Obama Impersonator Offends by Telling Obama Jokes

The appearance of a Barack Obama impersonator named Reggie Brown at the Republican Leadership Conference caused a slight kerfuffle because -- well -- a black comedian poked fun at another black.

Then he caused a scandal by poking fun at Republicans.

Newsbusters covered some of the hyperventilation about the Obama jokes pretty well. The Washington Post called the "racially themed" and "off-color." Politico called them "racially tinged."

The video of the routine the Newsbusters article makes one scratch one's head at this. The offending jokes appeared to be the following:

"On Black History Month: 'Michelle celebrates the full month. I celebrate half.'

"My mother loved a black man," but 'he was not a Kardashian.'

"A picture was shown of Obama and the first lady when he took office. The impersonator then showed a picture of what the Obamas will look like when the president leaves office, and it was the characters of Fred Sanford and his sister-in-law, Ethel , Aunt Esther, from the show 'Sanford and Son.' "

If anything the hyper-sensitive reaction from some parts of the media demonstrates that the ascent of Obama to the White House has brought a marked decline in race relations. One can only imagine what sort of vapors the Washington Post and Politico would have had if somehow Richard Pryor had been brought back from the dead and brought up to speed on the current political situation.

Pryor would have taken no prisoners, least of all President Obama. Pryor had the talent to lay bare every aspect of racism, race relations, racial anxiety and somehow make all of that funny and reveal some truth as well. These days someone like Pryor would have caused a collective swoon among the mainstream media.

By the way the media hyper-ventilated about Reggie Brown's routine one would have thought that Jackie Mason told Jewish jokes or that George Lopez tells Hispanic jokes. Lenny Bruce had to invent cussing on stage to offend people. All Brown had to do was to tell a lame joke about the president's biracial heritage. At least it was funnier than Will Ferrell impersonating George W. Bush.

The real scandal happened when Brown forgot who his audience was and started laying in on Republicans. Mind, the jokes about Mitt Romney and Mormonism would have worked at a liberal function. But that sort of thing brought groans and the hook for Brown.

View the original article here

Tim Pawlenty and Mitt Romney telling jokes: The video anthology

 AP/Charlie Neibergall/Alex Brandon

The worst part of any presidential campaign is actually listening to the candidates. They drone on, endlessly, repeating the same talking points in the same stump speeches, for months. Many of them are very poor public speakers. Most of them, actually. And then, there are their jokes.

Not all of the potential presidential candidates tell bad jokes. I don't think Ron Paul tells any jokes (the rEVOLution is nothing to laugh at!), thank god. Mike Huckabee is actually charming and funny, with a natural sense of timing, as you can see in this clip from a 2004 Republican Governors Association meeting, in which he does a passable God-themed Bob Newhart telephone routine. (But sometimes his ad-libs are a bit questionable! And other times the p.c, police can't handle some harmless gun violence-themed campaign humor.)

But my favorite presidential jokesters -- the two wackiest cards on the campaign trail -- are former governors Tim Pawlenty, R-Yuksville, and Mitt Romney, R-Laffsachusetts. Let's start with Tim:

Here is Tim Pawlenty telling a funny joke about America hitting Barack Obama's car with golf clubs, or something:

More recently, Pawlenty attempted to tell a series of "topical" jokes about the Lady Gaga and the Justin Bieber that the kids are so into these days:

When Pawlenty is off-script is when his wit truly shines. Just watch him attempt "banter" on Fox & Friends:

Yes, "tubing in the polls." Very funny. Makes a lot of sense, as a joke.

Tim Pawlenty also likes to talk about his "red-hot smoking wife." Unfortunately, while she may be hot, she also refuses to have sex with him:

That is a very good joke and not at all just an incredibly weird thing for a presidential candidate to say.

Speaking of normal human behavior, pander-bot Mitt Romney has sampled what you Earth creatures call "humor" as well. He is not very good at it. But, admirably, he tries very hard. He has told so, so many jokes. This is a joke about Mitt Romney trying to win a sheep, I think. I don't actually get it:

Here is Mitt Romney telling like three jokes. He starts with one right from his "jokes for public speaking" book and then spends like three minutes setting up a very lukewarm baseball joke. (And then he tells one of those popular jokes about how his wife would rather have sex with someone else. Republicans: Their hot wives are not attracted to them, am I right?)

