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The Annual White House Correspondents Association Dinner Topic (CSpan)

WendyCR72

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nowandlater

nowandlater

(edited)

What really, really, really annoys me about this event is when the night's comedian makes a joke about all the people not watching on CSPAN....when this event is covered live on CNN, MSNBC.

 

There's a violent protest going on right now in Baltimore, yet CNN is showing people eating.

Edited by nowandlater
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jjj

jjj

The Twitterverse is bursting with this -- sorry there is not more play-by-play here.  Personally, I thought the President was terrific -- Cecily Strong, not so much, although a few jokes were very good.

 

I'm watching on C-SPAN -- love the end where they let the cameras run over the audience leaving and networking. 

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nowandlater

nowandlater

(edited)

As somebody who wasn't a fan of hers on Weekend Update, I thought she was great... she took an angle, sort of girl at the party-ish, and ran with it...she was certainly better than Joel McHale and Conan, the past two years' hosts.

 

But I can imagine the older crowd in the room not getting Cecily's act. But I thought she was hilarious.

 

The Twitterverse always has an instant negative reaction. I've seen it before every year. It's more of a hater's medium.

Edited by nowandlater
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helenamonster

helenamonster

I thought Cecily did great! I loved the whole "I will not talk about Hillary's appearance this election season because that is not journalism." I'll have to watch it again to remember more of the jokes, but that one sticks out right now. She was a little rushed, but still seemed pretty confident and didn't have any extremely noticeable stumbles.

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Miss Scarlet

Miss Scarlet

I saw someone on reddit ask this and I'm wondering too because I haven't watched any previous WHCD - is it common for the comedian to read off their paper like that? I totally get why this would be impossible to memorize and she was probably nervous, but it seemed like she was staring at her papers a lot.

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vb68

vb68

(edited)

I  thought she was OK.  I could tell she was a little nervous, but I guess that is to be expected.  I agree that it didn't help that President Obama absolutely killed right before her.  I didn't see either Joel McHale otr Conan.  The last one I remember was Seth Meyers, who pretty much set the gold standard for something like that.  She certainly didn't bomb.  I guess my expectations were a bit high, but whatever.  She was fine.

 

ETA:

 

 

is it common for the comedian to read off their paper like that? I totally get why this would be impossible to memorize and she was probably nervous, but it seemed like she was staring at her papers a lot.

 

THIS.  I thought it was unfortunate that she had to look down and read (at least it came off that way) every single joke.  It did take away from some of the punchlines.

Edited by vb68
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nowandlater

nowandlater

I saw someone on reddit ask this and I'm wondering too because I haven't watched any previous WHCD - is it common for the comedian to read off their paper like that? I totally get why this would be impossible to memorize and she was probably nervous, but it seemed like she was staring at her papers a lot.

 

I read that during the hiatus from SNL, she's been filming 2 movies while preparing for this. Several SNL writers took some Instagrams at the White House yesterday. So I guess it was like preparing for an SNL sketch without the cue cards.

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opus

opus

Her material had the vibe of a roast to me. Is that usually how it goes here, despite all the stuffy people in the audience? [Disclaimer- I like roasts].

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UYI

UYI

If you've seen Stephen Colbert's infamous (among the press corps, of course--well, and the Bushes, too) speech from 2006, then that's a yes. Wanda Sykes was similar to this in 2009, as well. The WHCD association has actually gone with "safer" comedians in some cases after particularly controversial speeches.


It's kinda cool Barack opens for Cecily.

 

Yep, that happens every year. I'm sure it makes it extra difficult for the comedian when the president is particularly strong (no pun intended).

 

For the record, BTW, the WHCD is known among politicos like myself and in DC as "Nerd Prom", which also trended on Twitter tonight. 

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nowandlater

nowandlater

(edited)

Her material had the vibe of a roast to me. Is that usually how it goes here, despite all the stuffy people in the audience? [Disclaimer- I like roasts].

