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VIDEO: Watch Obama And Leno Stand-Ups
The First Yuckster at the White House Correspondents Dinner tonight taunted Jay Leno before The Tonight Show host took the podium. “I am glad that the only person whose ratings fell more than mine is here tonight. Great to see you, Jay. I’m also glad that I’m speaking first – because we’ve all seen what happens when somebody takes the time slot after Leno.” Jay was seen laughing, turning red, and then standing up and saying to the people around him, “Goodnight, everybody.”
Leno quickly tried to return the favor during his 4th stand-up appearance at the dinner. But I can’t point to single joke that killed with the crowd. Instead, Leno’s barbs aimed at Obama were mostly dull like this: “When you were elected, I was a little worried the comedy well had dried up. So thank you for picking Joe Biden. I appreciate that.” And Leno’s voice grew soft when he mentioned that “President Obama loves to socialize — health care, car companies”, or that ”he has the most diverse staff at the White House. They represent every ward in Chicago.” As if Jay were embarrassed to get in any real digs at the Prez.
The laughs were few and far between despite Leno using a mutimedia combination of traditional punchlines, sight gags, and video mashups just like he does on The Tonight Show. Leno’s blandness meant he took only gentle aim at both the Democrats and the Republicans. Although this joke got perhaps the night’s biggest laugh: “As you know, a lot of Republicans couldn’t be here tonight because it is $1 drink night at the bondage clubs.” Then Leno gave a shout-out to GOP party chairman Michael Steele, noting, “This has got to be pretty boring entertainment for you, isn’t it? I know what you guys are used to. That was my favorite story: Republicans in a lesbian bondage club. Republicans don’t want lesbians marrying, but they do like to watch them tie the knot.”
And then Jay continued, “Washington is a very scary place. Between Republicans going to bondage clubs, and the SEC looking at porn, I cant wait to get back to Hollywood — somewhere wholesome, where people have values.”
A joke about Obama’s inability to throw a decent baseball pitch elicited audible groans from the audience (or maybe just the NBCU table): The President “had just come from an interview on MSNBC, and he was used to softballs.” When Jay heard the bad reaction, he added, “I’m going to get fired again.” And towards the end of his routine, knowing that his jokes had fallen flat for the most part, Jay complained, “Ooh, this is a tough room.” Like, duh.
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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Leno bombed big time. I watched it, and yes, the funniest line was the “republicans, lesbian marriage, and tying the knot” joke. Everything else was pretty much dull and drab, and met with a smattering of light laughter or total silence. Cash for flunkers, as a youtube video, would have been funny. But none of the zombie journalists were willing to risk themselves by actually laughing at both Obama’s idiotic “stimulus” ideas, or the fact that much of the Obama youth today are mindless droids.
Most revealing moment, to me anyway, was Scott Brown speaking with David Axelrod for quite some time. I wonder what he was being offered.
What do you expect when you hire the King of Bland and Boring to host your event?
Leno has always been dull. Why not bring someone actually funny, like Letterman or Conan?
Letterman, sure. He could crack some jokes about Obama’s oldest daughter.
Leno is “dull” only if you have no capacity to get the joke. Makes ya wonder what you’ve been missing, don’t it?
Any fool with bad dentition can get a laugh from an audience full of idiots.
Letterman funny!?! Compared to what, nuclear Armageddon? Even then, no.
Leno was trying to be gracious and kind to the office of POTUS, in a room full of sycophants with no sense of humor. Obama, who doesn’t have a kind bone in his body, gave Jay two barrels of number 4 buck. Insufferable little man.
Look, you don’t think the joke list wasn’t pre-approved by either Obama’s staff, or Obama himself? I guarantee you, Leno may have had his own jokes, but I’m telling you they were ABSOLUTELY picked through as to not embarass the President! Obama cannot be picked on, just like when he told the reporter during the primaries not to tease him about his big ears! The spoiled little boy don’t like it when him gets picked on!
