]
I don't know who he is or even how I heard of him, but he always makes me laugh.
Sorry for the lack of a link -- posting with my phone.
posted by MustardTent at 6:35 PM on May 30, 2010 [3 favorites]
Best answer: I find The New Yorker's Shouts and Murmurs pieces range from chuckleworthy to hilarious.
posted by Bromius at 6:35 PM on May 30, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Bromius at 6:35 PM on May 30, 2010 [1 favorite]
The Bloggess makes me laugh out loud without fail.
posted by kate blank at 6:39 PM on May 30, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by kate blank at 6:39 PM on May 30, 2010 [2 favorites]
Seconding Shouts and Murmurs, in particular anything by Jack Handey.
posted by dephlogisticated at 6:42 PM on May 30, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by dephlogisticated at 6:42 PM on May 30, 2010 [1 favorite]
If you like Shit My Dad Says and you also like Star Wars, you've got to try @shitmydarthsays.
posted by pineapple at 6:44 PM on May 30, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by pineapple at 6:44 PM on May 30, 2010 [1 favorite]
First time I have laughed out loud on the web (not that I don't find things funny, but this was really funny) in a while was reading this from Hyperbole and a Half
which I now follow religiously.
posted by cogpsychprof at 6:53 PM on May 30, 2010 [5 favorites]
which I now follow religiously.
posted by cogpsychprof at 6:53 PM on May 30, 2010 [5 favorites]
It's not print, but I'm going to suggest it anyway. I love the Friday Night Comedy Podcast from BBC Radio 4. I subscribe through iTunes. It usually alternates between The News Quiz and The Now Show. Both are topical to current events, mostly British, but they address larger world news stories as well. These podcasts, along with The Bugle, make for some excellent listening. I have found that I do not need to be intimately familiar with British politics to enjoy them. Always a plus.
posted by That's Numberwang! at 6:54 PM on May 30, 2010 [3 favorites]
posted by That's Numberwang! at 6:54 PM on May 30, 2010 [3 favorites]
Best answer: The 15-years-ago me used to laugh out loud reading Viz magazine, especially the Top Tips section.
Viz is a UK adult comic strip that styles itself on similar kids comic books like Beano.
Examples of Viz Top Tips here: http://www.fishtank.org.uk/humour/humour.php3?articleid=61
posted by uncanny hengeman at 7:05 PM on May 30, 2010
Viz is a UK adult comic strip that styles itself on similar kids comic books like Beano.
Examples of Viz Top Tips here: http://www.fishtank.org.uk/humour/humour.php3?articleid=61
posted by uncanny hengeman at 7:05 PM on May 30, 2010
seconding Hyperbole and a Half.
i also like twurts, from MetaFilter's own Greg Nog.
posted by gursky at 7:07 PM on May 30, 2010
i also like twurts, from MetaFilter's own Greg Nog.
posted by gursky at 7:07 PM on May 30, 2010
Surely someone has already mentioned David Sedaris? No? Well, I will. David Sedaris: read his books, or better yet check the audiobooks out from your local library. To get you started, here's his reading of The Santaland Diaries, and a famous Sedaris segment from This American Life: Jesus Shaves.
And I'll second Jack Handey. His old Deep Thoughts from mid-'90s SNL are collected all over the Internet and they are fun reading. Here's one list.
posted by cirripede at 8:33 PM on May 30, 2010 [1 favorite]
And I'll second Jack Handey. His old Deep Thoughts from mid-'90s SNL are collected all over the Internet and they are fun reading. Here's one list.
posted by cirripede at 8:33 PM on May 30, 2010 [1 favorite]
As long as we're posting twitterers, @badbanana makes me laugh from time to time.
posted by BaxterG4 at 8:35 PM on May 30, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by BaxterG4 at 8:35 PM on May 30, 2010 [1 favorite]
I came here to say David Sedaris. I have never laughed out loud so uncontrollably as when reading his books.
posted by desuetude at 8:40 PM on May 30, 2010 [3 favorites]
posted by desuetude at 8:40 PM on May 30, 2010 [3 favorites]
seconding David Sedaris. He also had audio books.
posted by nuclear_soup at 8:46 PM on May 30, 2010
posted by nuclear_soup at 8:46 PM on May 30, 2010
yes, david sedaris. p.g. wodehouse never fails to make me laugh out loud.
posted by elle.jeezy at 8:55 PM on May 30, 2010
posted by elle.jeezy at 8:55 PM on May 30, 2010
If you're a nerd and can appreciate a juvenile sense of humour (I am and I do) http://bash.org/?latest is often LOL-funny.
posted by m1ndsurfer at 9:14 PM on May 30, 2010
posted by m1ndsurfer at 9:14 PM on May 30, 2010
It's been abandoned for a long time, but I quite liked Things My boyfriend Says and FMyLife is usually good.
posted by K.P. at 9:17 PM on May 30, 2010
posted by K.P. at 9:17 PM on May 30, 2010
Seconding The Onion. It makes me laugh fairly often.