Romney has even tried some non-wife-related self-deprecating humor:

Of course, the only genuinely funny thing Mitt Romney has ever said/done was this:

View the original article here

Tips for Telling Great Jokes

A joke is a way of telling interesting and funny situations in a form of short stories to make people laugh. Telling jokes is a great way of communication and is considered an art. By reading this article you may not learn this art fully, but can manage to tell jokes without frustration. Here are some rules to pay attention when telling jokes.

A good joke;

has the superior quality of humor.
contains a positive and pleasant with. A good joke teller avoids destructive,corrosive jokes which targets a specific region or group.
is told in the right time and right place.
does not contain profanity, obscenity, and slang.
comes naturally during the topic. A successful communicator does not attempt to search for subjects for his joke, or jokes for subjects. The jokes should follow the subject very naturally.
makes people laugh.

Before starting to tell a joke, make sure that you are in the right place. It is better to summarize a joke in a few sentences. There is no need for unnecessary details. The teller should not interrupt telling his joke with laughing attacks. Laughing should come from the listeners.

A good joke teller must have rich collection in mind. A few jokes in mind will not be enough to make them laugh repeatedly. One of the most important things is that if you do not have the ability to imitate, you should avoid doing it. Similarly if the joke requires dialects of a language, it will be a good idea skip this part if you are not good at speaking this dialect. Because even the actors have several rehearsals until they are ready to act their role. The same ones should not be told to the same people in different times and places.

Listening is another art and a good habit that lead to success. Trying to tell jokes to people who do not know how to listen would be a waste of time. Whenever a joke is told to you, do not attempt to tell another one in return and transform the chat into joke telling session. Jokes are composed of a preparation and result section. To interrupt the telling process, may impair the effect of the joke.

For more information on the online funny jokes, visit my site to download the best jokes book directly to your computer.

Seven Tips To Telling Better Jokes (From a Comedian Who Really Knows!)

To be honest, I think that most presenters should avoid telling

jokes. But on the other hand, telling jokes around the

water cooler or on the porch while sippin' lemonade is

a time-honored tradition. If it was good enough for

Gramps, why ain't it good enough for us? But if you

are going to tell jokes, you should do it right.

1. Make sure you actually know the joke. Practice

it! Tell it to your kids, your spouse, and your dog.

Trust me, you want to tell the joke a few times

before you do it for real. Nothing will make you

look like a bigger idiot than telling a joke wrong.

2. Scan the internet for jokes to AVOID. Don't

tell jokes that everybody has heard... if your

joke is all over the internet, then this is a great

joke to AVOID.

3. Shorter jokes are better. I know, I know. You think

you're a great story teller. But trust me, your audience

will appreciate you for NOT adding all of the colorful

details and fluff. Just tell the joke. Shorten it if you can.

4. The punch line comes last. And I mean last!

Nothing should come after the punch-line. Consider

this joke done well.

Why Did the chicken cross the road? To get to the

other side.

Now, the same joke when the punch-line is not last.

This is much worse. (I know, that joke is pretty bad on

it's own, but... you get the idea.)

Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the other

side of the road which was on a long block because he

wanted to get to his chicken coop.

See? Punch-lines should be last. Period. NOTHING

comes after the punch. (Except for your silence and their laughter.)

5. Keep it clean. And I mean crystal clean. If you wouldn't

tell it to the Queen of England (who probably doesn't like

jokes much anyway) then leave it out. Seriously. If you

have any doubt whether you are "crossing the line," then

don't tell it. Think of it this way: if you tell a joke to 10 people

and 9 of them laugh, then you've still alienated a friend. Don't do it.

6. If you are telling a joke as part of a presentation,

don't take credit for the joke. You can do that before

the joke with something like, "Here's one I read on

the internet." Or after the joke with something like,

"That old joke was on the internet, but it reminds us

to.... (follow with a point.)" If you don't let people know

that his joke is from the internet, you risk looking like a

fool. I guarantee that at least a couple of people in every

audience already know your joke, and if you want to earn

and keep THEIR respect you need to make sure you don't (tacitly) claim that joke to be yours.

7. Don't steal jokes from stand up comics. Unless they are

dead. Jokes are material, and it is how they earn a living.

If you tell it, copy it, email it.... whatever... you devalue the

joke for them. Besides, it's bad karma. :)

Brad Montgomery CSP is hilarious motivational speaker and corporate comedian who reminds his audiences to take themselves less seriously in his laugh-out-loud keynote presentations. He is an also the author of three books and a humor-in-the-workplace consultant. Get a free audio recording at http://www.HumorJumpStart.com