VIDEO: President Barack Obama’s Monologue at the 2012 White House Correspondents’ Dinner
Before you get inundated by politically motivated reactions from Ds and Rs to President Barack Obama’s monologue at the 2012 White House Correspondent’s Dinner, why not watch it yourself and make your own decision? Here it is:
Here are some Tweets I did on this subject on my Twitter page:
@JoeGandelman @gotlucky If a President gives a monologue that gets laughs it’s always harder for the comedian to follow him.
In reply to Trish Ponder12m Trish Ponder Trish Ponder ? @gotlucky Not sure if #Obama’s just a tough act to follow or if #jimmykimmel was pulling punches.
Retweeted by Joe Gandelman
11m Joe Gandelman Joe Gandelman ? @JoeGandelmanI thought Obama delivered his monologue well. And I liked Kimmel who survived a very tough room. Some of his lines will be quoted.
12m Joe Gandelman Joe Gandelman ? @JoeGandelmanFor an event such as the White House Correspondents’ dinner, they have to take a deep breath and assume jokes they like will WORK.
12m Joe Gandelman Joe Gandelman ? @JoeGandelmanWhen you see a successful comedian at a comedy club or doing a bit on a late night show, in most cases they have refined the bit.
13m Joe Gandelman Joe Gandelman ? @JoeGandelmanI need to add as someone who has done some comedy. Customizing for an event is always hard. It’s a one shot deal: you aim and hit or miss.
19m Joe Gandelman Joe Gandelman ? @JoeGandelmanI think this was one of the tamer White House Correspondents Dinners in terms of the Prez monologue (the dog video was lame) and Kimmel.
20m Joe Gandelman Joe Gandelman ? @JoeGandelmanI predict Kimmel will be blasted by some bloggers due to his Rush Limbaugh jokes. Limbaugh has score of de facto defense attorneys.
21m Joe Gandelman Joe Gandelman ? @JoeGandelmanKimmel’s jokes ran from the stock formula jokes (no risk) to some with more punch (risky) but he won’t walk away THE ISSUE which is good.
22m Joe Gandelman Joe Gandelman ? @JoeGandelmanI didn’t think Obama or Kimmel said anything that will become a big political issue. I don’t see a MUSt DO blog post on this one.
23m Joe Gandelman Joe Gandelman ? @JoeGandelmanI thought Obama’s and Kimmel’s routines both were crafted to Do No Harm.
25m Joe Gandelman Joe Gandelman ? @JoeGandelman
Jimmy Kimmel’s doing a lot of jokes: some land, some aren’t but it is a TOUGH ROOM (take it from someone who performs).
You can monitor news coverage and reaction to Obama’s appearance HERE.
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“I need to add as someone who has done some comedy. Customizing for an event is always hard. It’s a one shot deal: you aim and hit or miss.”
I too have done some comedy, and the one thing that has always baffled me about the Correspondent’s Dinner is the fact that the President (regardless of party affiliation) is almost always funnier than the professional comic.
To be sure, it is a tough room, but in my opinion the President had a better set than Jimmy. How is that possible?
A decent comic…hell, even an amateur like me…can figure out on the fly what is and isn’t working and adjust the act accordingly.
The President has his whole set on the teleprompter, with presumably no opportunity to improvise or bail on the jokes that fail. Yet for some reason his scripted remarks went over, and Jimmy plowed through his written jokes without – as far as I can tell – abandoning a single one.
I appreciate the fact we have a president with a good sense of humor. We all know how important humor is (even republicans on occasion) especially when times are tough.
Presidents all tend to do well at these things. Obama was particularly a scream last year.
He utterly humiliated Donald Trump. It was wonderful to watch.
Here’s a link to this year’s complete presentation by the President.