This might be Jay Leno’s fourth time hosting the White House
Correspondents’ Association dinner, but Washington has changed since the
last time he spoke, back in 2004.
President Barack Obama —
who has been a guest on Leno’s “Tonight Show” — is the man to impress
now.
But dinner organizers aren’t worried. White House
Correspondents’ Association President Ed Chen is confident in his pick.
“I just thought he’d be a good one,” Chen said. “He’s a longtime friend
of the association. He’s done this gig before. The Obamas like him. He
likes them, and I didn’t want somebody terribly edgy and profane. I
wanted someone genuinely funny and who I thought would be appropriate as
an entertainer for the president of the United States — not like some
past entertainers.”
Leno might not be as controversial as past
speakers Don Imus and Stephen Colbert, but he might find that even the
most congenial of comedians become subject to criticism. Last year, host
Wanda Sykes received generally positive praise but didn’t escape the
night without falling into a couple of booby traps with jokes about the
Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and Rush Limbaugh’s past addiction to
painkillers. (A few boos from the audience followed.)
And
Leno has a recent scandal of his own to confront, as his faceoff with
Conan O’Brien for the “Tonight Show” perch is still fresh on the
public’s mind.
In conversations The Hill had with several
comedians about how Leno should approach the job, many made the same
joke: that he should hope he doesn’t get on at 10 p.m., which has proven
to be a bad hour for him. (The canceling of Leno’s 10 p.m. show led to
his public fight with O’Brien over “The Tonight Show.”)
After
getting in a few jokes of their own, the comedy panel also advised the
veteran performer on what it takes to make a Washington audience laugh,
which current issues he should bring up and if he should confront his
scandal headon. Mike Larsen Larsen spent nearly 20
years in Hollywood as a stand-up comedian and sitcom writer before
becoming Rep. Jackie Speier’s (D-Calif.) communications director. He has
performed on Leno’s show twice and has written for Ellen DeGeneres,
Whoopi Goldberg and Drew Carey, among others. Larsen recently left
Speier’s office to return to his entertainment career.
On the
WHCA Dinner audience: “From my experience witnessing these
correspondents’ dinners, you have to accept the fact there will be
controversy, whether you try to get it or not. Everyone in Washington
has a sense of humor — as long as you’re joking about the other side,
and the minute it gets the least bit uncomfortable, they’ll throw you
under the bus … It’s a little bit of a snake pit for comedians, but it’s
also this incredible opportunity. I’ve performed at a lot of political
events, and I know that no matter what I say, there will be a couple
times where I get an ‘ooo.’ And the truth is you have to take that as a
laugh.”
On Leno’s approach: “He’s been doing comedy longer
than I think [Michigan Democratic Rep.] John Dingell’s been in
Congress… His monologue every night is very topical, so I wouldn’t
imagine this is that much different from his regular monologues. The
possible difference is you can be a little more in the weeds. You can
make a joke more specifically about [House Minority Leader] John Boehner
[R-Ohio], or someone who is a little less well-known than that.”
Jamie
Mcintyre The Military.com blogger and former CNN
correspondent co-won this year’s Commedia dell Media competition to find
D.C.’s funniest journalist.
On following President Obama’s
introductory speech: “Beware of the warm-up act. Traditionally the
president does comedy at the White House dinner, and is always funny.
After all, he’s got the same writers who did that boffo financial reform
speech [last] week. Seriously, it’s hard to follow the president.”
On
topics Leno should touch on: “[It’s] always good to be topical, and
there’s nothing like a good collateralized debt obligation or credit
default swap joke to get the crowd loosened up.”
Kathy
Griffin
Griffin has performed in Washington several times
during the past few years and was in town last month to lead a protest
against the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.
On Leno’s
performance prospects: “I know Jay will do a great job. It’s in his
‘wheelhouse,’ as they say in Hollywood. Jay has performed for several
presidents. He has written jokes for many political events.”
On
Leno’s scandal: “He also has a special edge this year, as he was
involved in a real-life television elected-office scandal of his own ...
and he won! Just ask the president. Of course, I mean [NBC] President
Jeff Zucker.”
Emily Goodin contributed to this article.
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