I’m just saying it’s not satire - or even generally recognized as comedy - and most humor editors will reject a piece that doesn’t have humor and jokes built into it. “But Alice,” you say, “humor is subjective! I think angry tirades and cursing are funny.”Ĭool! I’m absolutely not telling you what to laugh at. Cursing in successful satire must heighten the other humor in the piece or speak to a greater satirical point, like in George Carlin’s 7 Words You Can’t Say On TV. It’s the difference between a first draft of angry word vomit and a second, third, or fourth draft with actual jokes in place of unhinged tangents, and clever wordplay in place of ill-conceived cursing and insults.Ĭurse words on their own are angry anger, not satire. It’s just an angry rant, devoid of any humor. This piece works because not only is Molyneux’s rage visceral and deeply relatable, but she also expertly uses hyperbole, repetition, and comedic timing to deliver laughs.īottom line: good satire comes across as funny anger (a humorous deconstruction), as opposed to angry anger (a florid rant). That’s not even a fucking thing, and that lady who tried to pretend the vaccine made her fucking magnetic looked like a real fucking fuckwad and a fucking idiot, so get fucking vaccinated.

Are you fucking kidding me? It just fucking won’t. “The fucking vaccine will not make you magnetic. Take Wendy Molyneux’s viral McSweeney’s piece, Oh My Fucking God, Get the Fucking Vaccine Already, You Fucking Fucks: Satire that successfully employs funny anger begins with a simple premise: “I’m angry about some perceived problem, issue, slight, or curious behavior.” It then injects humor to bring readers onto the author’s side.

While that can be true, rage on its own is not funny anger it’s just angry anger. Although satire is often described as “the comedy of rage,” too many writers mistakenly believe that a long, angry rant = satire. Satire is a genre of humor that critiques systems and speaks truth to power. These are the guidelines I follow in my own satire writing and what I keep in mind as an editor: Anger on its own isn’t funny One of the best ways humor writers can improve their chances with a publication is to learn how to turn a furious, humorless rant into a thoughtful, deliberate piece with witty, razor-sharp timing.

But for every terrific piece of satire, I read at least 4–5 attempts that fall flat. As a comedian and editor for The Belladonna, a popular humor publication on Medium, I read and write a lot of angry humor pieces.

What is the opposite of angry