The Charlatans # 23 - A series of 40 satirical short stories exposing the shenanigans of South Africa's business and political elite.

The Charlatans is Not The Bored Room's new book containing 40 satirical short stories exposing the immoral, unethical and other character failings of the business and political elite in South Africa. Over the coming months, I'll be posting brief whet-your-appetite summaries of the stories, now moving to the twenty-third story, titled Strictly Come Prancing.

In Strictly Come Prancing, we encounter Hysteria Charlatan, Group Human Resources Director of Charlatans, Inc., having recently, in her self-development interests, attended a small business incubator workshop. 'I'll show them some innovative design thinking,' she resolves, then successfully proposing and developing a brand spanking new business to add to Charlatans, Inc.'s ever-expanding business empire. The rest of Hysteria's family are both bemused and amused at her endeavour, Strictly Come Prancing, a reality TV show for child beauty queens.

Thereafter follows the first live episode, where twenty precocious little girls compete in three challenging fashion competitions - bikini, casual wear and formal attire - after which the audience votes out their least favourite child, each of whom receives Miss Personality prizes. "Everyone will feel like they're a winner!" Hysteria announces during the program's launch event at Caesar's Phallus, where the series is filmed, near the casino's slot machines, poker tables, cocktail bars, drug dealers, pimps, prostitutes and other reprobates.

It is at the conclusion of the first live episode of Strictly Come Prancing that things go awry, most particularly for Hysteria Charlatan and her five-year-old daughter Deliria.

To find out how the story of Strictly Come Prancing unfolds and concludes, and the many other ways that Charlatans, Inc. goes about its bad business, buy a signed copy by the author and illustrator of The Charlatans. The book is available for purchase @ R250 per copy including postage. Just pop us an email - [email protected] - and we'll do the necessary.

Not The Bored Room has developed a short in-company corporate communications product, The Charlatans Shockshop, aimed at reminding people throughout an organisation not to get up to unethical, immoral and criminal mischief-making, or suffer the consequences thereof. This is in the vein of Robert Fulgham's marvellous New York Times bestseller, All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. The Charlatans Shockshop is two hours in duration, uses entertaining and informative storytelling, with intense audience involvement. Participants, up to sixty in number, get an informative and entertaining attitude change experience, a personal, signed copy of The Charlatans, and a 'Don't be a Charlatan!' memento.

If you're a leader with good character and keen to keep or get your employees on a clean moral, ethical and character track, please email us at [email protected], and we'll send you more details about The Charlatans Shockshop.

Here below is the illustration of the story of Strictly Come Prancing.