"A Conversation Between Two People on Yom Kippur Who Definitely Fasted"
An interview with Sarah Garfinkel
Thank you for reading Humor Science, the newsletter I started so I could have an excuse to talk to and learn from some of my favorite humor writers.
This week I interviewed Sarah Garfinkel about her piece for McSweeney’s, “A Conversation Between Two People on Yom Kippur Who Definitely Fasted.”
In addition to humor writing, Sarah also teaches writing and is an assistant editor of The Rumpus’ humor column Funny Women. I love this interview for so many reasons, but one of which is Sarah’s very generous look into her process. She’s a hilarious writer who is also very thoughtful in her approach, which is something I admire and love about her work.
Alright, let’s dive in!
Tell me about the inspiration for this piece. When did you start writing it?
I started writing this piece about two weeks before Yom Kippur, when the High Holidays were on my mind. I love writing Jewish-themed humor pieces, and I knew that if I was going to write about this major holiday, I’d need to find the right joke to focus on a funny element of my experience of the holiday without dishonoring the day. It was an exciting challenge. I’ve always found it funny how we want to fast and follow the rules, but then we make little exceptions or excuses as we get hungrier throughout the day, and then see how far we can stretch them. Like “liquid fasts” that include smoothies, and you can put basically anything in a smoothie. In the past, I’ve had some years where I’ve fasted but still had water, or fasted until it was close to the time to break the fast and then you just have to taste the food, you know?
When you’re writing a piece like this, what’s your process? Do you have a solid plan going in, or do you write freely and then shape it from there?
With this piece, I had the idea for the first “game” (the characters’ justifications for why they’re not breaking the fast despite eating and drinking) first, and the second “game” (the characters’ reassurances that the other is not breaking the fast and their complete agreement throughout the absurd conversation) emerged more as I wrote.
Something that I always think about before writing a piece is where I might want to submit so I can keep the audience in mind. I knew that I wanted to submit this one to McSweeney’s, which informed the writing of the piece: my goal was for the majority of the jokes to be accessible to Jewish and non-Jewish readers. And I got amazing feedback from you, Kerry Elson, Ali Solomon, Julie Vick, and my friend Shira. I also read the piece in a workshop with Luke Burns, who is a great teacher and feedback-giver!
This piece is so tightly focused but it builds in a really beautiful way. I laugh every time I get to the chef's kiss. I feel like I have a tendency to overwrite my pieces sometimes and layer things on, instead of relying on the simplicity of the game to drive the story. What is your editing process for a piece like this? How do you avoid falling into the "overwriting" trap?
Aww, thank you for the kind words, Ysabel! The truth is that I actually did overwrite this piece. I originally wrote the dialogue as a back and forth between two people, but then I tried to force a template on it (BINGO). The BINGO card felt restrictive because the lines had to be so short. The heightened lines made less sense for the BINGO game format, and I wanted the reader to be able to follow the conversation. Luckily, it was easy to just take the lines right back out of the template. Ironically, overwriting (by adding the template) actually prevented me from overwriting (the actual lines, which were shorter and punchier than they might have been had I not used the template). So it all worked out in the end!
Do you have a favorite joke in this piece?
I have two answers!
1) I am notorious (in my own head) for overthinking, which is a blessing and a curse for humor writing. It helps me to think about all the ways a line could be interpreted and how it could land among different audiences, but it also means I spend a loooot of time on pieces. With this piece, I wanted to acknowledge that there are a number of reasons that many people (including me!) can’t always fast, but I didn’t want to lose the momentum or humor of the piece. So I was happy when I figured out a solution in the line, “Well, not every dedicated Jew can fast. Health comes first. This is also why I ate twenty gummy vitamins.” Gummy vitamins will never not be funny to me. Candy vitamins: delicious (and healthy???) oxymorons.
2) Purse brisket.
Is there anything else you want to share about this piece that I didn’t ask about?
Something really special happened after this piece was published. My sister called me after attending a break-fast at the home of family friends. She said that the host performed the piece in this great animated way. One of the guests was my beloved 101-year-old seventh grade Hebrew School teacher and bat mitzvah tutor Carry, who is also a Holocaust survivor and incredibly wonderful human. My sister said the piece made Carry laugh, which made me so happy! She also relayed some nice comments she’d made, which meant the world to me.
Where do you find inspiration for your humor pieces? How do you come up with ideas?
Sometimes I get an idea while I’m walking or swimming laps. When I’m in the pool, I sometimes feel the urge to get out and write my ideas down, but I try to keep swimming and trust that if the ideas are strong enough, I’ll remember them. The pool is also a great place to rework ideas in my head when I’m feeling stuck. Other times, I’ll notice some small thing during the day that I find funny, like a little feeling or phrase, and I’ll jot it down and try to figure out if there’s anything to it later. I have a looooong list of ideas, and once in a while they turn into something.
