#SATIREDAY is on its way. We are open for Submissions of SATIRE.

Submit NOW, if you know what SATIRE is. If not, read on:

What is SATIRE?

Traditionally, the easiest way to answer that question would have been to look the word up in a dictionary, or otherwise consult an expert.

Like me, I bet your response to that last sentence was ????????????

You’re right to lol, as the era of expertise is as gone as the era of nuceleur power [note to self: check if nuceleur power still exists, also check spelling].

We all know that we’ve been living in a post-truth matrix of lies since 9/11 and the only way to counter the false facts and fake news of the Deep State is to let our guts do the talking. By “let our guts do the talking” I mean “follow our instincts”, not “resort to divination using the entrails leftover from human sacrifice”. NB: If your instincts tell you to resort to divination using the entrails from human sacrifice, DO NOT follow your instincts.

SATIRE, as it is most commonly encountered, is political. This is not the ONLY type of SATIRE, but it is the most famous. And fame, like money, is an easy AND ACCURATE way to assess value.

The relationship between politics and SATIRE is complex. In Italy, a satirist has become a prominent politician. In the USA, political SATIRE is a booming mainstream TV trend with politicians often popping up “as themselves” in sitcoms and sketchshows and chatshows. In my native UK, most satirists and politicians have near-identical educations and backgrounds, with the satirists – presumably – having EVEN MORE shameful secrets than those in power (Google #piggate).

SATIRE is a method of making humour at the expense of “the establishment”. But what is “the establishment”? Is it just politicians? No. So too are Hollywood celebs, are doctors and lawyers, are rockstars, are popstars, are country music stars, so too are film directors and composers, are the people who make opera and probably most of the people who watch opera. Stockbrokers and commodities traders, shipping magnates, dentists, poachers, high ranking police: “the establishment” is all around us.

SATIRE is – just to clarify, I haven’t looked this up – characterised by pursuing humour, with a clear “punching up” mentality. The Daily Show is SATIRE, yes, but so too is Hemingway’s The Torrents of Spring; The Onion is SATIRE, but so too are these po-faced poems about poo.

The origin of the word “SATIRE” comes from “satyr”, which was like a playful little half-goat/half-human creature that is now extinct. SATIRE invites play, invites mocking people who deserve to be mocked, even though – perversely – those people often have the least dignity in response to mocking. (Case in point: Trump’s relationship with the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.)

So, play with language, with image, with video and join us at Queen Mob’s Teahouse for a new regular feature: #SATIREDAY (it will happen on some – NOT ALL – Saturdays). Submit your SATIRES of politicians, your SATIRES of poets, your SATIRES of novelists, your SATIRES of Instagram influencers, your SATIRES of yourselves. ANY SATIRE GOES, until I get round to learning what SATIRE is!!!

SUBMIT NOW to satire@queenmobs.com and get ready to giggle, get ready to guffaw, because #SATIREDAY is acommin!!!!

Scott Manley Hadley is a poet and now Satire Editor at Queen Mobs’ Teahouse. He blogs at TriumphoftheNow.com