How to Write Satire When Reality Has Already Jumped the Shark

Recognizing the Post-Satire Era

When Supreme Court justices can’t define what a woman is and billionaires are buying social networks to own the libs, satire faces an existential crisis. Your new goal: document the absurdity, don’t compete with it.

Step 1: The ‘Straight Man’ Approach

Report crazy things earnestly: “Local man protests mask mandates while wearing a mask to hide his identity.”

Step 2: Find the Logical Extreme

“If corporations are people, can we send Amazon to jail for tax evasion?”

Step 3: Let Them Hang Themselves

Just quote people verbatim: “As the senator said, ‘I’m not a scientist, but I play one on C-SPAN.'”

Advanced Techniques

1. The ‘Unedited Transcript’

Publish real political speeches with [SATIRE] tags highlighting the craziest parts.

2. The ‘Corporate Newspeak’

“Facebook announces new ‘More Honest Truthiness’ initiative to combat ‘sort of fake’ news.”

3. The ‘Historical Reenactment’

“Today in ‘Rome 2.0’: Senators debate whether poor people should get bread or just better bootstraps.”

Conclusion

When reality becomes self-satirizing, the satirist’s job is to hold up a mirror and say, “You seeing this shit?”