 

Yes, very much so. This is the best example I can give you -- Conan O'Brien "roasting" Bill Clinton exactly 20 years ago (with the help of Robert Smigel as "Bill Clinton.")

 

Stephen Colbert's speech on Bush was a roast, yes.

 

But when I think of a roast, I think of attacking somebody in all good fun. Colbert wasn't doing that.

Edited by nowandlater
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vb68

vb68

I still find it interesting that Cecily got the call from SNL over Colin Jost or Micheal Che. I'm not even sure there is anything to make over that, but after she stepped aside (or was pushed off) Weekend Update, I do find it interesting.

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ruby24

ruby24

Is Obama the best/funniest president we've ever had at the joke thing? It seems like he overshadows the actual comedian every year, and I never remember that being the case with previous presidents.

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helenamonster

helenamonster

I still find it interesting that Cecily got the call from SNL over Colin Jost or Micheal Che. I'm not even sure there is anything to make over that, but after she stepped aside (or was pushed off) Weekend Update, I do find it interesting.

 

Well, at the time this was announced (October? November?) Colin and Michael were still a lot less well-known than Cecily (who I don't think has much notoriety outside of the SNL crowd as it is). Also, C-SPAN might not have had enough money in their budget to hire someone to change Colin's batteries midway through.

 

I did notice she was reading off of the cards a lot (and flipping them; it seemed like each joke was on its own card) but I thought Seth looked down a lot during his too, and his was great. Idk, I laughed a lot. I'm pretty easy to please with these kinds of things.

 

Forgot to mention that President Obama was awesome as well. Politics aside, he's definitely one of the coolest presidents we've ever had.

 

If Hillary gets elected, I request that Amy Poehler get first dibs. And then Kate McKinnon the year after her.

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nowandlater

nowandlater

(edited)

I still find it interesting that Cecily got the call from SNL over Colin Jost or Micheal Che. I'm not even sure there is anything to make over that, but after she stepped aside (or was pushed off) Weekend Update, I do find it interesting.

 

Because....

http://deadline.com/2015/04/cecily-strong-obama-white-house-correspondents-dinner-1201416416/

 

This year’s White House Correspondents Association president Christi Parsons said in interviews here and there, including tonight to C-Span, she picked Strong to follow Obama tonight because she didn’t want another middle-aged white guy up there following President Obama, and because like Parsons, Strong is from Chicago and described Strong as “a nice girl who says very cutting things” which Parsons called “a heartland thing.”

 

 

 

Also....

http://www.ew.com/article/2015/04/23/cecily-strong-white-house-correspondents-dinner

 

What was your initial reaction when you got the offer to host?

I didn’t believe it, because it came from my dad. He worked for the Associated Press 30 years ago, and he knows the head of the Correspondents’ Association. She emailed him to get in touch with me. Who would believe that? I don’t know if your dad is as goofy as mine, but I did not believe him for a week. I thought he was saying he had been invited. So I said, “Uh, great, Dad…have fun?” Like, “Yeah, I get it, Dad—you’re cool. You’ve still got it, Bill.”

 

But then I finally called him to be like, “What are you saying?” And when I figured out this was for real, I was actually hoping it would fall on a show week so I would have a very easy excuse to back out of it. [laughs] But it’s too exciting to say no to. I would kick myself. How many times will I get to do this again? Never—he’s not going to have anymore! He’s done being president now! I’m giving him his last hurrah.

 

Edited by nowandlater
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Miss Scarlet

Miss Scarlet

(edited)

It was good overall. Some hits, some misses. I think she picked a good team of writers from all the Lorne produced shows. I loved the part about Hillary's appearance. I liked the Fox News joke about their viewers dying off, but thought her delivery was a bit rushed. Her delivery would have been better if she hadn't she read off her cue cards so much. It gave it kind of an 8th grade graduation speech feel. Especially since the jokes were each on individual cards so that she could flip them over afterwards. 