The problem with Leno was, he repeated jokes already used on the Tonight Show.
Health care no one wantes, unemployment, no jobs, immigration, and a gulf about to become as catastrophic as Katrina… yep, good times!
obama is a funny guy. he has the it factor.
Ok – after reading the comments here NO ONE can refer to Hollywood as the LIBERAL ELITE any longer since a great majority of the comments here tonight sound like they are directly from the Tea Party bible.
“Obama’s a Socialist”, “The media is a bunch of left wing hacks”, “Our President is the Commander in Thief” and the audience tonight are “a bunch of partisan whores”?.
Jeez – Nikki what’s happened to your readership??
Kissing ass in a room of kiss asses is not funny.
No wonder NBC’s ratings suck… It’s OBVIOUS that Obama has WAY better writers than Leno’s hacks at NBC… Hopefully next year they’ll get John Stewart or Letterman…
To the people claiming the ‘liberals’ have no sense of humor… How about you actually *try* watching Leno’s routine, and see if you even laugh once.
Boring, bland, tired, not creative… next!
Hey, Leno was GREAT!! He’s got great wit and his jokes were funny…. it just goes to demonstrate once again how humorless and thin skinned the left are!! LOVED IT!!
It would be nice if they could stream the dinner live on the internet.
they couldn’t get somebody with actual humor to parody obama? they had to settle with leno who provides old dad humor. laughing simply because he finds himself hilarious.
After watching Obama’s monologue, why would I watch Jay’s? Don’t need to, how could you top that. Maybe when Jay retires and NBC’s stuck for a host they can call Barack and see what he’s thinking.
You know, I really hate the political articles at Deadline because they bring out the partisan nonsense.
Here’s a tip: we read these articles for the entertainment industry news. Your rhetoric is better spewed elsewhere. We care more about Blue Aliens than red states. Sorry.
The correspondent’s dinner is where people often take jabs at the president. In Obama’s administration, taking jabs means only making fun of Obama’s detractors but not the man himself.
The left equals FA1L.
Communists, like Obama and the MSM, can rarely take a joke unless the focus is on someone else, but I guess that’s the antithesis of “taking a joke” isn’t it?
As a proud illegal alien, I resented the being the butt of 1 of his jokes.
Conan is too white.
Some people just don’t like Jay Leno, and nothing can be done to make them otherwise. These same people probably also voted for Obama and haven’t figured out what he really is yet. As far as Letterman being funny, I would suggest that Letterman is just goofey, not at all funny. I noticed that Obama always paused between comments to give the slow witted liberals in the audiance enough time to finish their laughter before starting his next non funny comment pretending to be another joke. When it comes to the class of the presentations themself, Jay Leno has Obama beat all the way.
Hi redditors – I can’t believe you read the comments here! btw, I’m not Alexis.
Does anyone in America know the definition of Socialism or to socialize? Why would I pay American institutions thousands of dollars for such a pathetic education if nearly an eighth of the comments on this page incorrectly use the term? I do not understand any of you. The man tries to care for your sick and dying; you then crucify him. Then the man takes bold, brilliant, time tested action and fixes your failing economy very successfully; you crucify him further. Very few American Presidents amounted to much other than surviving their term and the previous President of the United States quite literally brought war to 1/16th of the planet, ruined your economy, killed thousands of Americans needless in a fight against terrorism in the wrong country, used your ignorance and the Holy Text, in an act of blasphemy, against you to usurp power and yet you condemn Obama?
Can anyone please offer me a rational explanation other than, “This is America G_d damnit” or “Piss of you foreign fag” or my favorite “what socialist empire did you crawl out of?” I do not understand how the “great” America can be satisfied when nearly all of its former enemies offer better health care and provide better access to education and utilities. Privatization is very good and we thank you for it but you cannot stop the wheels of progress — somethings like saving lives just cannot be “for profit.”
wow, jay leno not getting laughs? how is this news?
leno is about as funny as terminal cancer.
funny…………..