Kerfuffle

Thankfully, the GOP had a ready response from Eric Cantor to President Obama's speech to school children

Satire from Hal Sparks...

The Nerd versus Jock Test: John Hodgman examines President Obama at the Radio and TV Correspondents' Dinner

There's a lot more to John Hodgman than just his portrayal of PC on the Apple commercials.  He's a very funny writer and performer, as demonstrated by his appearance last night at the Radio and TV Correspondents dinner in Washington along side the President.  It's worth the 14 minutes of viewing time, especially if you're a nerd.

If you like his stuff, get a copy of his book, The Areas of my Expertise.  This is one book that is truly better as an audio book, as his delivery is as much fun as the words themselves.

Thank the Lord for Betty Bowers! At last, a concise explanation of traditional marriage, according to the Bible

Heathen that I am, I am reluctant to rely on Evangelical Christian explanations for much.  But fortunately we have Betty Bowers, America's BEST Christian to explain what is and is not OK as far as marriage goes... according to the Bible.

[mad props to Joe My God and intrepid reader Eric for this faith-based explanation.]

Bratwursts and burgers for your BBQ? Not when you can nuke a couple of Hot Pockets

My one-time improv "comedy" partner, Guy "Arturo" Matheson, tossed this on his Facebok status a little while ago...

I went to Target early yesterday morning and found this receipt at the checkout when I was paying for a b-day card and dishwasher detergent;9 oz. 3 Cheese & Quesadilla Hot Pockets $2.19, 20 oz. Sprite $1.39 and employee ("team member") discount of 10%. The receipt was time stamped at 7:06 a.m. Good Morning healthy breakfast Unknown Target Team Member....

That reminded me of this bit from Jim Gaffigan.  It's been around for a while but still makes me laugh...

Jokes.com
Jim Gaffigan - Hot Pocket!
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Joke of the Day Stand-Up Comedy Free Online Games

Curiously, the Comedy Central page that delivered this video had a pop-up ad for Sprite, and featured the 20oz bottle.  Nice.

Gaywatch! What's new this week in gayishness, as reported by Jon Stewart

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
Gaywatch - Marion Barry
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Economic Crisis Political Humor

His take on Washington D.C.'s one councilman not supporting the resolution in question is one of Stewart's best lines in recent memory, me thinks.

Dom Deluise must have been hilarious to hang around with, not that I'd know personally. I only wish...

Dom Deluise died yesterday in Los Angeles at the age of 75, surrounded by his family.

In my opinion, he was one of the funniest comedic actors around.  He was able to take small roles and make them the most memorable in a film.  My personal favorite is his turn as Buddy Bizarre, a movie director whose set is invaded by cowboys on horseback in Mel Brooks' "Blazing Saddles."

Deluise appeared in over 100 films and several television shows.  I remember his first series, which debuted in the fall of 1973, lasting but one season.  It was called Lotsa Luck, in which he played Stanley Belmont,  the guy who ran the lost and found at the New York City bus terminal.  Carl Reiner, close friend and one-time comedic partner of Mel Brooks, created the show and supervised the writing.  The show's short life may have been due, in part, to the show's pretty edgy writing.  Nonetheless, Deluise impressed enough people to grab a Golden Globe nomination for his work as Stanley.

I don't know why, but I still remember a line from the show that I found hilarious:  "Yeah, my father.  He was the only man I knew who could sweat while swimming." It may not have been the line itself as much as the delivery. 

Funny, funny guy.

FOX News seems to be trying to out-funny Comedy Central. That is, of course, only true if you think delusional whining is funny... like I do.

The folks over at the Pew Research Center told us -- two years ago -- that when it comes to high-involvement/high-knowledge television viewers, Comedy Central's the Daily Show and The Colbert Report came out on top.  They are the best-informed about current events of any news or news-like program's audience.  At the bottom:  FOX News.

I would like Pew to go back at this from a different angle.  Who rats highest when we look at The Funny.  As the video montage from Ed Schultz's show last week demonstrates, FOX can be, well, hilarious.  Hannity's closer on this 2:28 video -- the one that begins with "Journalism is dead...", is priceless. 

[h/t Jed at DKTV]

More research I wish I had done: Ohio State team proves Steven Colbert can fool some of the people all of the time

I always figured everyone knew The Colbert Report was satire.  I mean, c'mon; it's Comedy Central for krissakes!  Guess who thinks his conservative persona's legit?

The journal article is titled "The Irony of Satire:  Political Ideology and the Motivation to Se What You Want to See in The Colbert Report."  The abstract reads as follows...

This study investigated biased message processing of political satire in The Colbert Report and the influence of political ideology on perceptions of Stephen Colbert. Results indicate that political ideology influences biased processing of ambiguous political messages and source in late-night comedy. Using data from an experiment (N = 332), we found that individual-level political ideology significantly predicted perceptions of Colbert's political ideology. Additionally, there was no significant difference between the groups in thinking Colbert was funny, but conservatives were more likely to report that Colbert only pretends to be joking and genuinely meant what he said while liberals were more likely to report that Colbert used satire and was not serious when offering political statements. Conservatism also significantly predicted perceptions that Colbert disliked liberalism. Finally, a post hoc analysis revealed that perceptions of Colbert's political opinions fully mediated the relationship between political ideology and individual-level opinion. [emphasis mine]

Oh, my.  I guess it figures, given that 27% (give or take a few points) of the population still thinks George Bush was awesome.

The article can be found in The International Journal of Press/Politics, Vol. 14, No. 2, 212-231 (2009), and was authored by Heather L. LaMarre, Kristen D. Landreville and Michael A. Beam from The Ohio State University.

[h/t Kos]

Chad Vader's back for a new season!

From some funny improv folks here in Madison...

Special shout out to my one-time improv teacher Brad Knight, a.k.a. Randy the store manager.  My, my, Brad.  You look so professional in a tie.

Minnesota rescues Congressional comic relief

Salon.com's Thomas Schaller mused earlier this week about the demise of the comedic industrial complex if Obama and a sea of Democrats sweep the election...

In the past month, millions tuned in to "Saturday Night Live" just to see Tina Fey do her spot-on imitation of Sarah Palin. Fey's hilarious sendups of the vice-presidential candidate quickly became the stuff of water cooler legend, and Palin's own appearance on the show brought "SNL" its largest audience in 14 years.

Our perverse Palin-mania revealed a deeply felt need for a humorous escape from a broken government and financial system that the two presidential nominees pledged to fix. Because the present reality is this: Now is a very unfunny time for America. U.S. troops are fighting two very different wars in two very different countries, and neither campaign is succeeding as promised. Many Americans are uninsured, left to battle catastrophic illness on their own. Oh, and the American economy is in the crapper.
...
"SNL" writer James Downey, for one, predicts that Obama will be "a lot tougher" to satirize than other presidents and presidential candidates his show has been skewering for the past three decades. "The media is kind of madly in love with Obama," Downey told a New Yorker Festival audience. "He is also such a smooth character that he doesn't give you many handles." (No such rule applied to Hillary Clinton, he noted. "Bill Clinton got a free pass, but we took it out on her.")
...
An Obama era almost certainly promises to be less funny -- at least in terms of satire. So enjoy Tina Fey's Palin parodies while they last.

Fear not!

Voters in Minnesota's 6th district are sending Michele Bachmann back for another term.  You remember Bachmann... the 21st century's Joe McCarthy:

So comedians have that going for them.