 

Cecily said that she got it because her dad knows the woman in charge of the Correspondents' Association who organizes the dinner. So it wasn't really a commentary of who people thought was the better WU anchor or anything. It was more about connections.

Edited by wudpixie
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Miss Scarlet

Miss Scarlet

(edited)

Does a list of the writers from these things ever get released? I feel like they don't get enough credit.

 

She was harder-hitting than I expected, based on what she said from her interviews leading up to this. I was also surprised at the wig joke and the joke about the unattractiveness of the Washington crowd because she said in interviews that she didn't want to make fun of anyone's physical appearance. Those jokes weren't that mean though.

Edited by wudpixie
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LotusFlower

LotusFlower

It was good overall. Some hits, some misses. I think she picked a good team of writers from all the Lorne produced shows. I loved the part about Hillary's appearance. I liked the Fox News joke about their viewers dying off, but thought her delivery was a bit rushed. 

Cecily said that she got it because her dad knows the woman in charge of the Correspondents' Association who organizes the dinner. So it wasn't really a commentary of who people thought was the better WU anchor or anything. It was more about connections.

That's not what she said. If you read the post above yours, you'll see she was selected by the president of the WHCA, for the reason stated. It has nothing to do with connections. (I feel that dismisses her talent).

Also, why do you think a team of writers wrote her material? That feels unfair as well.

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Miss Scarlet

Miss Scarlet

I apologize if I misinterpreted what she said. I've read other interviews that seemed to state that part of the reason she got the gig was because her dad knew the head of the committee, but of course they never would have picked her if she hadn't already been a successful comedian on SNL.

 

As for the team of writers, she has mentioned several times that she selected a team of writers. All the hosts for these dinners do. Hers was a mix of people from SNL, Late Night and The Tonight Show. I'm sure she also had a lot of input on the jokes as well, but I feel badly for the writers not getting any credit. Although maybe they are just happy to have contributed and don't care.

 

I'm not trying dismiss anyone. I was relaying what I thought I had read in other articles. Please don't try to police my posts.

 

Anyway, I'm reading online that a lot of people thought she bombed. Maybe I'm really bad at distinguishing between applause and booing, but I didn't really hear that much booing? Like I said before I thought the writing was good. Maybe if I looked at the jokes on paper I would think there were too obvious, but it's a tough room. You don't want to go too far with this.

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nowandlater

nowandlater

(edited)

That's not what she said. If you read the post above yours, you'll see she was selected by the president of the WHCA, for the reason stated. It has nothing to do with connections. (I feel that dismisses her talent).

Also, why do you think a team of writers wrote her material? That feels unfair as well.

 

But she did get it through a connection, not that there's anything wrong with that. Andy Samberg (and the Lonely Island guys) got on SNL because of their connection to Jimmy Fallon. Pete Davidson got on SNL because of his connection to Bill Hader. Dana Carvey helped get his friend Kevin Nealon on the show.

 

And it just happens that the president of the WHCA, who started covering Obama in Illinois in 1997, knew Cecily's dad, a longtime Illinois statehouse journalist.

 

Of course, the WHCA president must've thought Cecily had it in her to do a great job.

 

As for the writers, some clues from Variety....

http://variety.com/2015/biz/news/cecily-strong-white-house-correspondents-association-dinner-1201474952/

 

One of Obama’s writers, she said, has reached out to her and she met him. “Hopefully — they’ll send me their jokes, we’ll make sure we’re not wearing the same thing” — and they don’t repeat the same material. To prepare, she has been watching clips of past gigs, plans to consult with Seth Meyers (who was the featured entertainer in 2011) and has been working with his writer.

 

 

 

...and Instagram...

 

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Edited by nowandlater
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Miss Scarlet

Miss Scarlet

(edited)

 

 

But she did get it through a connection, not that there's anything wrong with that. Andy Samberg (and the Lonely Island guys) got on SNL because of their connection to Jimmy Fallon. Pete Davidson got on SNL because of his connection to Bill Hader. Dana Carvey helped get his friend Kevin Nealon on the show.

