Timothy McSweeney's Header Image

- - - -

Now available for preorder:
The San Francisco Panorama
.

- - - -

Sarah Walker
Shows You How.

- - - -

How to Taunt.

By Sarah Walker

- - - -

Be a Prison Guard Circa 1925

This is the first and most obvious way to taunt. You should be racist or uneducated, or both, and work in an underfunded prison in the Deep South, let's say Mississippi. Don't stress if you end up in Alabama or something, though northern Virginia might pose a problem.

Pick a prisoner who is wrongfully imprisoned for a crime he did not commit. He must also be much bigger and stronger than you are. It helps a lot if you have a puny frame. You can maintain this through a strict diet of grain alcohol and muskrat. It'll also make you meaner, an important quality for effective taunting.

As you are puny-framed and mean, it will give you a power trip to insult an innocent man behind bars. I'd suggest taunting him about his family first, maybe give him daily updates on how you slept with his wife. You don't have to say that—be creative, although that has proven to be one of the more effective taunts. Of course, you wouldn't actually do any of the horrible things you suggest, because you're too much of a coward. You can practice being a coward by running away from bar fights or blaming your own faults on a friend or small child. Make sure the prisoner never takes his eyes off you and that he silently swells with rage.

After several months of this, dangle your prison keys in front of his cell in a taunting gesture. Then allow them to slip from your fingers. "Accidentally" kick them into his cell and then hastily fumble to retrieve them. Stand in frozen horror as he picks them up and unlocks the door. Shakily point your gun at him, but make sure your fear overwhelms you and that you are not able to fire. Your cowardice should guarantee this. Allow him to calmly twist the gun from your hands and throw it aside so that it clatters on the concrete floor. Then be beaten senseless. I hope you don't die, but, if you do, rest assured that you've taunted well.

Bonus points if he has superpowers like that guy in The Green Mile.


Be a Chubby Little Kid
With a Predilection for Chocolate Bars

Although lesser known, this is nonetheless an equally effective way to taunt. It works best if your mother is a member of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. You should travel with her and her teammates and their alcoholic coach on their bus, causing general annoyance so that your game-time taunting obtains special credence. Suggest in a high-pitched whiny voice that they will not win the baseball contest. Put your thumbs in your ears and extend your fingers so that you look like a moose. Stick out your tongue and make a raspberry noise. Shake your butt slowly back and forth. Do not be surprised when a mitt is thrown at your face with such force that you fall backward midtaunt. You have deserved this, because you have taunted well.


Be an Elite Hotshot Fighter Pilot

Probably the flashiest way to taunt. Here your method of taunting will involve giving other pilots the finger while executing complicated midair maneuvers. With that said, I don't recommend this type of taunting, because your dangerous moves will more likely than not put the other pilots in harm's way. You're not a racist, or a coward, or a fat child, and you don't deserve the guilt that will overwhelm you when your best friend eventually dies in a crash. Though the crash won't be directly caused by taunting, you'll always wonder if your taunts had something to do with his death. So, yes, don't do that.

 

FURTHER INSTRUCTION

 

- - - -

MAIN PAGE | ARCHIVES



Memories of Amanda Davis




Red dot denotes content that is new today.

Black dot denotes newish content.

