Human Humor

Quality humor has become rare, increasingly rare. Of course, we have cat-and-dog movies that make up for that loss — and I’m not being ironic when I say that. However, here and there you still find samples and humor produced by humans.

The discovery of the McSweeneys website was a real revelation. Naturally, I post the link in the comments (I don’t know exactly why I do this, but I see others with hundreds of likes doing it, so there must be some secret to success there).

I recommend starting with “Advice from Your Conservative Neighbor on How You, a Liberal, Can Hang an American Flag Without Looking Like a Trumper”, “The Em Dash Responds to the AI Allegations”, and “Don’t Be Ridiculous, “Alligator Alcatraz” Is Not Another Example of History Repeating Itself”. Plus: “Who said that, Donald Trump or Regina George?”

I admit, the selection is pretty anti-Trump. But you can find there a lot of other muses.

Short teaser from The Em Dash Responds to the AI Allegations by Greg Mania:

Writers have been using me long before the advent of AI. I am the punctuation equivalent of a cardigan—beloved by MFA grads, used by editors when it’s actually cold, and worn year-round by screenwriters. I am not new here. I am not novel. I’m the cigarette you keep saying you’ll quit.

You think I showed up with ChatGPT? Mary Shelley used me… gratuitously. Dickinson? Obsessed. David Foster Wallace built a temple of footnotes in my name. I am not some sleek, futuristic glyph. I am the battered, coffee-stained backbone of writerly panic—the gasping pause where a thought should have ended but simply could not.

Let’s be honest: The real issue isn’t me—it’s you. You simply don’t read enough. If you did, you’d know I’ve been here for centuries. I’m in Austen. I’m in Baldwin. I’ve appeared in Pulitzer-winning prose, viral op-eds, and the final paragraphs of breakup emails that needed “a little more punch.” I am wielded by novelists, bloggers, essayists, and that one friend who types exclusively in lowercase but still demands emotional range.