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Sunday, May 02, 2010
White House Correspondents Dinner. The comedic stylings of Barack Obama VS the old broken down gags of Jay Leno.
I absolutely LOVED the President's segment, but Leno's left me feeling underwhelmed and a little uncomfortable.
You watch it for yourselves and tell me what you think.
I've been listening/watching right now, and you are exactly right. Leno seems a bit stilted and nervous! He's too fast and not very good in his delivery. President Obama had a better pace. But, President Obama is just naturally cool, and does everything well.
I absolutely love his sense of humor, but what I adore is the sweet moments when he cracks himself up. Long pause, then: Heh. It never fails to charm me.
Leno is not allowed in my house, so I cannot comment. I am confident that he sucked, because that's what Leno does, morally, ethically, and comically.
We are going to have to send the White House Correspondents a list of good comedians to consider for next year's dinner. Stephen Colbert was brilliant, so I nominate Jon Stewart! Also, too, David Letterman (much as I love him, he might be getting a little old for this stuff). And, as a dark horse candidate: Tina Fey! (It's never too late to make fun of Sarah Palin).
Kudos to the President's writers for an impressively smart, clever and funny routine and to Pres. Obama, himself, for a great delivery! I enjoyed the President's sense of humor and the light-hearted approach to some very annoying subjects.
Jay was way off -- just not funny and he looked like he knew it. I watched last night and the camera picked up the President smiling and laughing throughout Jay's routine. I give him a lot of credit for being able to do that.
What really depresses me, about the performance Barack gave last night, is how much nicer it could have been without the prejudice and hate put forth by Sarah and the tea-bagger crowd. Just think how nice it would to be able to share broadly,with our fellow citizens, this once in a lifetime intelligent, urbane, witty, and truly human President, after having come out of the wasteland, better known as the George Bush administrations.
Leno is sinking since the reverse Midas touch was on his show. They called it doing stand up, Palin did try hard to clean up her hand job She said Alaska is different from California. In Los Angeles, "when people have a frozen look on their face, I find out it's Botox."
Meanwhile, over on The Late Show, Mitt Romney told Dave he thinks Palin is “terrific.” Listen to the audience groan.
You are right! Jay Leno made me feel very uncomfortable. I turn it off after the remark about "no child left with a fat behind". Not funny! The President's timing is exquisite. He is able to make fun of himself but notice that he treats his family with love and respect. This is why the joke about his mother-in-law moving in and causing him stress fell flat. It is obvious that our President loves and respects Michele's mother. Am happy that he mentioned Sarah Palin comment and demonstrated her ignorance. Would have loved to see Jon Stewart take Len's place, it would have been hysterical.
I'm sorry, I couldn't finish Leno's bit. First of all, they weren't showing anything he was directing our attention to, like they did with BO's, but after the his, "PO's mood changed after the HC bill passed" thing, off it went. GAH. Horrible.
I'm not a Leno fan but I have seen him in heaps of different shows and my first impression is that he looks physically ill. He has the bulging, flushed cheeks that Jackie gleason displayed in his end days when he struggled to keep up with lines but was fatigued and flustered.
*knock wood - sure don't mean to be putting anythng bad out there*
I just think maybe his game is off because he doesn't look healthy.
Also too, I left it on and just listened to Leno's part and if you didn't hear - this was a gem: Leno was commenting on the gulf oil spill, saying "it has the potential to be an even bigger disaster than the one from Alaska - you know - Sarah palin? She's from Alaska, right?"
OUCH! Well there's another honeymoon in the dirt... he actually took a number of cold shots at her - I was surprised.
I watched President Obama's graduation address in Michigan and this one at the correspondents' dinner. He's an amazing man, and my admiration for him continually grows. I too turned off Leno. I really was offended by his remark about Michelle's mom. That joke was old and worn out 40 or 50 years ago. The rest was just as boring.
I only watched Obama who was hillarious. I did not even bother to watch Leno because I have always found him to not be funny and to reek arrogance. I found it strange when he was given the Tonight Show to begin with. David Letterman or even Joan Rivers would have been a better choice. That made it clear the decision to put him in the Tonight Show host position was based on something other than talent. I also do find it strange that considering the controversy surrounding him that Leno was selected to speak at the WHCD.
