A major firestorm has been raging among the political class, prominent media that get denounced by President Donald Trump, reporters that complain about Trump’s insults and language, with most (but not all) partisans lining up on predictable sides.
What is this big issue?
Democracy? Freedom of the press? No, it’s — once again — a comedian performing at one of the most difficult gigs: the White House Correspondents Dinner, a place where journalists for a night mix with politicos, celebrities and comedians hired by the group over the years have been criticized for being too bland, too insulting, too traditional, too edgy and now “too “mean” (in an era in which the President has shattered norms of niceties, public language and civility).
This time the person under fire is comedian Michelle Wolf, whose videos are on You Tube, as is her resume as a Daily Show writer and background as a comedy club writer. She also gave an interview before the event where she made it clear that she considered Trump a coward for not showing up for the second year in a row (but Trump did send some administration staffers).
Wolf is under fire from many Trump supporters, Republicans and some in the news media for doing a routine that was too mean, peppered with adult language and comedy club style adult subjects. She has been accused of attacking White House spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders’s looks (but she didn’t). The irony of GOPers in particular being outraged over insult comedy when they laugh or ignore Trump’s tweets and campaign speeches has not been lost on many (read the conservative website Red State’s post). Some pundits and many comedians content she got it just right in her routine due to the messages in her jokes, and they note that comedy in general is now in a different era. Others say the dinner was a big zzzzzzzzzzzzzz until she did her bit.
Wolf’s routine has been annotated by the Washington Post. Axios’ Mike Allen, meanwhile, said Wolf’s routine played into Trump’s hands in his argument that the media is biased against him.
Here’s the full video so you can judge for yourself. And, yes, there is very adult, comedy club style language and adult subjects. Then read my comments below on when people hire comedians.
Despite the political brohaha and posturing, as someone who has been in entertainment for 28 years and done a different kind of comedy, here are some facts:
My reaction as someone who writes on a website and as a performer? I’ve had people call me and ask me to “do Chris Rock” and I politely decline since that isn’t my style and I refer them to agents who can find someone with that style (one person who called booked me anyway). Comedy is like looking at restaurant menu: to each his — or her — own.
The bottom line? 1) Wolf and her style were not secret. 2) It’s ironic to hear or read outrage from people who cheer on, retweet, echo or enable Trump’s tweets, his shattering norms of the kinds of language spoken by candidates and Presidents in public, and his insults. Trump has shattered more norms in the style and content of public discourse and political civility than Wolf has in her acclaimed comedy club style comedy (it even got her a weekly talk show on Netflix). Comedians have been defending Wolf’s performance and the content of her set.
The best bet? Ignore what’s on Twitter and watch the routine yourself and make your own judgement. And people will greatly disagree in their judgements.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.