Al Franken's Not-So-Serious Moments
Minnesota voters took comedian Al Franken seriously when he ran for the state's U.S. Senate seat in 2008. After 238 days of recounts and contested ballots, Franken was sworn in last July. As Franken wraps up his first year as a senator, we bring you some less-than-serious moments featuring the political satirist turned politician.
The Internet anxiously awaited the former comedian's first joke in his new job. Could Franken really shed his satirical sensibilities just because he had been dubbed "senator"? He spent his first days in Washington on some serious business: the confirmation hearings of then-Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. But about a week into his first term, during the hearings, he finally made a funny. Catch the punchline in the video above.
The Full Ginsburg responds:
Eric Cunningham: I guess what I can't believe is that he didn't make a single joke for the first week. I mean, normal people don't go a week without making a joke on the job. This is Al Franken really showing some restraint and trying to prove early on that he was a real Senator and not some weird real-life version of the movie Man of the Year.
Zara Findlay-Shirras: No, you're right. But I like how he played it cool. Day 1: Everyone's expecting it. "When's he going to be funny? When's he going to be funny?" Day 2: "Oooh, I bet it'll be today. He didn't want to blow his cover the first day." Day 3: "Oh, I get it. He's a politician now. That comedy stuff is behind him." Day 4: "Saturday Night Live, you say? Really?" Day 5: JOKES! "Oh, thank God! Now we can go back to talking in ten minute intervals."
Barely Political responds:
Ben Relles: Franken may be using his first season in the Senate to settle in a bit, taking the Saturday Night Live route. I remember Will Ferrell's first year on SNL, he was in the background a bit, and then suddenly he broke out as a star. Same with others like Amy Poehler and Kristen Wiig. Al Franken spent 15 years at Saturday Night Live so I'm sure he has sat back quite a few good jokes to not draw attention to himself. Of course all comedians like the spotlight, and on Saturday Night Live Al Franken was a show staple until he eventually left in 1995 when a small group at SNL voted for Norm MacDonald to take over Weekend Update instead of him. In 2014 it will be a much larger group, namely an entire state, that decides how long he stays around.
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