With the election over, a lot of talk has been floating back and forth about change, new days, hope, that "yes we did," etc. But as the new administration takes office, the real question still remains.
How do you make Barack Obama funny?
It’s the question that late-night comedians have been asking themselves ever since it was announced that George W. Bush was leaving office. No matter what you think about Bush, one thing was certain: He was funny as hell. It was EASY to make fun of him, and the comedy writers had a field day. But now that Obama is the president, how do you make him a punch line?
There WERE running jokes throughout the campaign and election process, of course. Obama was the second coming. Obama was Superman. Once Obama was president, everyone would get a new puppy and it would rain glitter and lollypops. Obama was so uptight that his speech seemed pressured with weird pauses or, conversely, Obama was so cool he was practically a jazz act. (A nod must be given to Saturday Night Live for this hilarious short portraying Obama as "one cool cat.")
But is the current administration FUNNY? The biggest test comes with what I always call the "real news" at The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. They’ve been doing JUST fine with the new administration, and let’s face it, as long as there are people like Blagojevich popping up, the writing rooms will be allllll set, and with the mock conservative news at Colbert, spinning everything Obama does must be a real treat for the writers. Perhaps less so at The Daily Show, where the liberal spin made Bush such a ridiculously easy target. But we’re talking about very, very talented writers here. They find the funny. And with some of the rubes in the Cabinet, House and Senate, they don’t have to search far.
Let’s just look at a few people close to the administration whom are RIPE for the mocking:
- Nancy Pelosi, who considers herself a bulldog, but continually rolls over to get her belly scratched at any opportunity
- Barney Frank, who is completely batshit insane, like, for REALSIES insane
- Rahm "Napoleon Complex" Emmanuel
- oh my GOD Joe Biden, who has never passed up an opportunity to stick his loafer in his mouth
- And let’s face it, the inauguration was HILARIOUS. From Aretha Franklin’s hat to the screw up with the oath, I think the Comedy Central team is off to a great start.
There’s a lot of potential here. Perhaps Hilary Clinton will get so power hungry that she’ll staple herself to the chair in the Oval Office. Perhaps Blago will…Well, every time he opens his mouth, something hilarious falls out, so let’s just hope he keeps doing what he does so well. The thing about politics is that it can be, CAN be as funny as a written comedy sketch, and often is. Whether Barack Obama is the best president the United States ever sees or not, or if he proves to be entirely joke-proof, his Cabinet and senior staff is already in line for the Not Ready For Primetime Players. The comedy will keep coming.
So maybe we’ll be juuuuuust fine with the laughs in our new administration. And if things start getting stale, well, we can always get Aretha to wear her hat again.
About Snarky Amber
