Bush Plays Straight Man To His Lookalike
Sunday April 30, 2006
President Bush drew big laughs at the White House Correspondents' dinner when he took the stage alongside Bush impersonator Steve Bridges. The two performed an amusing comedy sketch featuring the private thoughts Bush was supposedly having as he addressed the crowd of political bigwigs, media heavies, and celebrity hangers-on. (Video available here)A few highlights:
Bush: "Ladies and gentlemen, I feel chipper tonight. I survived the White House shake-up."
Bridges: "Here I am at another one of these dang press dinners. Could be home asleep, little Barney curled up at my feet. Nooo. I gotta pretend I like being here. Being here really ticks me off. The way they try to embarrass me by not editing what I say. Well, let's get things going so I can get to bed."
Bush: "I'm absolutely delighted to be here. As is Laura.
Bridges: "She's hot. Muy caliente."
Bush: "As you know, I always look forward to these dinners."
Bridges: "It's just a bunch of media types, Hollywood liberals, democrats like (Sen.) Joe Biden. How come I can't have dinner with the 36% of the people who like me? The only thing missing is Hillary Clinton sitting in the front row rolling her eyes."
Bush: "I am sorry Vice President Cheney couldn't be here tonight. "
Bridges: "You reporters would go nuts if you knew the true story. He was as drunk as a skunk. On one beer. Light beer. Oh, people were ducking and diving for cover. I wish I could have been there. I saw him walking down the hallway the other day. I looked at him and said, "Don't shoot."
Watch the video and read more highlights from Bush's double-talking stand-up shtick.
It was an honorable effort by the comedian in chief, much better than the year he fell flat on his face while joking about his failure to find WMDs in Iraq, as well as the time he screened an odd slide show that featured a picture of Vice President Cheney urinating on a door.
But it didn't come close to matching First Lady Laura Bush's show-stealing "Desperate Housewife" routine at last year's White House Correspondents' Dinner, or Bill Clinton's legendary "Final Days" spoof, which is still the gold standard for presidential comedy.
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Comments
I must give the President credit for allowing the “double-you” thing to take place. My date couldn’t believe her eyes when it came on in the background at the restaurant we were dining in. Although I have been critical in the past, I did appreciate his ability to laugh at himeself at the Press Corps Dinner.
Dr. Kevin Peterson
http://www.NoneoftheAboveForPresident.com
There were a few funny moments, but on the whole I actually thought the double Bush skit was sort of lame. Full of all kinds of predictable, overdone jokes about Bush’s tortured speech. The gag got old after the first couple of minutes, and they lost me at “Ee-eye Ee-eye-o.”
Stephen Colbert’s routine, on the other hand, was brilliant and daring. The man spoke truthiness to power and has serious cojones.
All in all, though, an entertaining evening of political comedy.
Prez and ‘double’ [thats a double? That is like saying Ghandi and Cheney are fraternal twins] D-. Well heck they did get up on stage. I would have been too ashamed. It wasn’t even funny.
Colbert? Steve Allen is smiling from somewhere. A+ plus bonus points for having sheer guts. And it was funny even without the prez.