Hello and welcome to the first edition of Humor Science, the newsletter I started so I could have an excuse to talk to and learn from some of my favorite humor writers. Thank you for being here!
I’m really excited to kick off this newsletter by interviewing my friend and fellow humor scientist Kerry Elson. Kerry and I first met in The Belladonna Comedy’s Facebook group in 2018 where we exchanged pieces with each other for notes. Through that experience I learned two things: 1) Kerry is an absolutely hilarious and completely original writer, and 2) she gives amazing notes. A little while later we met in-person at a Belladonna meetup, and we’ve been friends ever since.
Kerry’s humor pieces are all instant classics. Her writing has a way of getting stuck in my head in the best way possible. All of her pieces are my favorite so it was hard to narrow down the one I wanted to talk to her about, but I finally settled on “Have You Tried Overnight Oats?” I think about it every single time I eat oatmeal, which is a lot (for the record, I still have not tried overnight oats. I prefer to make my oats the old-fashioned way: in a bowl in the microwave so that they can explode all over the place). This was also Kerry’s first piece for The New Yorker and now she has… too many to count! She’s a legend.
I learned a lot from this interview, including that it can be good to let pieces sit for a while (which, I suppose, is not unlike making overnight oats…). Kerry let this one sit for a year! Let’s dive in.
Tell me about the inspiration for this piece. When did you start writing it?
I wrote a first draft in July 2018. I came up with the idea because around that time, I was hearing about them from friends and I came across recipes for them a lot online. Every time I heard about overnight oats, there was this contrast that seemed funny (and kind of annoying) to me: they’re so customizable and easy, and can supposedly make your life easy, and yet, there is a very specific way that you have to make them in order to fit the sort of “self-care, yoga pants, optimize-your-life” vision that they supposedly help you achieve. Like, you have to put them in a clear, glass jam jar and arrange banana slices on top in a circle, and so on. Overnight oats in a tan, plastic cup wouldn’t work.
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?
When I wrote the first draft, I think I was typing ideas straight into a Word doc, but I am not totally sure. That first draft was called, “A person who loves overnight oats tries to solve all my biggest problems,” and it was an imaginary dialogue between someone who has silly problems and an overnight-oats lover who keeps suggesting they solve them by making overnight oats, even if a problem was that the person had missed a sale at Burlington Coat Factory. That version was weird and I liked it, but when I sent it to people for feedback, it seemed like there needed to be more background information on overnight oats for it to make sense and it lacked information about who these people were or why they were talking to each other. But I didn’t quite know how to fix the draft, so I left it alone.
A year later, I revised it by homing in on a part I had the end in which the overnight-oats lover talks about the ways you have to make overnight oats and gets demanding, saying, “Get your life together,” and other such things. That seemed to be the funniest, most interesting part of the piece, so I decided to expand on that and make the piece into a monologue in which the overnight-oats lover is trying to persuade someone to make them. To generate new ideas, I got out a notebook and scribbled other things for this character to say (sometimes writing in a notebook rather than in a Word doc helps me just get ideas out and not edit too soon). Then I transferred those ideas onto a Word doc, shaped them into more of a monologue, sent it to a couple writing buddies for feedback, and submitted the piece.
I love this little Muesli journey you take us on at the end. And honestly, up until about five minutes ago when I looked it up, I truly thought “Muesliville” was a real place. But I’m going to assume the rest of that section is true. Did you do research for this piece? How did that section come about?
I’m so glad you liked that part! I wonder what it would be like to live in Muesliville! That section came about after I had transferred my scribbled notes to a Word doc and was trying to expand on them. I was I guess in this mode where I was trying to play around and get into “clown brain” (as Scott Dikkers might say), and this idea of Muesliville popped into my head. Maybe I knew about muesli because my dad has it sometimes? After that idea popped into the draft, I Googled to get more information about muesli’s origins and put those facts into the draft. (Googling around to get facts for a short humor piece can be fun! I try to make sure they are from a trusted source but appreciate fact-checking that editors can offer, as well.)
And now the question on everyone’s mind: Have you in fact tried overnight oats?
At first, after I wrote this piece, I was actively trying not to make overnight oats because I had a kind-of-silly aversion to how contradictory and annoying the promotion of them seemed (like, do them how you want but also DO THEM MY WAY). But after a while, I gave myself permission to make them because I thought they would be a refreshing, filling breakfast and I do actually like them! I have made them with oat milk, nuts, and raisins.
