My Story

I have my childhood to thank for the development of my snark and sarcasm. As a kid, I quickly learned that witty comments or funny retorts got me the attention I craved.

Bottom line: I LOVED making people laugh. I’d buy funny cards for family members. I’d celebrate clever puns and quips, otherwise known as “the last word.” Then, I discovered that there were companies dedicated to making funny, creative gifts (I regularly devoured Corky Pollan’s “Best Bets” in New York Magazine). Of course, at the time, I never imagined that I could make a living off my sense of humor.

Life went on, as they say. I grew up, went to college, got a job, got married, had kids—the typical story. But the “funny” never left me.

Fast forward to 2014 when I came up with the idea for bathroom guest towels for Passover with this phrase embossed on the bottom: Let My People Go. (For my non-Jewish readers, this phrase serves as a nod to Moses’ famous line, but also a reference to the reality every Jew knows during Passover: matzah is notoriously constipating).

I had the guest towels made, posted pictures of them on my personal Facebook page, and they went viral.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

Well, that summation might be too simple.

The longer version goes like this: I began peddling the “Let My People Go” towels to my local temple in Newton, Mass., as well as the local Israel bookstore. Demand grew and spread to other local communities. Eventually, I decided to dip my toes into e-commerce and launched the Sense and Humor website.

In the beginning, all of this was simply a hobby. I also worked part time in a local gift shop, just to see if a brick and mortar storefront might be my jam. Short answer: nope! I love being an online retailer and working in my PJs out of my home gift studio.

I continued with this side hustle for several years, curating additional items that I found funny, clever, and interesting, quickly going from one product to many. Things changed dramatically and unexpectedly (in a good way) in the fall of 2018 when a producer from The View contacted me. She wanted to feature some of my products on a segment with Whoopi Goldberg.  To say traffic and orders went through the roof would be an understatement.

I haven’t looked back, which brings me to the present day and the current iteration of Sense and Humor, the home of fun, clever, tasteful gifts.

Currently, I buy a lot of products from NY NOW (formerly the New York International Gift Fair). I wish I could describe the science behind my purchases, including the quantities, but I can’t. It’s all about my muse, and she can be everything from sassy to snarky. Basically, I rely on two guiding principles: First, the item has to make me laugh. Second, the item needs to be different—something I haven’t seen before.

Of course, what makes something funny is subjective. And just because something is “different,” that won’t necessarily make it “special” in other people’s eyes.

That’s OK! Ultimately, you get to decide whether you like my humor.

And if you do, GET SHOPPING NOW!

My Official Bio

This is where I talk about myself in the third person. Actually, I asked my BFF, Laura Damson Lazarus, to write it for me. Don’t worry—I give her discounts!

Barbara Weiler Litwin has always had a keen eye for the hilarious. She was that friend who showed up at a party with the perfect gift that had people laughing out loud and wondering, “How come I didn’t think of that?!”

With Sense and Humor, Barbara has turned her talent into an opportunity for others to easily be “that” friend.

Forever a New Yorker, Barbara has lived outside of Boston for so many years that she has morphed unwittingly into a die-hard Red Sox and Patriots fan. When not scouring the world for cool stuff or creating her own brand of funny, Barbara searches for her husband, kids, and dog whom she is convinced are hiding in her gift studio somewhere.

My Gift Studio (also known as “Le Basement”)

Here’s where the magic happens...

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