"Faux To" Guide: Difference between revisions

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* The ''[[Complete World Knowledge]]'' series includes hobbies for asthmatic children, how to [[Our Werewolves Are Different|tell the different types of werewolf apart]], information on hermit crab racing, advice on cons, advice on de-lousing your children, advice on de-axolotling your plumbing ([[Brown Note|do not look for too long]] at an axolotl or [[The Virus|you will become one]]), how to buy a computer, how to cook an owl, how to remember any name (especially the name John Hodgman), the secret of your identity and how you got that terrible scar, etc.
* ''[[How Not to Write A Novel]]'' is a self-help book that is written like one of these.
* ''How to Ruin Your Life'' by Ben Stein is an inversion, in that it actually describes [[Exactly What It Says Onon the Tin|how people ruin their lives]] to help people avoid such pitfalls.
* ''[[The Zombie Survival Guide]]'' offers practical advice, albeit for a completely fictional [[Zombie Apocalypse|situation]].
* ''Taming of the Screw'' by [[Dave Barry]] is a guide of this kind for DIY home improvement projects. He also used to write a recurring column called ''Ask Mr. Language Person'' which did this for grammar.
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* ''How To Be A Superhero'' was part this, part satire of [[Superhero]] tropes.
** Similarly, inversely, there is also ''How To Be A Villain''.
* [[The Action HerosHero's Handbook (Literature)|The Action Heros Handbook]] -- The information is fairly accurate, but it advises you for situations you'll probably never run into yourself, and it's not a good idea to try any of it yourself.
* ''[[How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying]]'', though some of the advice seems like it might work.
* In the computer world, ''Mr. Bunny's Big Cup o' Java(TM)'' and ''Mr. Bunny's Guide to [[Active X]]'' by Carleton Egremont, Jr. describes those technologies in the style of a children's book. Both are funny only to those who already understand how they work.
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== Web Comics ==
* ''The Seventy Maxims of Maximally Effective Mercenaries''<ref>[[Screwed Byby the Lawyers|retconned after a copyright claim by the people Tayler was parodying in the first place]]</ref> from ''[[Schlock Mercenary (Webcomic)|Schlock Mercenary]]'', including such - admittedly sage - advice as "Pillage, THEN burn." and "A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head."
* [[Basic Instructions]] (as seen above) runs on this. The advice text is usually genuine, while the pictures usually show it applied badly.
* [[DM of the Rings]] has author comments that occasionally do this, generally in a [[Deadpan Snarker|deadpan]] or sarcastic way.
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== Web Original ==
* [[Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Abridged Series (Web Video)|"Dan Green]] Presents [[Subject 101|Abridging 101]]". Just search for it on [[YouTube]].
* [[Rose of Versailles Abridged|"Hello, Maria Theresa here, with your new rule for writing a Period Anime."]]
* The main schtick of Mark Erickson's [http://www.youtube.com/user/infinitesolutions Infinite Solutions videos]. They're all played just straight enough that the occasional [[YouTube]] comment will still ask if the Empire State Building really ''does'' offer [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvF_nxXJO5s Firearm Fridays], or correct his assertion that [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brdmnUBAS00 electrical tape conducts electricity].
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* [http://u63r.deviantart.com/art/how-to-be-a-furry-31135582 How To Be a Furry] ([http://www.vivisector.org/archive/tutorial/ mirror])
* Destructoid's [http://www.destructoid.com/ten-golden-rules-of-online-gaming-64474.phtml Ten Golden Rules of Online Gaming] teaches you how to be the stereotypical [[Jerkass]] portrayal of the average person playing an online shooter. Accurate, but not something you should aspire to.
** Encyclopedia Dramatica's "tips" on playing ''[[Team Fortress 2 (Video Game)|Team Fortress 2]]'' follow a similar route, explaining exactly what ''not'' to do.
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJ2_avaK_W4 A Beginner's Guide To Faking Your Death On The Internet] and [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMFDs-NmeHM A Beginner's Guide To Commuting] are satirical instructional videos for, well, [[Exactly What It Says Onon the Tin|Exactly What They Say On The Tin]].
* The 100th episode of ''[[Unskippable]]''.
* [[Uncyclopedia]] has [http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Category:HowTo its own series of these]. Including [[Author Existence Failure|how to saw your own head off with a chainsaw]].
* [[Hyperbole and Aa Half|Allie Brosh's]] ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CW-5-1WK9dc How To Put Yourself Inside Of A Coat]'', although the humor is more about making something no one should ''need'' an instruction video for seem complicated.
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fUi1EYq6Rs How To Boil Water The EASY Way], a humorous-but-serious account of how autism can affect self-care skills.
* Ryan Higa's "How to Be a Ninja/Gangster/Emo/Nerd" videos.
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== Western Animation ==
* Classic [[Classic Disney Shorts|Goofy cartoons]] used to do this with a number of subjects (mostly sports). It was given a [[Shout -Out]] in a ''[[Goof Troop]]'' episode, and there are several examples in ''House of Mouse'' (such as "How to Haunt a House," which begins with Goofy getting hit by a car and dying), and "[[How to Hook Up Your Home Theater]]" showed before ''[[National Treasure]] 2''.
** According to the story, the narrator for the original "How to" cartoons wasn't told he was doing voicework for Goofy cartoons, but instead voicing serious how-to films (out of a fear that [[Serious Business|he'd reject doing voicework for comedy]]). He supposedly got quite angry when he found out what he'd done the work for.
** Goofy is not the only Disney character who has done this. [[Donald Duck]] appeared on "How to Have an Accident in the Home" and "How to Have an Accident at Work".
* An entire episode of ''[[Harvey Birdman, Attorney Atat Law]]'' ("Sebben and Sebben Employee Orientation") features the cast in a sendup of cheesy workplace orientation videos.
* The ''[[SpongebobSpongeBob SquarePants]]'' episode "Krusty Krab Training Video".
* The ''[[Private Snafu]]'' cartoons prepared by [[Warner Bros]] for the Army-Navy Screen Magazine. A series of training films that show how to behave during wartime by showing how the [[Armed Farces|worst soldier in the army]] gets it wrong.
* 'Hi! I'm [[The Simpsons|Troy McClure]]. You might remember me from such self-help videos as "''Smoke Yourself Thin''" and "''Get Confident, Stupid''"'
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