Why Aren’t You Laughing? with Cindy House

Humor is one of the most challenging things to write. In this class, we will break down various pieces of writing and evaluate what works or doesn’t work. How can we look at our own lives and put down on paper the details and moments that will make other people laugh? It is possible to take the same memory or scene from our actual experience and write it with a slant for humor or tragedy simply by shifting our view and choosing different focal points and details. Through works by Jen Beagin, Halle Butler, David Sedaris, and others, we will parse out some habits and tools to apply to our own writing in an effort to make work that moves and amuses.

Cindy House is a writer and regular opener for David Sedaris on his lecture tours across the country. She studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago as an undergrad and earned her MFA in fiction from Lesley University in 2017. She was the 2018 recipient of the St. Botolph emerging artist award and appeared on the Tamron Hall show last spring. Her debut book, Mother Noise, was published in May of 2022. She lives in New Haven, CT with her teenage son.