Is there anything else you want to share about this piece that I didn’t ask about?
When I think about this piece, it reminds me of the value of letting a draft sit and coming back to it another time. I have done that a few times – let a draft sit because I didn’t know how to fix it – and then returned to it with new ideas that work better. It also speaks to the value of having writing buddies who encourage you, because I think I only would have kept trying to work on this piece if you had encouraged me to try. [Editor’s note: This is true. I did pester Kerry a lot about this piece. I got in on the ground floor with overnight oats.]
Where do you find inspiration for your humor pieces? How do you come up with ideas?
A lot of my ideas come from things in my life that are making me feel anxious or embarrassed, honestly. Writing can be a way to cope with things I’m worried or self-conscious about – they kind of puncture the feelings and it can be fun and a relief to share them with other people and learn that they feel the same way. For example, I felt kind of dumb about how I used to take a lot of Tinder dates to the same bar, so I wrote about that [Editor’s note: Here is that piece, it’s hilarious!]. I’ve also challenged myself to write about stuff that I simply like, like mushrooms, cheese, or flowers [Editor’s note: All classics, go read them!] and tried to find a funny thing about them (usually trying to find some element about them that has a surprise or a contrast …).
Sometimes an idea will pop into my head while I’m going for a run or walk outside because that’s when I’m letting my mind wander. Other times, I will brainstorm by setting a timer for 15 minutes on my phone and scribble whatever has happened to me lately into a notebook to see if any ideas for a piece come up (a practice I learned from Elissa Bassist, a great teacher!).
Are there specific humor writers or any particular pieces out there that you’re inspired by?
I have been really inspired by the writing of Sarah Hutto, Riane Konc, Mia Mercado, Rebecca Saltzman, Colin Nissan, and Emma Rathbone. Whenever I read their work in New Yorker and McSweeney’s, I feel so delighted by it. Sometimes if I’ve been stuck on a piece, I have read their work to help myself get ideas for fixing the draft. In particular, I love these pieces by Emma Rathbone: “J.Jill, Ann Taylor, Lane Bryant, and Eileen Fisher Get Together for Tea” and “A Few Things I’d Like to Convey with My Funky Lizard Brooch.” I also love this piece by Mia Mercado: “I’m a Guy’s Girl.” I think I love these pieces because of how zany and specific they are.
What advice do you have for someone who might just be getting started with their humor writing journey?
I would recommend reading short humor as much as you can to learn more about which pieces you like and analyze why you like them – what parts made you laugh and why? I also suggest doing a lot of writing, revising, and submitting. There are a lot of outlets for humor and some outlets, such as the Belladonna, will provide feedback with their rejections, which is so kind and very helpful for one’s growth as a writer! I also recommend taking classes on humor-writing to learn more about how to generate ideas and revise, and to meet other writers. Once the class is done, you can continue to trade feedback with each other and cheer each other on. I’ve taken humor-writing classes at the Second City online, as well as at Catapult in New York with Elissa Bassist. Mike Lacher’s Skillshare class also was helpful for me.
Anything else you want to add about humor writing, comedy in general, or anything at all I didn’t ask about?
I encourage people to let their drafts be bad. Over time, I’ve gotten better at tolerating a so-so first draft, where I’m trying to figure out an idea. I try to take a breath and remember that they can improve once I revise/chisel them into place, with feedback from generous writing buddies.
I also want to emphasize that rejections are a big part of writing and I have received many. For me, it’s been helpful to have a few pieces going at a time so that I don’t get too invested in one particular piece and feel let down if it’s not published anywhere. I definitely am excited when a piece is accepted and I can share it with family and friends, but I also try to enjoy the process of writing. I try to keep at it consistently not only because that helps me get better, but also because the act of doing it at all brings me a lot of joy.
That’s it! You can find more of Kerry’s writing on her website. And now I need to go finally try overnight oats.
What’s new with me:
I’m proud of this headline I wrote for Reductress
If you’re looking for the perfect Valentine’s/Galentine’s Day gift, might I suggest “Jokes to Offend Men”?
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, humor coaching, and nerding out about comedy, so please reach out and say hi!