And it just happens that the president of the WHCA, who started covering Obama in Illinois in 1997, knew Cecily's dad, a longtime Illinois statehouse journalist.

Yeah, I don't see anything wrong with getting these jobs through connections. Everyone does it in that business. More power to them. I thought it was cool that she was open her dad knowing the WHCA president and them having worked together before. I wouldn't have mentioned it if it wasn't something she had said herself. 

 

As for the writers, I was curious to know who from SNL was helping her and how she picked them. Apparently the dog looking for its owner joke was something Chris Kelly posted on twitter a few days ago about someone else and they adapted it for the dinner. So between that and the instagram pictures it seems like he was part of the team. I'd also be interested in finding out who helped Seth when he hosted. I wonder if Tina and Amy wrote for him. That would explain the awesome Trump jokes.

Edited by wudpixie
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LotusFlower

LotusFlower

But she did get it through a connection, not that there's anything wrong with that. Andy Samberg (and the Lonely Island guys) got on SNL because of their connection to Jimmy Fallon. Pete Davidson got on SNL because of his connection to Bill Hader. Dana Carvey helped get his friend Kevin Nealon on the show.

My point was that she was offered the gig because she's a well-known comedian, not because her father was (is?) a reporter. I wasn't talking about SNL.

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pivot

pivot

Is Obama the best/funniest president we've ever had at the joke thing? It seems like he overshadows the actual comedian every year, and I never remember that being the case with previous presidents.

Yeah, Obama has a comedian's timing with jokes. He is honestly better at this than any comedian who followed him since 2009. Obama should have dropped his mic after the Luther anger translator bit. That was funnier than anything I've ever seen from a real comedian ever at WHCD and I've watched all them for over a decade now.

The media has their nose of joint because Obama just went to town on them and the GOP clown show.

Cecily was better than Joel McHale and Seth Meyers (who was smug and unfunny) but she wasn't great.

They honestly should retire the president speaking after Obama leaves office. No one, especially the humorless Hillary, is going to be able to even get close to his performance.

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ruby24

ruby24

Oh, god, Hillary. I'm voting for her, but I can only imagine how bad she's going to be at anything involving have to show a sense of humor. Which is strange, because supposedly, those who've known and actually interacted with her say she is funny and sharp, but man, she has a hard time showing it publicly.

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Miss Scarlet

Miss Scarlet

(edited)

 

My point was that she was offered the gig because she's a well-known comedian, not because her father was (is?) a reporter. I wasn't talking about SNL.

 

The point nowandlater was making was that those are still people who got jobs because of connections. Regardless of who the connections were with or for what job...

 

And I don't think it's weird that people are asking why she got to host. She was a surprising choice. She had just been taken off of WU (and she herself said that she preferred to play characters rather than anchor) and she doesn't have a stand-up background.

 

I have read comments underneath articles about the WHCD where people have said outright they did not think she was talented enough to host and it should have been someone from SNL who's more talented. That is not what I was saying.  But if you want to criticize people for being dismissive, please had over to those articles and reply to them. Although, frankly, I don't think those opinions are nice, but if that is how people truly feel, then they are allowed to say that. We cannot police people's posts just because they disagree with us.

 

Also, I think Christi Parson's description of why Cecily was chosen for the job (in the quotes nowandlater posted) is weird and doesn't emphasize Cecily's talent. She mentioned one thing that's relevant (that Cecily's cutting), but then two things that are irrelevant (she's a woman and she's from Chicago). She could have at least mentioned SNL. Maybe she just figured that the rest of the article would cover that.

Edited by wudpixie
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Dejana

Dejana

(edited)

Yeah, Obama has a comedian's timing with jokes. He is honestly better at this than any comedian who followed him since 2009. Obama should have dropped his mic after the Luther anger translator bit. That was funnier than anything I've ever seen from a real comedian ever at WHCD and I've watched all them for over a decade now.

