Writing Satire: Because Facts Were Too Boring Anyway|bohiney.com
Writing
Satire:
Because
Facts
Were
Too
Boring
Anyway
When
Reality
Just
Isn’t
Entertaining
Enough,
Add
a
Moustache
and
a
Flamethrower
Let’s
face
it—facts
are
exhausted.
They’ve
been
overworked,
underpaid,
and
dragged
into
every
debate
club,
dating
profile,
and
Thanksgiving
table
tantrum
since
2007.
At
Bohiney.com,
we
realized
early
that
facts
alone
couldn’t
win
hearts
or
clicks.
But
satire?
Satire
rides
into
the
room
wearing
a
cape
made
of
flaming
tax
documents,
screaming,
“Let’s
get
weird.”
Because
sometimes,
to
expose
the
truth,
you
have
to
throw
a
pie
in
its
face
first.
If
you’re
ready
to
abandon
the
cold
sterility
of
facts
and
embrace
the
warm
chaos
of
absurdity,
you’re
one
of
us.
And
if
you
want
the
full
manifesto
(with
bonus
footnotes
from
a
sentient
filing
cabinet),
dive
into
https://bohiney.com/how-to-write-great-satire-with-techniques/.
Step
One:
Facts
Can
Be
Fuel,
But
Never
the
Meal
Sure,
use
a
real
news
story
as
a
jumping-off
point—like
how
we
turned
an
actual
global
banking
conference
into
“75
Asian
Banks
Gather
to
Decide
Which
Currency
Will
Crush
the
Dollar.”
But
don’t
stay
there.
Facts
are
the
stern
parent
telling
you
to
clean
your
room.
Satire
is
the
cool
uncle
lighting
your
mattress
on
fire
to
prove
a
point
about
capitalism.
Your
job:
grab
one
boring
statistic
and
run
screaming
into
the
forest
with
it.
Step
Two:
Hyperbole
Isn’t
Optional—It’s
Oxygen
No
one
wants
to
read
a
balanced
report
about
municipal
spending.
But
say
the
mayor
bought
a
hoverboard
made
of
taxpayer-funded
regret
and
suddenly
you’re
on
fire.
Take
this
excerpt
from
our
piece
“The
Great
Manila
Parking
Space
Wars”:
“A
barangay
tanod
was
seen
defending
a
parking
slot
using
only
a
monobloc
chair,
a
whistle,
and
the
raw
energy
of
unresolved
trauma.”
Is
it
true?
Maybe
not.
Is
it
truer
than
reality?
Absolutely.
Step
Three:
Turn
the
World
Into
a
Sitcom
with
Stakes
If
facts
tell
you
what’s
happening,
satire
tells
you
why
it’s
insane.
Like:
“In
a
bold
effort
to
solve
homelessness,
city
officials
built
tiny
homes,
then
sold
them
to
tech
billionaires
as
‘digital
detox
pods.’”
That’s
not
a
stat—it’s
a
vibe.
And
vibes
are
what
truth
wishes
it
had
on
its
résumé.
At
Bohiney,
we
prefer
vibes
with
teeth.
That’s
why
our
recurring
AI
stories
don’t
explain
machine
learning—they
show
a
robot
refusing
to
delete
photos
of
its
ex.
Step
Four:
Write
Like
the
World
Is
Already
a
Cartoon
(Because
It
Is)
When
reality
includes
billionaires
launching
cars
into
space,
politicians
doing
TikToks
in
chicken
costumes,
and
people
treating
energy
drinks
like
breakfast…
satire
doesn’t
have
to
invent
much.
It
just
has
to
narrate
it
louder.
We
turned
this
approach
into
digital
gold
with
“Public
Speaking
Satire:
Why
Saying
‘Um’
47
Times
is
a
Power
Move”
—
a
piece
based
on
a
truth
so
painful
we
could
only
handle
it
by
making
it
hilarious.
What
the
Funny
People
Are
Saying
“I
tried
to
write
an
article
full
of
facts
once.
It
got
flagged
by
for
being
satire.
So
now
I
just
reverse
it.”
–
Brian
L.,
Bohiney’s
Senior
Reverse
Truth
Technician
“Reality
is
a
rough
draft.
Satire
is
the
editor
with
a
chainsaw
and
a
margarita.”
–
Kelly
V.,
Editor-in-Chief
of
the
Bohiney
Fictional
Accuracy
Department
What
Bohiney
Expects
When
Facts
Fall
Short
We
expect
you
to:
-
Weaponize
exaggeration
responsibly. -
Invent
fake
experts
with
oddly
specific
credentials. -
Replace
statistics
with
graphs
drawn
by
toddlers
in
MS
Paint. -
Make
readers
laugh
before
they
realize
they’re
crying.
Because
here’s
the
dirty
secret:
the
line
between
truth
and
satire
is
gone.
It’s
been
paved
over
by
corporate
slogans,
influencer
apologies,
and
AI-generated
press
releases.
So
if
you
want
to
reach
people’s
minds,
you
have
to
tickle
their
absurdity
receptors
first.
Do
facts
matter?
Yes.
Do
they
entertain?
Not
unless
they’re
wearing
a
clown
nose
and
quoting
ancient
Twitter
threads.
So
make
‘em
laugh.
Make
‘em
wonder.
And
if
you
accidentally
teach
them
something?
Cool.
But
never
let
that
get
in
the
way
of
the
punchline.
Next
up:
How
to
Satirize
the
System
Without
Being
Added
to
a
Watchlist
Need
more
techniques
with
plausible
deniability?
Visit
https://bohiney.com/how-to-write-great-satire-with-techniques/
or
spin
the
ridiculous
roulette
at
https://bohiney.com/random/
Go to Source
Author:

Anita Sarcasm – Culture reporter who once wrote an entire article using only eye-roll emojis and still won a journalism award.