Big Fat Story
Obama mocks his name; McCain’s Hillary joke brings down the house.
That the speakers at the annual Alfred E. Smith Dinner are encouraged to show their comedy chops doesn’t mean they’re always funny. But give credit where it’s due: Obama made fun of his name, his penchant for self-glorification (“I was originally told we’d be able to move this outdoors to Yankee Stadium...”) and took a harmless shot or two at his opponent. But it was McCain who brought the house down that night. He not only zinged Hillary (“Even in this room full of proud Manhattan Democrats, I can't shake the feeling that some people here are pulling for me. [Pause] I'm delighted to see you here tonight, Hillary.”), but got some much-overdue laughs at MSNBC’s expense.
Rock chides Clinton on Letterman and won’t back down
The notion of a comedian telling truth to power, getting laughs while doing it, and actually changing the political conservation seems a long way from an era in which Larry The Cable Guy is arguably the most successful comic in show business. But that’s what Chris Rock did on Letterman when he sensed that Bill Clinton wasn’t exactly embracing Obama as presidential nominee – or even saying Obama’s name. After the appearance, Rock defended his words on Larry King Live. Not long after the dust-up – and a hysterical visit to Charlie Rose – Rock was a guest on the Today Show, where he even managed to solve a riddle for comedy fans: why it’s so damn hard to make fun of Obama.
When McCain compared Obama to Hilton, she fired back.
It was just days after Obama’s triumphant speech in Berlin when John McCain tried to knock his opponent down a few pegs with the now famous ‘Celebrity’ attack ad. The ad asked the question, ‘Is he ready to lead?’, and compared Obama to Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. Did Obama fire back? Not directly, but Paris Hilton sure did. With the assistance of the sometimes-brilliant crew at FunnyorDie.com, Hilton produced this response, which, by some measures, has had over 6 million more web views than McCain’s original ad. The ad looks glib, but it went after something that turned out to be just as vulnerable as Obama’s inexperience – McCain’s age.
The Best Political Comedy of 2008
From SNL’s “Palin Rap” to Chris Rock’s Bill Clinton take-down, a video round-up of the most hilarious comedy from the presidential race.
Tina Fey makes the show the pop-culture event of the year.
It hasn’t always been this relevant – or this good – but Saturday Night Live was easily the comedy success story of 2008. Sarah Palin hadn’t even finished her “community organizer” quip before the country was buzzing about Tina Fey doing an impersonation of her – an impersonation that would instantly make Fey the biggest TV star of the season. SNL was on its game the entire year; Amy Poehler gave us a spot-on Hillary but also the much more memorable “Palin Rap,” and even Fred Armisen’s much-criticized Obama impression gained fans after the post-election “Obama Is Cool” sketch. NBC may be the biggest winner; online videos from the show were some of the most-viewed of the year.
They were wooed by candidates, but booed on Comedy Central
It was perplexing. In a presidential campaign in which coverage and analysis of the candidates and where they stood on every issue was everywhere, there remained in October scores and scores of undecided voters whose final whim could determine history. Who were these people, and more importantly, why hadn’t anyone called them out for being (in the words of The Daily Show) the [bleep]-wits they clearly were? Enter John Oliver, who captured the thoughts of every thinking American in one of The Daily Show’s funniest sketches of the year.
We thought he was stiff. We were wrong.
Days after Obama had won the election, as the world was reflecting on what a Serious Moment it all was, there appeared on C-SPAN something extraordinary: highlights of the bawdy 2005 roast of Rahm Emanuel in which the key speaker was – gasp – a promising young senator from Illinois who brought down the house with one-liners about Emanuel’s ridiculously over-achieving family, his talent for making enemies, and – especially – the shortened middle finger of his right hand (“Have you seen that thing? It’s appalling.”) Who were the programmers at C-SPAN and what inspired them to show us the funny, uncensored side of Obama? We may never know – but whenever Obama seems entirely too sober, we will always have this video.
They were wooed by candidates, but booed on Comedy Central
It was perplexing. In a presidential campaign in which coverage and analysis of the candidates and where they stood on every issue was everywhere, there remained in October scores and scores of undecided voters whose final whim could determine history. Who were these people, and more importantly, why hadn’t anyone called them out for being (in the words of The Daily Show) the [bleep]-wits they clearly were? Enter John Oliver, who captured the thoughts of every thinking American in one of The Daily Show’s funniest sketches of the year.
Tina Fey makes the show the pop-culture event of the year.
It hasn’t always been this relevant – or this good – but Saturday Night Live was easily the comedy success story of 2008. Sarah Palin hadn’t even finished her “community organizer” quip before the country was buzzing about Tina Fey doing an impersonation of her – an impersonation that would instantly make Fey the biggest TV star of the season. SNL was on its game the entire year; Amy Poehler gave us a spot-on Hillary but also the much more memorable “Palin Rap,” and even Fred Armisen’s much-criticized Obama impression gained fans after the post-election “Obama Is Cool” sketch. NBC may be the biggest winner; online videos from the show were some of the most-viewed of the year.
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This comment has been removed by The Daily Beast's editors.
Who is the man behind the podium during the Al Smith Dinner and WHAT is he chewing and chewing and chewing.
fey's palin political skits were a freak of snl. they were actually funny. very funny. effortlessly funny. any other snl skits, political or otherwise, um, blew.
After all of the election comedy, notwithstanding that I am a Letterman fan and too aware of Leno's corporate hijinks, I think the best line was after the First Lady was assigned responsibility for decrease of gang violence.
Jay said that drive by shootings in LA had not decreased but at least they were being executed according to the Dewey Decimal System.
Thank you.
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