Tuesday, April 25, 2017

Low Hanging Fruit

When "President" Trump was elected, the nominal silver lining was that the gift was for comedians. Such a wealth of material. Bankrupt billionaire, reality TV star and former USFL team owner becomes leader of the Free World. Hysterical, right. It is the very epitome of the old saying, "This stuff writes itself."
Which turns out to be the problem. These days it hardly feels like work to make fun of the idiocy that spews forth from Washington. It doesn't take a David Frye or Key and Peele's Anger Translator to poke fun at the Oval Office goings-on. For several minutes the other day, I sat and stared at the picture of Kid Rock, Ted Nugent, and Sarah Palin hanging around the desk of the aforementioned "President." I was trying to come up with a joke to go along with the photo. Some sort of amusing caption that would set the scene in some sort of comedic way. Providentially, there was no way to move past the inherent humor of the scene. It was made that way.
And this kind of silliness is taking place every single day.
The "President" appoints his millionaire buddies to cabinet positions and invites his nutty model daughter and his son-in-law the real estate guy to become his closest advisers. The laughter ensues. The yuks continue as the "President" threatens the nut-job running North Korea with "an armada" that just  happens to be heading  the wrong way. Oh stop! You're killing me!
Add to this the adventures of his pinhead sons and you have some comic relief from all the comedy. Like how Donald Junior decided to go help out the campaign of a Republican congressional candidate in Montana, and go on a prairie dog hunt with him. I promise you that I am not making this up. This is a real thing that happened and requires absolutely no additional information to make it funny.
Or incredibly sad.
In the past few months, people have been saying how Saturday Night Live has really found its edge again. Brilliant writing? Pitch-perfect acting? Accurate transcription. Comedy doesn't need us anymore. All we need to do is point. And laugh.

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