Reporters took to the stage for a good cause at Thursday’s Commedia Dell Media, a night of stand-up comedy to benefit local D.C. literacy charities REACH Incorporated and Writopia. Ten brave participants took on the 100+ crowd, tackling topics ranging from being Arab in America (Riz Kahn of Al Jazeera English) to awkward eye contact during Zumba class (The Washington Post’s Rachel Dry).
The panel of judges, which included D.C. Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, D.C. Councilmember Jim Graham, and real-life comedian Dennis Regan, offered comments on each set, leading Dry to joke, “I didn’t realize we were getting instant critical feedback. I feel like I’m with my family.” The night’s crowned victor, Matt Cooper of National Journal, landed laughs with a dead-on Ron Paul impression, but most of the crowd seemed to favor WAMU’s Elahe Izadi, who killed with a set about her Persian heritage and male anatomy. Jamie McIntyre also got in a few affectionate jabs at his employer, NPR: “It’s not true that they buy you a pair of Birkenstocks. You have to buy your own Birkenstocks.”
The judging panel got in some jokes of their own, particularly the bow-tied Graham, who quipped that P.J. Tobia’s profanity-laced set “kind of reminded me of the office.”