I don't think it was just that the President had better material, which he did, or that his speaking style lends itself to the delivery, which it does. Although he did lose it a bit on the parts he thought were funny.
Jay as definitely of his game. His delivery and timing were totally off. He was phoning it in. I also think relying on visuals was a total cop out. This wasn't TV. He should have done it off a straight script.
Maybe the Conan jabs threw him off. Maybe the thought he shouldn't upstage the President. Who knows. But he was off and it showed.
I came here to read the comments to see if anyone else picked up on what I did: that for a room full of newspeople, who are supposed to be up on current events and mentally sharp all around, it seemed like a lot of the jokes just went over their heads.
Now, maybe, the microphones directed toward the audience were too hushed, but I thought it was a really tough room to get laughs from.
It occurred to me that the 'audience' really didn't know if they could or should laugh. These past months of Sarah Palin dominating the headline news calling all journos 'lamestream media' and whinging about every little thing anyone says to her or about her has everyone in the media walking on eggshells.
It's as if her constant complaining and distorting the truth (virtually unchallenged) is altering political protocol and pollies and journos alike don't quite know how to respond.
I've been listening/watching right now, and you are exactly right. Leno seems a bit stilted and nervous! He's too fast and not very good in his delivery. President Obama had a better pace. But, President Obama is just naturally cool, and does everything well.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love his sense of humor, but what I adore is the sweet moments when he cracks himself up. Long pause, then: Heh. It never fails to charm me.
ReplyDeleteLeno is not allowed in my house, so I cannot comment. I am confident that he sucked, because that's what Leno does, morally, ethically, and comically.
Obama rocked....yes he has great writers, but he just kills with his delivery.
ReplyDeleteI thought Jay was off his game. He's not my fav, but he is a total pro....but he seemed nervous. Team CoCo!
Don"t allow Leno either, not since he su ck ed up to Snarah Paymore
ReplyDeleteLeno is a loser. He isn't fit to be in the same room let alone take a podium any where near President Obama.
ReplyDeleteWe are going to have to send the White House Correspondents a list of good comedians to consider for next year's dinner. Stephen Colbert was brilliant, so I nominate Jon Stewart! Also, too, David Letterman (much as I love him, he might be getting a little old for this stuff). And, as a dark horse candidate: Tina Fey! (It's never too late to make fun of Sarah Palin).
ReplyDeleteThat is really who should have been there Anonymous at 9:31 AM: Tina Fey. Right on.
ReplyDeleteKudos to the President's writers for an impressively smart, clever and funny routine and to Pres. Obama, himself, for a great delivery! I enjoyed the President's sense of humor and the light-hearted approach to some very annoying subjects.
ReplyDeleteJay was way off -- just not funny and he looked like he knew it. I watched last night and the camera picked up the President smiling and laughing throughout Jay's routine. I give him a lot of credit for being able to do that.
What really depresses me, about the performance Barack gave last night, is how much nicer it could have been without the prejudice and hate put forth by Sarah and the tea-bagger crowd.
ReplyDeleteJust think how nice it would to be able to share broadly,with our fellow citizens, this once in a lifetime intelligent, urbane, witty, and truly human President, after having come out of the wasteland, better known as the George Bush administrations.
It could have been SO nice.
Leno is sinking since the reverse Midas touch was on his show.
ReplyDeleteThey called it doing stand up, Palin did try hard to clean up her hand job
She said Alaska is different from California. In Los Angeles, "when people have a frozen look on their face, I find out it's Botox."
Meanwhile, over on The Late Show, Mitt Romney told Dave he thinks Palin is “terrific.” Listen to the audience groan.
You are right! Jay Leno made me feel very uncomfortable. I turn it off after the remark about "no child left with a fat behind". Not funny! The President's timing is exquisite. He is able to make fun of himself but notice that he treats his family with love and respect. This is why the joke about his mother-in-law moving in and causing him stress fell flat. It is obvious that our President loves and respects Michele's mother. Am happy that he mentioned Sarah Palin comment and demonstrated her ignorance. Would have loved to see Jon Stewart take Len's place, it would have been hysterical.
