History Main / ClipboardOfAuthority

* ''ComicBook/{{Commando}}'': Inverted in "The Silent Strike" when a British diplomat has to meet a RebelLeader, so he enters a British oil refinery in his official capacity and exits dressed in overalls in the passenger seat of a truck, holding a clipboard, so the SecretPolice won't realise who he is.

* ''WesternAnimation/FoodFight'', which literally has a character named Mr. Clipboard who intimidates people into buying his products.

* ''Film/JamesBond''

** He does it again, this time with an actual clipboard (while posing as "Klaus Hergesheimer, G Section") in ''Film/DiamondsAreForever''. Unfortunately the real Hergesheimer walks through the door just after he leaves...
* In ''Film/{{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 ''Film/ThePaper''.

* ''Film/TheDreamTeam'': This eases Christopher Lloyd's character in doctor-impersonating.

* In ''Film/{{Chappie}}'', while the villain Vincent secretly uploads his virus at Tetravaal's high security area, security guards enter the room, which prompts Vincent to grab a random clipboard in hope it makes him look like official staff. The trick works.
* Lampshaded in ''Film/{{Tenet}}'' along with Reflective Vest of Authority (ironically just when the Protagonist comes up against a door he can't get through).
-->'''Barbara:''' With a high-vis vest and a clipboard you can get almost anywhere. Almost.

* In the ''Literature/{{Dexter}}'' novel ''Dearly Devoted Dexter'' Kyle Chutsky points out that "No one ever stops a man with a clipboard."

** In ''Literature/MovingPictures'', it's said you can get into anywhere with a piece of paper, rolled-up sleeves, and a purposeful expression.

* In ''{{Literature/Doom}}'', Fly and Arlene need to get to a radio they don't have access to. Arlene hands Fly a clipboard and he plays inspection sergeant all the way to it.
* In the Literature/{{Dortmunder}} novel ''What's the Worst That Could Happen?'', Dortmunder and Kelp are able to gain access to almost every area of the Watergate complex by dressing as engineers and carrying clipboards.

* ''Franchise/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' has this with ''[[NoodleImplements towels]]''
-->"If you have your towel, everyone automatically assumes that you are an extremely on-top of it person, and thus will be happy to lend you anything you may have misplaced (food, money, etc.)."
* No clipboard, but in ''Literature/TheLongDarkTeaTimeOfTheSoul'' Dirk Gently gets into a crime scene by being right behind a uniformed policeman, and when that policeman got stopped to show his ID Gently just walked by and said "He's with me."
* Lampshaded and riffed on in ''The Rhesus Chart'' by Creator/CharlesStross. A think tank of investment bankers discover they've become vampires, so set about investigating in an organised manner how they'll get blood and what their powers and vulnerabilities are, turning up at hospitals and butcher shops wielding clipboards (even to church mass or nightclubs, where it's completely unnecessary).

%% * ''Literature/TheScarpettaSeries'': Dr. Scarpetta, Creator/PatriciaCornwell's character, does it on one occasion.
* Robert B. Parker's Literature/{{Spenser}} does this at least once, while commenting on the phenomenon.

** ''Literature/TheThrawnTrilogy'': In ''Dark Force Rising'', when Luke is rescuing Karrde from a Star Destroyer they use a DataPad to this effect.
** During the ''Literature/XWingSeries'', Iella and Mirax pull this, with Iella as the exec and Mirax as the hapless technician having to guide her around.
* Disturbing variant in one of the ''Literature/SwordOfTruth'' novels. When [[TheEmpire 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 [[RapePillageAndBurn 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 ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'' novel ''I Am Jade Falcon'', while infiltrating a secret laboratory, main character Joanna tells the warrior helping her to "pick up a clipboard and look like you are annoyed by something" in order to avoid being hassled if they're discovered. The ruse works.

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''. In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E14GoodbyeIowa Goodbye Iowa]]" Buffy infiltrates the Initiative's ElaborateUndergroundBase by posing as a scientist with a clipboard and NerdGlasses. The clipboard actually comes in useful when she uses it to stop a door closing.
* ''Series/{{Angel}}'' and team used this trope a couple times to infiltrate the evil law firm of Wolfram and Hart. This nearly backfired on Angel when another lawyer points at him accusingly only to start talking about a business deal he thinks Angel had a part in.
* Michael and his colleagues put this to use more than once in ''Series/BurnNotice'', 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 [[{{Pun}} sod]] off, not shot at.
* Invoked by the ''Series/{{Leverage}}'' team nearly every time they need to infiltrate a corporate headquarters. Clipboards, suits, and maintenance gear have allowed them to walk right past armed security while said security is actually looking for them.

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS37E1TheWomanWhoFellToEarth "The Woman Who Fell to Earth"]]: As part of a BavarianFireDrill to evacuate a construction site, Graham and Grace don reflective vests and grab themselves clipboards.
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS37E7Kerblam "Kerblam!"]]: The Doctor takes note of executive Jarva Slade's clipboard when she first meets him. Later, she and her companions wonder why, in a company that does everything electronically, he's using ''[[NoPaperFuture paper]]'': [[spoiler:because he thinks that the computer has something to do with the mysterious employee disappearances, and wants a record only he can access.]] Head of people Judy Maddox also carries around a tablet that looks like a clipboard.
* On ''Series/GoodGirls'', Annie has a one-night stand with a guy working at a Costco-like store who steals a paper with his phone number containing crucial information the girls need. Annie doesn't know much about him so at the store, sister Beth grabs a clipboard and marches up to a veteran employee, making it sound like she's from a major corporate office and demanding information as part of some checks. While Annie and Ruby are impressed, Beth lampshades "it's the clipboard."

* In TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}, brandishing one of these is one way how TheFace might talk their way into the MegaCorp facility ''du jour''.

[[folder:Web Comics]]
%%* This is how Robyn and Sajjan escaped the lunar penitentiary in ''Webcomic/EscapeFromTerra''. [[http://www.bigheadpress.com/eft?page=460 Page image source]].
* ''Webcomic/{{xkcd}}'': [[http://xkcd.com/699/ A variation:]] "Did you know you can just buy lab coats?"

* Two words: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment Milgram experiment]]. 65% of completely normal, mentally-stable people "killed" another person by "excessive electrocution" just because a guy with a lab coat and clipboard told them to do so.