Are there specific humor writers or any particular pieces out there that you’re inspired by?
Soooooo many. My go-to answer to this question is often Ali Solomon, because she is so talented but also so humble and kind. I’m a huge fan of all of my co-writers and feedback buddies. There are so many people in the humor community I admire, so I think I’ll stick with people I don’t know (but wish I did!). Alexis Wilkinson’s “Explaining U.S. Holidays to Extraterrestrials” is a masterpiece and I love to use it in my teaching because it’s such a great model of how to look at what we accept as “normal” in society and find the absurdity in it. Like this line describing New Year’s Eve: “Lots of people smash their mouths together and drink poison.” It’s witty but it’s also true, which makes it so funny. Other Shouts writers I admire are Susanna Wolff, Broti Gupta, and Sarah Hutto. Ok, I’m on a roll now, so I’ll just keep going? I must talk about Alexandra Petri’s brilliance a lot, because I’ve been gifted all of her books for various birthdays and holidays. She is one of my comedy heroes. (Apologies, readers, but there seem to be no transitions in this massive paragraph.) Tig Notaro is the funniest stand-up performer I’ve ever seen live. I saw Josh Gondelman perform in a tiny synagogue in Brooklyn years ago, and I’ve been a fan ever since. Atsuko Okatsuka, Mae Martin, and Jo Firestone have excellent comedy specials. Jo Firestone also has a weekly newsletter that proves she is a genius because she can make literally anything funny.
I’m also endlessly inspired by my students. Teaching writing is the best job in the world.
How did you first get started with humor writing? What advice do you have for someone who might just be getting started with their humor writing journey?
I used to write these character monologues (kind of in the style of McSweeney’s short imagined monologues) in high school, before I knew that they were even a “legitimate” form of writing. I was a theater kid, but these were just for me, not performance monologues. Sometimes I’d write them with a friend to do some creative world building outside of the bubble of the world of high school. Surviving high school was a great motivator for writing these goofy monologues. In college, I had a study abroad blog (lol), which was less “here’s everything I did last weekend” and more “here are all the ways I’ve embarrassed myself, like breaking the door on the first day of class and freezing in place while the entire lecture hall turned to stare at me in what felt like slow motion.”
For me, writing humor has always been a way of observing the absurd and owning humiliating moments. It also brings me a lot of joy to be in a community with funny people. So my advice would be to start by asking yourself what draws you to humor writing. (This is also helpful in honing your voice and finding your unique sense of humor.) Write down all of the funny things you notice or random thoughts that pop into your head. Read/take classes/practice giving and receiving feedback. Check in with yourself regularly to make sure you’re enjoying what you’re doing. If not, pivot! There are a million ways to incorporate humor into other types of writing, too.
And this is the piece of advice that often surprises my students: Eavesdrop!
In addition to humor writing, you're also the assistant editor of The Rumpus' humor column Funny Women. Can you describe the column's editorial point of view? What should writers keep in mind when submitting their work to Funny Women?
I’d describe it as feminist, literary, and evergreen humor. Elissa started the column back in 2009 (!!), and my best advice would be to scroll through the archives to get a feeling for the topics, the style, and even the length of pieces. (I’d suggest this for any column or site!) It’s a balance between writing something that fits the column and coming up with a fresh idea or take. And then send in your work, even if you’ve never been published before! My favorite part of the role is building relationships with new writers through the editorial process.
Where can people find more of your work, and are there any particular projects or news you want to plug?
My website is sarahgarfinkelwriting.com. And in the spirit of humor science, I’ll share this research article on how children comprehend verbal irony.
That’s it! Don’t forget to check out all of Sarah’s work and congratulate her on being a bona fide humor scientist!
What’s new:
I got some great responses to my question about pieces that took 6+ months to crack. Do you have a story to share? Fill out this form to tell me about it, and I may follow-up with you about using it in a future newsletter.
There’s definitely a recurring thread in this newsletter of just how important it is to have good feedback buddies in your life. Caitlin Kunkel did a whole newsletter about how to find a feedback group that I highly recommend checking out!
About me
I’m a comedy writer and freelance copywriter living in Brooklyn. My humor writing has been published by The New Yorker, The New York Times, McSweeney’s, Reductress, and more. I’m the co-author of Jokes to Offend Men, which was named the #2 Comedy Book of 2022 by Vulture. I’m available for new writing projects, writing coaching, and nerding out about comedy, so please reach out and say hi!