We’d all love to be as good as Jon Stewart at the Daily Show. (Wouldn’t we? I would! ) Current events jokes can be a pain because they are related to a moment that will end soon so you can’t use the joke over and over as you would more evergreen material. But understanding and writing satire is a skill that should be in your tool kit.

Satire works by exposing stupidity through exaggeration (blowing things up until they’re ridiculous), incongruity (putting things where they don’t belong), reversal (flipping expectations), and parody (imitating someone to mock them—but only if you can actually do impressions, otherwise skip it). Pick stories with recognizable people that you can explain in 15 seconds. Avoid stories that are too bizarre on their own—if the headline is unbelievable, the audience will think you made it up. And punch up, not down. Mock people’s choices and actions, not things they can’t control.

Find stories that made you feel something—if it pissed you off, others felt it too. Then pick one angle and destroy it. Don’t try to cover everything. “This politician said he ‘forgot’ about his offshore account. I forget my keys. He forgot three million dollars.”

Satire Techniques in Action, with a topic that will soon feel dated but is a good example!

Exaggeration: “Trump did some aggressive fundraising this week when he kidnapped the president of Venezuela.”

Incongruity: “After kidnapping Venezuela’s president, we’ve decided to solve climate change by forcibly removing penguins.”

Reversal: “I can’t watch Hollywood films anymore. They’re always trying to save the president and I’m like, please don’t—get ’em, Sergei!”

Parody: This technique works better on paper. Use it on stage if you can nail someone’s voice, imitate how they dodge questions or make excuses. If you can’t? Just describe what they did in your own words—the absurdity speaks for itself.

Either way, this skill set will help you become better and with the world constantly disappointing us, you will never run of ideas for new material. Scott Dikkers (of The Onion fame) often says that satire’s job is to “right a wrong” or help us process trauma. So get out there and process baby.