ReplyDeleteI never really liked Leno, and he certainly wasn't very good last night. After I watched, I got a sense of really? that's it?
ReplyDeleteObama, on the other hand, was great. Lots of good lines, but I still like the classic calling out to Michael Steele. As he said, it never gets old.
I'm sorry, I couldn't finish Leno's bit. First of all, they weren't showing anything he was directing our attention to, like they did with BO's, but after the his, "PO's mood changed after the HC bill passed" thing, off it went. GAH. Horrible.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a Leno fan but I have seen him in heaps of different shows and my first impression is that he looks physically ill. He has the bulging, flushed cheeks that Jackie gleason displayed in his end days when he struggled to keep up with lines but was fatigued and flustered.
ReplyDelete*knock wood - sure don't mean to be putting anythng bad out there*
I just think maybe his game is off because he doesn't look healthy.
Also too, I left it on and just listened to Leno's part and if you didn't hear - this was a gem: Leno was commenting on the gulf oil spill, saying "it has the potential to be an even bigger disaster than the one from Alaska - you know - Sarah palin? She's from Alaska, right?"
OUCH! Well there's another honeymoon in the dirt... he actually took a number of cold shots at her - I was surprised.
-OzMud
I watched President Obama's graduation address in Michigan and this one at the correspondents' dinner. He's an amazing man, and my admiration for him continually grows. I too turned off Leno. I really was offended by his remark about Michelle's mom. That joke was old and worn out 40 or 50 years ago. The rest was just as boring.
ReplyDeleteI only watched Obama who was hillarious. I did not even bother to watch Leno because I have always found him to not be funny and to reek arrogance. I found it strange when he was given the Tonight Show to begin with. David Letterman or even Joan Rivers would have been a better choice. That made it clear the decision to put him in the Tonight Show host position was based on something other than talent. I also do find it strange that considering the controversy surrounding him that Leno was selected to speak at the WHCD.
ReplyDeleteNo teleprompter!!! And no way Sarah Palin could have beat that.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it was just that the President had better material, which he did, or that his speaking style lends itself to the delivery, which it does. Although he did lose it a bit on the parts he thought were funny.
ReplyDeleteJay as definitely of his game. His delivery and timing were totally off. He was phoning it in. I also think relying on visuals was a total cop out. This wasn't TV. He should have done it off a straight script.
Maybe the Conan jabs threw him off. Maybe the thought he shouldn't upstage the President. Who knows. But he was off and it showed.
I came here to read the comments to see if anyone else picked up on what I did: that for a room full of newspeople, who are supposed to be up on current events and mentally sharp all around, it seemed like a lot of the jokes just went over their heads.
ReplyDeleteNow, maybe, the microphones directed toward the audience were too hushed, but I thought it was a really tough room to get laughs from.
@anon 8:48
ReplyDeleteIt occurred to me that the 'audience' really didn't know if they could or should laugh. These past months of Sarah Palin dominating the headline news calling all journos 'lamestream media' and whinging about every little thing anyone says to her or about her has everyone in the media walking on eggshells.
It's as if her constant complaining and distorting the truth (virtually unchallenged) is altering political protocol and pollies and journos alike don't quite know how to respond.
-OzMud
I *heart* our President. Such a breath of fresh air from the past...
ReplyDeleteI read yesterday that the Prez had the help of some writers from the Daily Show:
Daily Show Writers Helped Obama with Correspondents' Dinner Speech
Jay Leno launches right into the first joke without so much as a "Mr. President, Mrs. Obama, ... ladies and gentlemen..."
ReplyDeleteI realize this is supposed to be an evening of fun, but bracketed with proper protocol, right?
The President had help from writers of The Daily Show.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't Leno have writers too? You'd think The Tonight Show major network writers would be a match for some cable writers at Comedy Central.
Maybe not.
Obama had a better delivery too.