Report: Majority Of Government Doesn't Trust Citizens Either
Black Guy Asks Nation for Change
Man Who Enjoys Thing Informed He Is Wrong
posted by wondermouse at 10:33 PM on May 30, 2010
Report: Majority Of Government Doesn't Trust Citizens Either
Black Guy Asks Nation for Change
Man Who Enjoys Thing Informed He Is Wrong
posted by wondermouse at 10:33 PM on May 30, 2010
John Hodgman never stops being funny to me. His audiobooks are also great, as they have a lot of funny songs and other schtick that's not in the books.
posted by roll truck roll at 11:26 PM on May 30, 2010
posted by roll truck roll at 11:26 PM on May 30, 2010
Chris Onstad, the writer of Achewood, is the comedic genius of our time. Don't be fooled by the fact that it's a webcomic about cats. The writing... it's hard to describe how perfect it is. Personally, it took me a little while to really get into Achewood - the trick, I think, is to read it slowly. Don't skim. Onstad does so much in each panel. The earlier strips are more simplistic, but it's gotten continuously better, in my opinion. Even the strips from this week are brilliant. His characters are deep, his art serviceable, his dialogue sublime.
posted by Rinku at 4:39 AM on May 31, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Rinku at 4:39 AM on May 31, 2010 [1 favorite]
Depending on how open-minded you are and how finely tuned your radar is to satire, I would suggest the book A Practical Guide to Racism. I died laughing the first time I read it.
posted by fso at 4:48 AM on May 31, 2010
posted by fso at 4:48 AM on May 31, 2010
Someone's already mentioned Viz, but they have a couple of twitter feeds:
@vizletterbocks and @viztoptips
posted by something_brighter at 6:34 AM on May 31, 2010
@vizletterbocks and @viztoptips
posted by something_brighter at 6:34 AM on May 31, 2010
Best answer: I love The Awl. They have everything from recipes to movie reviews.
There's also a pretty great dating blog based here in Philly that I think is pretty great: Shmitten Kitten
posted by Lizsterr at 8:32 AM on May 31, 2010
There's also a pretty great dating blog based here in Philly that I think is pretty great: Shmitten Kitten
posted by Lizsterr at 8:32 AM on May 31, 2010
Twitterers I read just for the laughs:
HotAmishChick
ActuallyNPH
sockington
TheBloggess
HalfPintIngalls
MrsSchlafly
hellobigfoot
Real_Hulk
matthewbaldwin
paulapoundstone
StephenAtHome
colsonwhitehead
posted by The corpse in the library at 9:02 AM on May 31, 2010 [1 favorite]
HotAmishChick
ActuallyNPH
sockington
TheBloggess
HalfPintIngalls
MrsSchlafly
hellobigfoot
Real_Hulk
matthewbaldwin
paulapoundstone
StephenAtHome
colsonwhitehead
posted by The corpse in the library at 9:02 AM on May 31, 2010 [1 favorite]
Oh, how could I forget?
BitterOldPunk
posted by The corpse in the library at 9:08 AM on May 31, 2010 [1 favorite]
BitterOldPunk
posted by The corpse in the library at 9:08 AM on May 31, 2010 [1 favorite]
I laugh out loud more while reading the college football blog Every Day Should Be Saturday than I do any any other site. It obviously helps to understand a little about the college football landscape at the moment to get all the jokes, but there are so many running gags, in-jokes, and flat-out surreal oddities on that site that most of it still rushes past me in a blur. Still, things like the regular Guide to Spicy Living have little to do with football, and I would venture to guess that most college football plans might not fully understand Noir Rich Brooks.
Warning: it takes a certain cracked sense of humor to appreciate (and not be offended by) much of EDSBS, but if you are in that small minority you will love it.
posted by arco at 2:47 PM on May 31, 2010
Warning: it takes a certain cracked sense of humor to appreciate (and not be offended by) much of EDSBS, but if you are in that small minority you will love it.
posted by arco at 2:47 PM on May 31, 2010
lileks.com: Home of the "Gallery of Regrettable Food".
David Sedaris
George Carlin: "Brain Droppings"
posted by mnb64 at 3:12 PM on May 31, 2010
David Sedaris
George Carlin: "Brain Droppings"
posted by mnb64 at 3:12 PM on May 31, 2010
The Oatmeal is unquestionably hilarious. I read The Motherfucking Pterodactyl the other day and nearly shat I was laughing so hard.
posted by fso at 5:24 AM on June 1, 2010
posted by fso at 5:24 AM on June 1, 2010
Response by poster: Thanks so much, everybody. The answers I marked as best were just some of the answers that particularly resonated with me; I thought it would be unhelpful to mark everything as best.
I'm loving all of these links you've put me onto, and I'm still looking for any other suggestions. Thanks!
posted by surenoproblem at 12:27 AM on June 2, 2010
I'm loving all of these links you've put me onto, and I'm still looking for any other suggestions. Thanks!
posted by surenoproblem at 12:27 AM on June 2, 2010
Obscure, yet hilarious. This guy explains New Zealand to the World. I laugh out loud at least once in every post. I'm moving there in a month so I found it particularly helpful.
posted by shimmerbug at 8:54 PM on June 3, 2010
posted by shimmerbug at 8:54 PM on June 3, 2010
« Older En danseuse jusqu'au sommet / Pedaler en grand... | literature of the Lower Manhattan melting pot Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by brozek at 6:31 PM on May 30, 2010 [5 favorites]