Tuesday, May 03, 2005

King of Comedy

Much praise has been heaped upon First Lady Laura Bush for her stand-up routine at the annual White House Correspondents Association Dinner last Saturday. And rightfully so--her constantly pleasant demeanor made her zingers especially effective. Quipped Mrs. Bush: "Here's our typical evening: 9:00, Mr. Excitement here is sound asleep. And I'm watching Desperate Housewives with Lynne Cheney. Ladies and gentlemen, I am a desperate housewife."

But props should still go out to Cedric the Entertainer, who no doubt had to follow a tough act. He appeared a bit nervous but still managed to get the laughs. One memorable joke involved Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice:

Cedric: There's two people, though. You know, the name is broken down. There's the Condi, who's--that's the person you see on television with the nice hair and very professional. Then there's the Leezza... She's the one with her hair wrapped up, on the phone with her girlfriend watching BET...

Cedric said what he wanted to know most from the president was not about taxes or foreign policy, but rather, why that woman from Georgia kidnapped herself. He was also respectful and called the president "cool" and that by meeting Cedric, it gave Bush "street credibility."

In all, a very funny--and fairly brief--performance, though quite mild for the man who starred in Barbershop. (Remember his line about giving a shave that would leave you "as smooth as Gary Coleman"?)

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice? That's soooo 2004. She's the Secretary of State, no less.

Anonymous said...

I also thought Cedric did a great job. A little birdie told me something you surely already know but are keeping secret, held to some oath no doubt, but since I am under no constraints, here comes the beans: it was the start of the 2008 campaign. Cedric, you see, is a Rove plant. Well "plant" is too indecent of a word. A campaign operative. So playful it all was, toying with the Democrats, when Cedric said there was talk about a women becoming President in 2008. C-Span cut to Al Franken clapping while thinking about Hillary. Rove even greased the C-Span cameraman. Film that will come back to taunt. It was Condi Cedric was alluding to. That is the real reason Bush and Cheney and all the Republicans were laughing so hard. Cedric's jokes were good but the inside joke, girding it all up, was precious. With the Condi and Leeza bit the Republicans will pull over 60% of the African-American vote in the Condi 2008 campaign. With Laura and Lynn at one side and George and Dick on the other, Senator Steele and......An election to solidify the Republican Party for a generation. You'll see parts of that bit on the introductory film to candidate Rice's speech at the 2008 Republican convention. (A night quite reminiscent of Bush's pitch at Yankee's stadium. I won't go into the details of how Rove managed to direct the ball into the catcher's mitt for a strike. Some beans even I am not authorized to spill. But jeez the Republican conspiracy is good.)

That Dude said...

Dontcha think all the people on the Right bitching about Laura's speech should just STFU?