Red, white and blue humor
Comedian Mark Russell has been around Washington for years, satirizing politicians with his song parodies and his red, white and blue-bespeckled piano. You can currently find him at the Omni Shoreham hotel on Monday evenings.
So he seemed like a natural person to ask: How will the Obama presidency affect political comedy?
“A lot of people have said that you can’t joke about him” because of racial sensitivities, Russell told Yeas & Nays. “But that’s kinda racist in way. What is this … we have to be hands off? I pay no attention to it because I’ve been hearing that all of my life. … There’s a way to poke fun without being a total schmuck.”
But we’ll have to wait and see what kind of late-night fodder Obama provides such comics as Russell. “The best jokes are the ones you don’t know about,” he said. “If you look ahead and speculate, that’s pretty lame.”
But he’s already prepared some inauguration bits, and he gave us a sample:
“For the inaugural, this is the plan/
Barack is sworn in on the family Koran/
Now that McCain has lost the election/
He’ll put Lieberman under witness protection
“Congratulations Barack and Michelle/
Let us speak as one nation wishing them well/
As they walk through the White House, wanna bet that they will/
In Abe Lincoln’s bed, they’ll find Hillary and Bill.”