McSWEENEY'S STORE

SUBSCRIBE TO:
McSWEENEY'S
THE BELIEVER
WHOLPHIN

FUTURE McSWEENEY'S BOOKS

THE AMANDA DAVIS HIGHWIRE FICTION AWARD

INVITE A McSWEENEY'S AUTHOR TO SPEAK IN YOUR TOWN OR COLLEGE

THE BEST AMERICAN NONREQUIRED READING

McSWEENEY'S MONTHLY MAILING LIST

BOOKSTORES WITH A McSWEENEY'S DISPLAY

McSWEENEY'S-RELATED EVENTS AND VARIOUS TOUR DATES

ORDER INQUIRIES AND ADDRESS CHANGES

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:
FOR BOOKS
FOR THE QUARTERLY
FOR THE WEBSITE
FOR WHOLPHIN

McSWEENEY'S INTERNSHIPS

CONTACT US

- - - -

LETTERS TO McSWEENEY'S

LISTS

McSWEENEY'S RECOMMENDS

REVIEWS OF NEW FOOD

NEW WHOLPHIN FILM

DAN LIEBERT, VERBAL CARTOONIST

TEDDY WAYNE'S UNPOPULAR PROVERBS

NON-ESSENTIAL MNEMONICS

BITCHSLAP: A COLUMN ABOUT WOMEN AND FIGHTING

DISPATCHES FROM A GUY TRYING UNSUCCESSFULLY
TO SELL A SONG IN NASHVILLE


GLOBAL WAR ON BEDBUGS: LETTERS FROM BEDBUG CITY

THE CONFLICTED EXISTENCE OF A FEMALE PORN WRITER

OH MY GAWD: A COLUMN ABOUT A TEENAGER NAVIGATING RELIGION

DISPATCHES FROM MANILA

DISPATCHES FROM AN INDIAN CASINO

THE CONVERGENCES CONTEST

CHRIS WHITE ANSWERS PROFOUND
QUESTIONS ABOUT THE PRESIDENTS


REPORTS FROM THE PINBALL SCENE

LETTERS FROM THE HELLBOX

NOTES FROM AN AMATEUR SPECTATOR
AT AMATEUR MIXED MARTIAL ARTS FIGHTS


B.R. COHEN'S DAYS AT THE MUSEUM

CONVERSATIONS AT A WARTIME CAFÉ

AND HERE'S THE KICKER:
MIKE SACKS'S CONVERSATIONS WITH HUMOR WRITERS


GRANT MUNROE'S CORPORATE FOLKTALES

SARAH WALKER SHOWS YOU HOW

DISPATCHES FROM AN ENVIRONMENTAL LAWYER
WHO IS TRYING TO GROW A MUSTACHE


DISPATCHES FROM A HANGDOG BANKRUPT

DISPATCHES FROM THE CAPITAL

DISPATCHES FROM INDIA

THE WINNER'S CIRCLE WITH ERIC FEEZELL

SEAN MICHAELS LISTENS TO MUSIC IN MONTREAL

SHORT IMAGINED MONOLOGUES

KIDS' LETTERS TO PRESIDENT OBAMA

STAINED TEETH: A COLUMN ABOUT WINE

YOUR MONEY, YOUR JOB ... YOUR LIFE, WITH ALISON ROSEN

KEVIN DOLGIN TELLS YOU ABOUT PLACES YOU SHOULD GO IN EUROPE

ABOUT THE WILD THINGS

ABOUT THE CONVALESCENT

ABOUT FEVER CHART

ABOUT GOD SAYS NO

ABOUT ZEITOUN

LETTERS FROM AN EARTH BALL
TO, OR CONCERNING, SEAN HANNITY


E-MAILS SENT TO THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FLAG-FOOTBALL TEAM


TRAVELING EUROPE IN STYLE WITH AUCKLAND DINGIROO,
DARK-AGE TOURIST AND CRITIC OF FOOD AND DRINK


JOHN MOE'S POP-SONG CORRESPONDENCES

INTERVIEWS WITH PEOPLE WHO HAVE INTERESTING OR UNUSUAL JOBS

FLIP: A COLUMN ABOUT SKATEBOARDING

OPEN LETTERS TO PEOPLE OR ENTITIES WHO ARE UNLIKELY TO RESPOND

DISPATCHES FROM A PUBLIC LIBRARIAN

MICHAEL IAN BLACK IS A VERY FAMOUS CELEBRITY

DAN KENNEDY SOLVES YOUR PROBLEMS WITH PAPER

STEPHEN ELLIOTT'S POKER REPORT

- - - -

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL