takeoff

ascent

lampoon, mockery, satire

comedy, farce, humor, sketch, slapstick, squib

distortion, exaggeration

imitation, impersonation, mimicking

set out, start, strike out

abscond, decamp, escape, evacuate, flee, fly, get out, mizzle [chiefly British], run away, scat, scram, skip

go out, light out, step out

abandon, desert, forsake, vacate

emigrate

adjourn, remove, retire, retreat, withdraw

husk, shed

kick (off)

disrobe, strip, undress

decrease, diminish, discount, downsize, dwindle, knock down, lessen, lower, reduce

abbreviate, abridge, clip, crop, curtail, cut, cut back, cut down, dock, pare, prune, retrench, shorten, slash, trim, truncate, whittle

ransack, rifle

despoil, loot, pillage, plunder, ravish, sack, spoil, strip

bleed, break in, cheat, chisel, cozen, defraud, exploit, fleece, gyp, hustle, mulct, pluck, rook, shortchange, skin, squeeze, stick, sting, swindle

hold up, mug, roll, stick up