The media has their nose of joint because Obama just went to town on them and the GOP clown show.

Cecily was better than Joel McHale and Seth Meyers (who was smug and unfunny) but she wasn't great.

They honestly should retire the president speaking after Obama leaves office. No one, especially the humorless Hillary, is going to be able to even get close to his performance.

 

He's very really good at these things and was even before the election (not the WHCD specifically, but other political events where he had to tell jokes). It's two different things, but the contention that it's hard to parody Obama baffles me. Maybe it's just SNL that's uncreative. 

 

The year that Laura Bush interrupted George W. and gave the speech for him was pretty good. You heard more about her than the real comedian that year (Cedric the Entertainer, I think?).

Edited by Dejana
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Ohwell

Ohwell

Cecily had a tough act to follow after the President and angry Luther.  I thought she was okay, but I was distracted by those long, fake eyelashes while she was constantly looking down at her notes.  She's forgettable.  In contrast, I still remember the one-two combo of Pres. Obama and Seth Myers and the job they did on Donald Trump.  That was pure gold.

 

Also, I think the President did Martin O'Malley a favor by joking that he's unknown, at least outside the DMV.  Just the fact that he showed up and his name was mentioned helps him.  (I know this isn't a political thread, and I'll keep it brief, but I am waiting for somebody to get in and challenge Hillary because, I swear, I am not voting for that woman.) 

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Bruinsfan

Bruinsfan

It's two different things, but the contention that it's hard to parody Obama baffles me. Maybe it's just SNL that's uncreative.

MADtv didn't seem to have any trouble doing hilarious bits about him, and not just thanks to the brilliance of Keegan Michael Key (though his impression was certainly light years beyond Armissen's):

 

As for the Correspondent's Dinner itself, I lost it when Keegan said "Khaleesi is comin' to Westeros!"

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Princess Sparkle

Princess Sparkle

I thought Ciecily was ok. She had some good jokes in there, but her delivery was off - maybe because of nerves, she rushed the punchlines? But I always thought her delivery was odd on WU too, so maybe this just amplified it. I did notice her looking at her papers a lot, which probably didn't help.

I did feel bad for her during that Aaron Schock bit. You could just tell that died, and so she was trying to get through it quickly. I haven't heard dead silence in the room like that since Colbert hosted (Colbert will always be my gold standard for these - it takes a lot of balls to get up there and make the jokes he did in a room like that)

The Luther part was hysterical." Khalsesi is coming to Westeros", and the whole "you don't need an anger translator, you need counseling" cracked me up the hardest.

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Prairie Fire

Prairie Fire

Here's a question: could Cecily have actually showed up in character as "The Girl You Wish You Hadn't Run Into at a Party"? Maybe that'd be going too far, but if Obama could do a bit with Luther, why not? I think that could have been hilarious.

 

I agree, Hillary trying to do this will be quite painful indeed. I'd rather see Martin O'Malley as President at this event in 2017 joking about how Obama said he could never get elected.

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helenamonster

helenamonster

Another joke I thought Cecily really sold was, "The Secret Service is the only agency in the country that will face consequences if a black man gets shot." And then her "Booooo or truuuuuuuee?"

 

Obama definitely killed it with Luther the Anger Translator. I loved when Obama himself finally lost it and just went off on all the idiots who refuse to believe that climate change exists (also, Cecily's joke about the snowball was great too). And I also thought he killed with, "Cecily sometimes impersonates journalists on CNN. But no one impersonates journalists on CNN as well as journalists on CNN." *cut to the CNN table and they're all staring straight ahead, stony-faced*

 

Idk, Cecily wasn't perfect, but I've seen a lot worse (not just at the WHCAD but in general).

 

It makes me happy that Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider were on her writing team. They (along with Kate McKinnon and Aidy Bryant) are the geniuses behind "Twin Bed." Actually, a lot of the time, I find myself really enjoying an SNL sketch only to find out later that they wrote it. 

