January 2022 Newsletter | Julie Vick

Hello,

At the end of last month, a supremely unfunny thing happened in Louisville, Colorado, the town where I live. A fire (which some have referred to as a wildfire, but I think has been more accurately described as an urban firestorm) destroyed more than 1,000 homes in the span of a day.

Luckily our home was okay, but in watching the devastation and aftermath of what happened in our (not big) town, my husband and I have talked a lot about reviewing our insurance coverage, getting a fireproof safe, and having a better plan for what you grab in a disaster (because in the moment of sudden evacuation my mind was just kind of blank and thinking maybe get some photos?).
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Given this and the never-ending pandemic, I've also been thinking a lot about humor in hard times. On this topic, I've frequently heard comedy writers mention The Onion's coverage of 9/11. I remember reading the issue and appreciating how they handled it at the time, and I've definitely been looking for more things to make me laugh lately. On that note, this month I've got a roundup of some distractions as well as a Q&A with funny writer Blayr Austin about jokes and Twitter.

Books, Humor, and Other Distractions:

• TV: Did you get Apple TV to watch Ted Lasso and now don't know what to watch next? Perhaps try Schmigadoon! a non-stressful watch about a couple that stumbles into a town that is actually a musical.
• Wordle: Yes, I know some people are resisting this online word game, but I think it is an excellent distraction right now. There is only one a day so it can't suck up too much of your time and there is something nice about a shared cultural experience.
• Short humor: As someone has spent way too much time with the New York Times Covid charts, I appreciated this take on them.
• Short video: Kid exhausted from shoveling snow. Need I say any more?

Q&A With Blayr Austin

Blayr Doesn’t Like Winter @BlayrAustin Not to brag but this year I • increased my anxiety by 200% • decreased my productivity by 340% • increased my screen time by infinity December 28th 2021 28,411 Retweets 158,272 Likes

This month, I asked humor writer and teacher Blayr Austin to talk with me. Blayr is a prolific joke writer who I met on the internet (possibly even on Twitter?). Her Twitter feed and the Schitt's Creek reaction gifs we frequently exchange on the bird app often brighten my day. She recently had not one, but two Tweets go viral, so we chatted about about writing jokes, and Twitter.

Can you give us any insights into your Twitter joke writing process? Do you tend to draft ahead of time or just write more on the fly?

You might say my tweeting style is experimental and impulsive. Sometimes I draft tweets ahead of time but I mainly write them on the fly! I try to test out different ideas throughout the day and see if anything resonates. I attempt to write about what I think people are thinking but are not necessarily vocalizing.

Blayr Doesn’t Like Winter @BlayrAustin FACEBOOK: Let me tell you how perfect NYE was. INSTAGRAM: Let me show you how perfect NYE was. TWITTER: This is already the worst year of my life. January 1st 2022 15,006 Retweets 188,489 Likes

I find it hard to predict what jokes will do well on Twitter. Do you have a sense of what might do well when you write tweets?

It’s hard to predict which will work although sometimes before I send it, I have a good feeling. Other times, I know it's a bad tweet but I can't help but post it! I find using comedy techniques like the rule of three, exaggeration, and conveying clear subtext definitely help. In the tweet above, I put the funniest part last and tried to communicate that social media platform members act differently based on what is expected of them. There are also certain topics that tend to do better like stuff about social media, follower counts, and how hard it is to be productive.

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​What is it like to have a Tweet go viral? Immediate fame and fortune? Does Twitter send you some sort of gold bird trophy?

The best part about going viral is the new followers that come with it. They seem to be engaged and great to interact with. People are far more interested in my viral tweets than anything else I’ve written or done in my life.

Do you have any Twitter tips for other writers?

My best Twitter tip is not to be afraid to put yourself out there. I used to be hesitant to write weirder jokes or things I didn’t know would be well-received. But that material ultimately led to better tweets or ideas for other content. You can always hit the delete button which I do very often.

I would also say don’t be afraid to reach out to other fellow tweeters by commenting on their tweets and reacting to them. I’ve met some amazing people on Twitter that I’ve been communicating with for years. And we retweet each other’s stuff which is a great benefit.

Lastly, you have to be kind of annoying to be effective. A strong comedic voice tends to make a better impression but also makes some people dislike you. This has been a difficult lesson for me.

What is something you can recommend to readers that makes you laugh?

If you don’t mind shock humor, Sally4Ever (now canceled) on HBO is hilarious. It’s a British show about a woman who is unhappily engaged who falls in love with another woman. The humor is not subtle and is quite dark.
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Writing-Related Roundup/News From Me:

• I appreciated author friend Jenny True's thoughts on being a debut author in this post. Check out her blog and her book!
• Need even more humor? Check out the newsletter of humorous writing for funny pieces and tips on why they are working well.
• This month I've also been watching the The Beatles: Get Back documentary on Disney Plus and it is an interesting view into the creative process and artist collaboration. It's a lot of unedited footage of them just making up super famous songs, and getting a window into their process and who they were at the time is interesting.
• Speaking of collaboration, Sally Miller and I co-wrote a piece that went up at McSweeney's this month -- Collective Nouns for Parenting. We worked on this piece for a while--I think we first started trying to make a co-written piece work sometime last spring and at some point this fall I thought, I bet I kind of drive people I co-write with bananas by nitpicking everything. (Sorry any co-writers I've written with who are reading this!). In any event, I think it turned out well and I keep waiting for that last line to be less relevant (not yet!).

That's it for this month -- see you in February (fingers crossed that the groundhog does not see their shadow).