Screaming is My Thing

Keeping it light and fun

It’s our 251 digest post, and reader Rachel J. asks:

I love comedy, but I’m worried it’s bad for my soul. Does good comedy always have to be sad and pessimistic?

Rachel J., thank you for the thoughtful question. I don’t know where you are right now, but I’m writing from NYC beside an open window. My oh my is it a glorious day, and with the breeze gently touching my neck it sure is hard to be an angry old grumpadoo…

Everybody dies. Everything of value eventually rots—

The truth is that comedy, like all art, should be in the business of lifting our spirits. This world has no place for pessimism, certainly not the deep pessimism that one finds so often among comedians, especially online…

You’ll live to see another pandemic and maybe another world war. The jobs you fantasize about are going away. That’s right—your daydreams are fucked. And you aren’t getting any younger. Hey, don’t ignore me! I can tell you’re trying…

AND FOR A PERFECT EXAMPLE OF CHEERFUL COMEDY LOOK NO FURTHER THAN MICHAEL J. JOHNSON’S SUNNY CARTOON:

Adam Cooper and Mat Barton are two guys that also focus on positive stuff, like the amazing creative opportunities that the latest technologies will provide artists with, yay!!!:

And don’t forget that everyday life is a bag of tickles, with humor ready to be plucked by cuddly chucklemeisters. Like John Howard Matthews, you might even find inspiration while doing your shopping:

Well, that’s it from us. Except for:

• Another lovely cartoon from Michael J. Johnson that employs a ceiling fan and a slowly rising barber’s chair.

• An ornithology guide from Clarke Jaxton Motorbike that includes the words “sex chickens.”

• From Steve Wyatt, a very short tale that begins like this: “As I fell from the tree, my life flashed before my eyes.”

And there’s much more than that on twofiftyone.net.

PROMOTION BREATHES SALTY, WON’T YOU CARRY IT IN

You guys are starting to get the picture—I desperately need your absolutely shameless self-promotion.

Last time, you did great. I clicked on your links. I listened to Joe Petro’s mixtapes, read Michael Estrin’s story, took E.R. Flynn’s music rec. I loved Cindy Shore Smith’s joke, shared on our Chat. Yes, yes, yes.

Michael Litwak said he made a movie. So I went to see his movie. It was hilarious and charming! “The ambitious film makes me want to see what Litwak does next,” says Brian Tallerico and I also say that. Yes!

But I need more. Why? Shut up. That’s why.

Give me your latest blog posts. Your books. Your major motion pictures. Your tweets. Your jokes. Your favorite jokes. Your anecdotes. Self-promote your taste in music. (I’m still listening to Wednesday, but also Metallica.) Self-promote your taste in comedy. This is the internet, it’s all self-promotion, ba-by!

And I need it. I need it so bad, even the dark stuff. It’s what keeps me from dropping into the abyss, from falling into the void.