diff --git a/gracedb/events/shortcuts.py b/gracedb/events/shortcuts.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..201dbe482785339f8143957519189129e1d6099c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gracedb/events/shortcuts.py
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+from .models import Event
+
+def is_event(obj):
+    return isinstance(obj, Event)
diff --git a/gracedb/superevents/shortcuts.py b/gracedb/superevents/shortcuts.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..fc2d1b541359de1608da8c80199176d7a99d80cd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gracedb/superevents/shortcuts.py
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+from .models import Superevent
+
+def is_superevent(obj):
+    return isinstance(obj, Superevent)