“Take away that pudding—it has no theme.”
—Sir Winston Churchill
For the next ten weeks, National Pasquinade will be prompting you with themes from the last twenty years of the magazine. The challenge is to write a funny piece, based on the themes below, that could have appeared in the magazine during the issue’s time frame.
Time Frame: Spring 1998 through Fall 1999. Put those pagers on vibrate and open up Windows 98™, we’re visiting the very late ’90s. Create a funny story, parody, or article based on one of the following themes:
- Fly the Friendly Skies
- Hi-Jinks and Misadventures
- Health and Fitness
- Special Olympics Preview
- Bad Poetry
- Looking on the Bright Side
- Abundant Cornucopia
Share your results, or a link to your results if they’re longer, in the comments, if you feel so compelled. If you’re especially satisfied with your results, why not submit your finished piece to National Pasquinade for its 20th Anniversary Issue? The deadline for submissions is November 15, 2017, if you pay attention to deadlines.Happy writing.
Using my own prompt, I finished the first draft of a piece based on “Looking On The Bright Side.” The story starts thusly. Think you can come up with something clever and funny on one these themes? Show us!
His positive attitude was like a bad cold, spreading throughout the masses, an unstoppable force of nature infecting the most cynical of society to the point of nausea. Some believed his ability was supernatural, most believed it was just that idiotic grin. Either way, it was his super power and would ultimately be his demise.
It would be everyone’s demise.