"You can't make up anything anymore. The world itself is a satire. All you're doing is recording it"

Art Buchwald’s observation speaks to the increasing absurdity and unpredictability of reality, where events and behaviors in the real world have become so strange, ironic, or exaggerated that they resemble satire itself. Traditionally, satirists, humorists, and writers would invent outlandish scenarios to highlight society’s flaws or make a point about human nature. Fabrication was essential; exaggerating the truth helped reveal deeper truths. However, as society evolves, the news cycle and daily happenings often seem more outrageous or surreal than anything a satirist might invent.

When every day brings headlines that once would have been dismissed as unbelievable or as parody, the line between fiction and reality blurs. Satire’s tools, exaggeration, irony, ridicule, become redundant if the fabric of society itself is laced with such elements. The satirist turns into more of a recorder or observer, simply documenting the world as it is. Outright invention, previously a required craft, loses its necessity when fact outpaces fiction in its strangeness.

There’s an underlying sense of both amusement and concern. On one hand, the unpredictability provides endless material. On the other, it points to a complex societal predicament: what happens when reality becomes so bizarre that exaggeration can no longer clarify or critique it? Humor that once helped people process and challenge the world may struggle to find footing if real events already mimic comic absurdity. Media, politics, and public personalities often seem to self-parody, and the observer’s task is reduced to commentary rather than creation.

Buchwald’s words challenge creators and consumers alike to reconsider the relationship between art and reality. As society grows increasingly unpredictable, the function of satire shifts from imaginative construction to critical curation. The artist’s, or satirist’s, role becomes not to invent, but to shine a light on reality, trusting that its own strangeness will be enough to provoke reflection, laughter, or even change.