Conan vs. Letterman: Who's Funnier?
Friday June 5, 2009
Now that Conan O'Brien and David Letterman are going head-to-head on late-night TV, which comedian will be serving up the better political punch lines? It's a little early to tell, but compare some of their jokes from this week's monologues and see what you think.
On GM
"Despite opposition from the public, President Obama says he's determined to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay. To make sure Guantanamo Bay closes, Obama said the new warden will be the CEO of General Motors." --Conan O'Brien
"Hey, how about General Motors? Oh, my gosh. It's crazy what's going on. General Motors, bankrupt. Biggest corporation in the world and now they still want money. They still want billions more bailout money. I think I speak for all Americans when I say, 'You want more money? Wait here while I talk to the manager. I'll be right back." --David Letterman
"Yesterday, Dick Cheney said his lesbian daughter Mary has convinced him to support gay marriage. Pretty cool, yeah. Yeah. Cheney made the announcement after Mary was spotted waterboarding him." --Conan O'Brien
"Cheney is on television yesterday. He's giving an hour-long speech. In the speech, he's defending waterboarding. I thought, boy, that's a tough call — would you rather be waterboarded or listen to Cheney for an hour?" --David Letterman
On Kim Jong-Il
"North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il is in the process of deciding who's going to be his successor, and the most likely person is his youngest son, Km Jong-Un. Kim Jong-Un said he's excited, but realizes he's got some awfully big women's sunglasses to fill." –Conan O'Brien
"Kim Jong-Il is gonna step down. He's turning power over to his son Kim Jong W. Il. But that was a big disappointment to his other son, Jeb Il…Have you noticed all the dictators are stepping down: Castro, Kim Jong-Il, Dick Cheney." –David Letterman
On Obama
"Did everyone see Brian Williams' special with President Obama that was on? Yeah? Anyway, there's this big NBC News special with Brian Williams, and in the special, President Obama showed Brian Williams what tricks his new puppy, Bo, could do. Isn't that cool? Yeah, in fact, Bo has already learned to sit up and beg for federal bailout money." --Conan O'Brien
"But you know, people get upset about everything. People are already screaming. They say: 'You know what that little date that the President and his wife went on in New York City, you know what that cost people? Twenty four thousand dollars. It lasted four hours and it cost $24,000.' And former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer said, 'That's about right.'" --David Letterman
Read more late-night jokes...
See Also:
Highlights from Conan's 'Tonight Show' Debut
Funny Letterman Videos
Jay Leno's Best Political Jokes
Get Political Humor on Facebook and Twitter
Comments
Kim Jong W il. Jeb il. Hysterical.
hey leno, where are you? you have left us to deal with a masochistic-freaky conan and a cranky-old-timer-funny-face-making letterman.
It’s not about who is funnier. It’s about who has the funniest “WRITERS”. Period. Conan is easier to look at. Dave needs to retire……isn’t he about 99 years old by now.
Conan Wins.
If you watch Letterman, every joke, from kind of lame to extermely boring, is awarded with a stupid round of applause. It’s easier to clap than to fake-laugh. I attended a taping once, and the studio audience is instructed to applauud profusely after every “joke.” This is tedious and painful to watch, and I was a HUGE fan when Letterman still had his cajones back in the 80s.
In this viewer’s humble opinion…it’s ridiculous to even compare Conan with Dave. David Letterman is ten times the host that Conan is. Johnny was the King, Dave is the master, Jay was decent, and Conan can be almost painful to watch. I’m a newspaper reporter, former actor, and have years of comedy training at Chicago’s 2nd City (home of most SNL legends). I also used to do stand-up. I don’t say this to impress (it’s not that impressive), just to say that this discussion is close to home for me. Trust me…among people who do these types of things as a career, Dave is very, very well respected and Conan is considered by most to be near pathetic (apart from his former writing career). Watching Conan conduct an interview is almost painful. After 17 years of late night, Conan still seems nervous, is unable to control the flow of the interview, has been making the same jokes for over a decade (his hair, for example), and often makes his guests have to work to have a smooth conversation. In contrast, Dave can make anyone from a young athlete to a sexy actress (Julia Roberts gave him a huge smacker on the lips recently), to a politician feel at ease. Dave is likely a better late night talk show host than Conan and Jay combined. Jay has his merits (good writers), but also has many weak points. Conan’s entire show is pretty darn weak…filled with mindless, childish skits and almost uncomfortable interviews. Watch Conan conduct an interview, then change the station and watch Dave conduct an interview. It’s like night and day. Johnny would be ashamed, I think. Dave is clearly a more intelligent and engaging personality than either Jay or Conan. Long live The Late Show, starring David Letterman!!!
Check out the tale of the tape of Conan vs Letterman at The Campus Socialite.
http://www.precioustimeny.com/blog/?p=1792
I cant stand funny_face_making of Dave and also, he is really an old frame. Maybe, old timers can associate more with him. True, Leno has a good bunch of writers and he is also very fresh. take ‘jaywalking’, for example. We are all waiting for Leno to be back!
well….i’ve watched letterman….not funny
conan i think is the king of late night….i thought he was better than leno…
I’ve watched Dave since I was a kid in ‘97 and he never got old for me…If I come across the Late Show on TV these days, I still stop to watch. I also like Conan but Dave is the late night king for me, I never got Leno’s appeal. And what’s with the old timer comments? I think he is still fun for all ages…(albeit, ppl of a more sophisticated variety). Carson didn’t retire till he was 67, so Dave still got a few years left…he probably wants to make it to 30 years like Carson (if you include late night and late show), which is only about 3 1/2 more years…
I know the survey is for Letterman v/s Conan, but Craig Ferguson has grown on me past months. For me HE is Winner by miles.
Would you rather be waterboarded or forced to watch David Letterman for an hour?
Waterboarded! No questions about that one.