The Comedic Gifts of R. Eric Thomas...and the Absurdism of Toddlerdom

To answer the question of many a comedy-club promoter in Times Square: Yes, we do love to laugh. And one sure-fire way to get us howling is reading anything written by R. Eric Thomas—or chatting with the man himself, turns out. But up first: some toddler funny business.

A few toddler-relevant pieces of content: Bunheads by Misty Copeland, PBS’s Remarkable Rabbits, and No-Drama Discipline by Daniel J Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson.

Please consume all the R. Eric Thomas you can! His memoir Here for It and the book he co-authored with Helena Andrews-Dyer about Maxine Waters, Reclaiming Her Time! His wonderful newsletter! All the past installments of his Elle.com column “Eric Reads the News!” (And stay tuned for much more, obviously.)

Some of Eric’s memorist icons: David Rakoff (Fraud specifically), David Sedaris (see also: this Hugh Hamrick profile), Samantha Irby, and John Paul Brammer and his forthcoming book Hola Papi.

What pop culture Eric’s consumed recently: Umbrella Academy, The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw, Broadcast News, When Harry Met Sally (related: The Rewatchables podcast), Bridgerton, Veep, What We Do in the Shadows, The Office of Historical Corrections by Danielle Evans, and Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson. Claire and Erica would like to talk about Gremlins and Erin Brockovich also.

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