Five Jokes: 2-19-2024

Paramount+ & Peacock In Talks To Merge, Kellogg’s Factory Strike Leader Aims For The Senate, Former President Donald Trump Has A New Shoe, A Vatican Retirement, and A New Coke Flavor

Pssst! — if you find daily emails annoying, you can modify your subscription experience here!

Hey! It’s Monday in America, and comedian/writer/comic book creator James III joins me in the latest episode of You Are The Genre!

→ We discover how a childhood love of cartoons fuels his work on stage, behind the scenes, and in hilarious sketches like this one — WARNING: If you’re white and intend on playing the following clip out loud in your cubicle, it does include the n-word. I repeat. This clip does include the n-word. However, if you’re Black and listening to this in your cubicle, happy Black History Month. We got 10 days left.

[Paid subscribers can listen ahead to next week’s episode with historian, paleographer, and activist Dr. Mary Rambaran-Olm! ]

Anyway, here are Five Jokes!

Donate to the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, The Carter Center, and/or Alliance for Middle East Peace.

Y’all hear about this?..

• Paramount+ and Peacock are reportedly in talks to merge into a single streaming service. Which sounds silly, until you realize “Now streaming on peepee” is the only thing that makes sense in this crazy world.

• The leader of a strike at a Kellogg’s factory in Omaha is running for the Senate as an independent in deep-red Nebraska. Polls suggest that voters find him trustworthy. For instance — unlike Joe Biden, when he tells a story about confronting a dude named CornPop, people actually believe it. Mainly because it ends with him sealing the man into a cereal box.

• Former President Donald Trump introduced his signature $399 shoes at “Sneaker Con” in Philadelphia. But, for legal reasons, they never fit.

• The keeper of the Vatican’s secrets is retiring. At least that’s what I heard from the teller of the Vatican’s gossip.

Finally…

• For the first time in three years, Coke has a new flavor called Coca-Cola Spiced. The company says that early reports of the drink causing visions of giant desert worms and space battles are unsubstantiated and encouraged everyone to enter their new sweepstakes by using #TheCocaColaSpiceMustFlow for a chance at becoming Kwisatz Haderach.

Those were five jokes! Which was your favorite? Use this poll, or drop a comment!

If you enjoyed those, check out last week’s jokes! And consider becoming a (free or paid) subscriber:

OR buying me a coffee:

OR subscribe to my YOU ARE THE GENRE podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or right here in the matrix of my newsletter!

🎨: Madhuri Shukla

And you can always share screenshots or forward this to a friend!

(this post may be too long for your email — if so, read the web version!)

A JOKE FROM SOMEONE ELSE

Happy Monday, from Yedoye Travis.

https://twitter.com/yedoye_/status/1759280130105487840

STRAY THOUGHT

This is a new segment for a joke or “stray” thought of mine that doesn’t fit the standard setup/punchline format. Hopefully it’ll make me post on Twitter less. Enjoy (and feel free to share!):

UPCOMING SHOWS!

• “Uptown Showdown: Coffee Vs. Tea” — FEBRUARY 29, 8:00PM @ Symphony Space (NY) (TICKETS)

  

• “The Story Collider” — MARCH 7, 7:30PM @ Pier 57 (NY) (TICKETS)

  

SOMETHIN’ FROM THE VAULT!

Rewind to my 2023 text message interview with filmmaker Adewale Olukayode:

A [TEXT MESSAGE] Conversation With Filmmaker Adewale Olukayode

“Why is this guy emailing five jokes a day?” — I explain it here:

Why I Email Five Jokes A Day

Letters from African America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider sharing…

…or becoming a free or paid subscriber!

See you tomorrow with…

Like that cartoon face in the logo? It was illustrated by DeAngelo — the talented character/prop designer/YouTuber known as “Hats Off Media!” DeAngelo is working hard an an awesome new cartoon called ScreenTime (teaser). Consider supporting it here!