Literary Twitter: @ShebeMolly.

Molly Shebeneck‘s superexcited, deadpan irony has thus far attracted fewer than 3,000 followers. Maybe it’s because she’s only 20 years old; maybe it’s because she’s from “somewhere outside of Milwaukee” rather than L.A. or New York — and isn’t a celebrity. Unfortunate, then, are the conditions that warrant a “follow” from most Twitterers. Shebeneck’s work is new and volatile, registering at a high level when it registers, which is often.

Check out the comic humility of these tweets:

• The mole on my neck is the king of my freckles.
• I wish someone loved me enough to kidnap me. :(
• I can’t be a stripper because I’m too ticklish. :(

Or the delight of these self-deprecating digressions, reminiscent of Groucho, though less aggressively jumpy:

• Saw two monkeys hug at the zoo and my heart melted because I’m a girl and I have feelings and estrogen and stuff.
• Ate a hot dog and was like “hey this is not a hot dog” because it was a carrot and carrots are not hot dogs and I am fat.

One worth looking at more closely is “CAN’T WAIT TO USE MY NEW RAPE WHISTLE!!!!!” Shebeneck has been working in internet acronyms, all caps, and excessive exclamation points, so this tweet counts as a signature. Compare it to a similar tweet from the immensely talented fellow 20-something Megan Amram (@meganamram): “This rape whistle is defective. I haven’t been raped once since using it.” Both are funny, but Shebeneck’s suggests multiple possible comic problems while Amram’s relies on a simpler sort of twist. Shebeneck’s also incorporates persona. It’s a more fully realized rape-whistle joke. (And yes, there is a genre of rape whistle jokes; viz. Arrested Development‘s Buster, to Michael, after handing over his car keys: “Wait, I need my rape whistle back.”)

Shebeneck is also adept at manufacturing fictional (rather than purely verbal) scenarios, ranging from political to domestic. Often she implies dialog using fake replies. For example:

• You’re so silly, Dad! RT @BarackObama: OMG OMG MOLLY SHEBENECK’S CAT ARIEL SMELLS AHHHHHHMAZING OMG OMG OMG!

There’s that signature again, though this time handling the President’s Twitter persona as if it were a fingerpuppet. Here’s a continuation of the same fiction: “I love you, Dad!!! RT @BarackObama: Yes, the rumors are true. I, Barack Obama, am Molly Shebeneck’s biological father.” Here’s a fiction imagined closer to home: “Dad talked during ‘Real Housewives of NYC’, so I chloroformed him, duct taped his airways shut, and threw him in the woods!! HAHA! LOL! OMG!”

It’s apparent from Molly Shebeneck’s profile picture alone that she has problems — deep, painful, personal problems. But where most people’s problems become other people’s sources of boredom, Shebeneck allows hers to become imaginatively aggravated to an impossibly high pitch for the enjoyment of her audience. One more Shebenism comes to mind: “Twitter is like a newspaper for emotionally damaged individuals.”

Hollywood, take note. This woman ought to be hired and given a cubicle and a MacBook. The entertainment industry could use more such Midwesterners.