Automoderated users, Autopatrolled users, Bureaucrats, Comment administrators, Confirmed users, Moderators, Rollbackers, Administrators
214,709
edits
Clipboard of Authority: Difference between revisions
no edit summary
m (Remove useless categories) |
No edit summary |
||
| (11 intermediate revisions by 4 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{trope}}
[[File:
{{quote|"[A] clipboard is as good as a skeleton key."
|'''Michael Westen, ''[[Burn Notice]]'''''}}
When the characters are engaging in a [[Bavarian Fire Drill]], are [[Impersonating an Officer]], need to [[Delivery Guy Infiltration|infiltrate the enemy base]], or are [[Dressing
See also [[Refuge in Audacity]]. This is of course [[Truth in Television]], as shows like ''[[The Real Hustle]]'' can attest.
{{examples
== [[Fan Works]] ==
* In the ''[[RWBY]]/[[The Gamer]]'' crossover ''[[The Games We Play (RWBY fanfic)|The Games We Play]]'', a clipboard plus an appropriate uniform gets Jaune Arc aboard the ''White Whale'' -- a massive [[Zeppelins from Another World|airship]] created as a joint project by the Schnee Dust Company and the Atlesian government -- so that he can hijack it.
== [[Film]] ==
* ''[[James Bond (
** Bond does this in ''[[
** He does it again, this time with an actual clipboard (while posing as "Klaus Hergesheimer, G Section") in ''[[
* In ''[[Sneakers]]'', Robert Redford claims (and demonstrates!) that all you need to get into any building in the world is a clipboard and a confident wave.
** Michael Keaton says (and does) the same thing in ''The Paper''.
* In ''The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer'', the titular character managed to successfully become part of an advertising agency by going in with a clipboard, looking like he knew what he was doing and saying he was with "efficiency", and everyone perfectly buys it!
* ''[[Dream Team]]'': This eases Christopher Lloyd's character in doctor-impersonating.
* ''[[Sherlock Holmes (
== [[Literature]] ==
* Dr. Scarpetta, Patricia Cromwell's character, does it on one occasion.
* ''[[The
{{quote|
* In ''[[
** Nobby Nobbs uses a sheaf of papers (Colon's shopping list), a purposeful expression, and a constant shout to bluff the guy running the city armory in ''[[
* Robert B. Parker's [[Spenser]] does this at least once, while commenting on the phenomenon.
* No clipboard, but in ''[[The Long Dark Tea
* Disturbing variant in one of the ''[[Sword of Truth]]'' novels. When [[The Empire|The Imperial Order]] conquers a city she's in, Jebra hides out for several days in a cellar, managing to avoid the invading army. When she finally comes out, she finds them doing their [[Rape, Pillage and Burn|usual thing]]... but they leave her alone, apparently on the assumption that if a woman ''isn't'' being brutally raped already, then she's a woman they're not supposed to brutally rape.
* In the [[Dexter]] novel ''Dearly Devoted Dexter'' Kyle Chutsky points out that "No one ever stops a man with a clipboard."
* One of the tricks Qui-Gon teaches Obi-Wan in the ''[[Jedi Apprentice]]'' books.
== [[Live
* [[
* Michael and his colleagues put this to use more than once in ''[[Burn Notice]]'', usually accompanied by being so loudly bureaucratic that everyone listens to them without question.
** They can also use it to be seen as a harmless, self-important nobody when they need a distraction. A pushy representative of the Homeowner's Lawn Association gets told to [[Incredibly Lame Pun|sod]] off, not shot at.
* Discussed by Liz and Carol on an episode of ''[[
* ''[[
* In ''[[How I Met Your Mother]]'', Marshal has a fantasy in which his wife dies of a deadly hiccup disease (long story). In this fantasy, she is in a hospital when a doctor comes in and claims she will die. Marshal asks the doctor if he is sure and he says, "It says it right here on the clipboard that doctors always have."
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* This is how Robyn and Sajjan escape the moon penitentiary in ''[[Escape
* [http://xkcd.com/699/ A variation:] "[[Xkcd
== [[Real Life]] ==
Line 50 ⟶ 53:
*** However, wearing any type of retail uniform and walking with a purposeful manner, even if you're wearing a different one than the particular establishment you're at, such as if you're merely shopping, tends to attract the inevitable "Excuse me, do you work here?" from customers. In some instances people will mistake you for someone important if you just wear a ''collared shirt and tie''; granted, though, that isn't exactly casual wear in most circumstances.
* A group of professional pranksters managed to waltz right through the airtight security surrounding a U.N. summit by outfitting a rented limousine with Canadian flags and dressing in black suits with earbuds to give the appearance of being the Canadian Prime Minister's official vehicle and bodyguard detail. The only reason the Prime Minister didn't actually climb in and be driven away was that the troupe basically chickened out with how far through security they'd come (and how many felonies they'd probably committed) and left before any officials showed themselves.
* DJ [[Kenny Everett]]
* When he was filming ''[[In the Loop]]'', Armando Ianucci convinced the State Department that his BBC pass was "access all areas". He spent the next three hours taking photographs of the US State Department.
* Poet Rives has a performance piece about trespassing on a construction site. Before starting he explains that this is very illegal, and if you want to do it you should grab a some safety gear and a clipboard so no one tries to stop you.
* A couple
* A [[Comp TIA]] A+ textbook by Mike Meyers (no, not ''that'' one) tells the story of how a former college classmate challenged him to gain access to his employer's server, having convinced them to stump up for some new and very flashy security software. (Whether he cleared this OPFOR exercise with his employers is not mentioned.) Meyers then proceeded to drive over to his friend's workplace. Wearing a boiler suit and an old photo ID badge on his lapel and pushing a parcel trolley, he talked his way in without the slightest difficulty and walked out with the server!
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Disguise Tropes]]
[[Category:Social Engineering]]
[[Category:Espionage Tropes]]
[[Category:Action Adventure Tropes]]
▲[[Category:Trope]]
| |||