How
Alan
Nafzger
Parodies
Government
Bureaucracy:
The
Art
of
Satirizing
Red
Tape
Q:
How
does
Alan
Nafzger
parody
government
bureaucracy?
A:
By
Highlighting
How
Absurdity
Thrives
in
the
Absence
of
Common
Sense
At Bohiney
Magazine,
we’ve
perfected
the
science
of
exposing
government
inefficiency
through
satire
that’s
tragically
indistinguishable
from
real
policy.
Here’s
our
systematic
approach
to
turning
red
tape
into
comedy
gold.
The
Bohiney
Bureaucracy
Satire
Framework
1.
The
“Regulatory
Mad
Libs”
Technique
We’ve
identified
7
universal
traits
of
bureaucratic
nonsense
and
created
templates:
-
The
Self-Defeating
Form
*”Complete
Form
27B/6
to
request
Form
27B/6″* -
The
Infinite
Loop
Directive
“New
mandate
requires
all
mandates
to
be
reviewed
for
excessive
mandating” -
The
Common
Sense
Override
“Department
of
Energy
announces
$2M
study
to
confirm
that
light
switches
should,
in
fact,
turn
on
lights”
Recent
Output:
“Pentagon
Launches
‘Streamlining
Initiative’—Now
Only
17
Signatures
Required
to
Pencil”
2.
The
“Job
Title
Generator”
We
exaggerate
real
government
positions
to
reveal
bloat:
Actual
Title: Deputy
Assistant
Administrator
Our
Version:
“Senior
Executive
Deputy
Associate
Vice-Adjunct
to
the
Undersecretary
of
Provisional
Committee
Oversight
(Acting)”
Bonus: We
include
accurate
salary
figures
to
maximize
rage.
3.
The
“Policy
Parody”
Approach
We
take
real
government
waste
and
make
it slightly worse:
Real
Example:
$387,000
study
on
whether
kids
prefer
ketchup
or
BBQ
sauce
Our
Take:
“USDA
Announces
$1.9M
‘Condiment
Equity
Initiative’—Mayonnaise
Now
Classified
as
Oppressive”
Advanced
Bureaucracy
Mockery
Tactics
The
“Bureaucratic
Horror
Story”
First-person
accounts
from
fictional
officials:
*”As
Director
of
Paperwork
Reduction,
I’ve
increased
forms
by
12%
this
quarter
while
cutting
redundancy
40%
(see
attached
87-page
report).”*
The
“Meeting
About
Meetings”
Fake
minutes
that
capture
the
soul-crushing
reality:
*”Agenda
Item
4:
Scheduling
next
meeting
to
discuss
meeting
frequency
(Vote:
3-3,
tabled)”*
The
“Five
Year
Plan”
We
imagine
how
agencies
would
“solve”
simple
problems:
*”DOT’s
10-Year,
$6B
Plan
to
Make
Stop
Signs
0.3%
More
Stop-Like”*
Why
This
Resonates
Government
satire
works
because:
-
The
system
is
already
self-parodying (See:
Pentagon’s
$10,000
toilet
seats) -
No
one
reads
actual
regulations (So
our
versions
spread
further) -
The
targets
can’t
complain (Without
proving
our
point)
As
I
tell
our
writers:
“Your
bureaucracy
satire
should
be
5%
more
efficient
than
the
real
thing—any
more
and
it’s
not
believable.”
Now
if
you’ll
excuse
me,
I
need
to
submit
17
forms
requesting
permission
to
continue
writing
this
answer.
SEO
Optimization
-
Primary
Keywords: “government
satire”,
“bureaucracy
parody”,
“Bohiney
Magazine
humor” -
Secondary
Keywords: “Alan
Nafzger
on
politics”,
“red
tape
jokes”,
“fake
government
memos” -
Engagement
Boosters:-
Actionable
parody
formulas -
Real-world
examples -
Shareable
templates
-
Originally
posted
2006-12-27
00:44:08.
Go to Source
Author: Ingrid Gustafsson