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HalcyonDays

HalcyonDays

Just watched the video of Luther, President Obama's "anger translator". OMG, Hilarious! That was a thing of beauty. And the shots of the audience, were half of them have these sourpuss faces and are not laughing. Jeezus - drink some more wine/champagne and get a funny bone.

 

Obama should have had an "anger translator" every time he dealt with some Republicans and the mess in the House!

 

He's a funny snarky deadpan guy, and as the headlines have correctly pointed out, Obama has entered into this "I don't give a fuck anymore" portion of his presidency. Good for him!

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DkNNy79

DkNNy79

The Luther part was hysterical." Khalsesi is coming to Westeros", and the whole "you don't need an anger translator, you need counseling" cracked me up the hardest.

I didn't understand the "Khalesi..." reference.  Can someone explain it to me?

 

President Obama was great as usual.  The next president has some big shoes to fill.  Cecily had some good jokes in there, but overall was just okay. 

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scarynikki12

scarynikki12

Khaleesi is the title of Daenerys Targaryen on Game of Thrones, given to her when she married Khal Drogo in the first episode and it basically translates as Queen.  Westeros is where everyone else is as well as the kingdom she plans to conquer and rule.  She's been across the sea for the entire story and hasn't made her move yet but everyone knows she will.  Hope that clears it up.

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LotusFlower

LotusFlower

 

And I don't think it's weird that people are asking why she got to host. She was a surprising choice.

I don't understand people questioning the choice at all, unless they just don't like her, which is certainly their prerogative or taste. Christi Parsons clearly stated she wanted to hire a female comedian for the gig, and Cecily is a pretty well-known and featured player on SNL. Which is exactly what Seth Meyers was when he was asked to host in 2011.

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helenamonster

helenamonster

I thought a lot of the sourpuss faces regarding Luther the Anger Translator were because people hadn't seen it before and didn't get it, which tends to happen a lot at this event. When you have movie stars, members of the press, and politicians all in the same group, there are going to be jokes that the majority of one or more of those groups don't understand.

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ktwo

ktwo

Obama should have dropped his mic after the Luther anger translator bit. That was funnier than anything I've ever seen from a real comedian ever at WHCD and I've watched all them for over a decade now.

I actually thought Obama's solo stuff was just as good as the bit with Luther. He really is very, very good at this. Cecily was OK and yes, that is a very tough room. The Secret Service joke was excellent.

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ruby24

ruby24

I just watched Cecily- she was okay. I didn't think she was terrible, no worse than Jimmy Kimmel or Joel McHale. This room is always full of a bunch of stiffs- notice how they booed every joke about CNN. Obama's zinger about CNN journalists pretending to be journalists was brilliant and on the mark completely, so of course they didn't like it.

 

It really is hard to follow Obama though. I think Jon Stewart should do it again. If anyone could follow him at his last one next year, I think he could.

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HalcyonDays

HalcyonDays

I actually thought Obama's solo stuff was just as good as the bit with Luther. He really is very, very good at this. Cecily was OK and yes, that is a very tough room. The Secret Service joke was excellent.

 

I watched Obama's entire 20 minute "routine" on Youtube and it is absolutely hilarious. I LOLed so many times. Man, like I said above - he just does not care anymore. Some of those shots were hilarious but also made my mouth drop, but you know what - it needed to be said and was so truthful. Fact is some of those attendees probably don't agree with Obama and support Bachman, Cheney and the others, so they probably didn't think it was funny.

 

Again, good job, Mr. President. You did great and obviously said Buck-it! to the room! Ha!

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Lakewood27

Lakewood27

I laughed out loud when Luther said that Bradley Cooper didn't come to DC to mingle with the likes of Chuck Tood. He was escaping LA because he needed a glass of water! Oh, climate change jokes.... They're funny, because they're true.

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