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Andy Borowitz ‘audaciously’ funny for Dems
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BY: ELIZABETH WEINSTEIN Staff Reporter
It’s a great time to be a comedian.
The upcoming presidential election has people buzzing about politics, and the cast of characters that has been assembled by both parties is providing ample material for jokes.
Just ask Andy Borowitz, a Shaker Heights native who has made a name for himself as author of “The Borowitz Report,” a satirical “news” e-mail blast sent out daily to hundreds of thousands of loyal subscribers. This weekend, the Manhattanite will return to his hometown for an Ohio Democratic Party fundraiser, “The Audacity of Jokes.” Borowitz took a quick break from his hectic schedule to talk to the CJN via e-mail.
Q: Tell me about “The Audacity of Jokes.”
A: “The Audacity of Jokes” is an evening of stand-up comedy devoted to fundraising for Barack Obama and energizing his supporters. But it’ll be a fun night of entertainment for everybody, and I will be doing extensive Q&A. I’ll try not to look like a deer caught in the headlights, like Sarah Palin did with ABC newscaster Charlie Gibson.
Q: What are your thoughts on Sarah Palin? What makes her such a ripe target for jokes?
A: She has that rare combination of confidence and ignorance that is only matched by … George W. Bush. I didn’t think we could find another political figure as promising as Bush has been, comedy-wise, but the Republicans have gone and done it. The Bush administration has basically been an 8-year-long YouTube clip. Palin could easily pull that off.
Q: I read an article recently about comedians finding it difficult to make fun of Obama. What do you think about this?
A: I will make jokes about Obama. It’s not impossible to make fun of him. McCain is easier, and Palin is the easiest, which just goes to show that I am making a supreme sacrifice, as a comedian, by supporting Obama.
Q: What role does comedy serve in a presidential election?
A: I hope that what I do, along with my more famous counterparts like Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, is draw attention to a lot of the hypocrisy, lies, and stupidity swirling about. But it remains to be seen whether we’re accomplishing that.
Q: If you could create a sitcom around any of the key politicians in this election, whom would you pick?
A: Far and away the best character to come out of this election is Levi Johnston, Bristol Palin’s baby’s daddy, who supposedly is going to marry her. I would follow him to Washington, where he would get into all kinds of hijinks. Maybe he would use the red phone to text one of his hockey buddies and accidentally start a nuclear war.
Q: Cleveland is often the butt of comedians’ jokes. In your routines, do you work Cleveland in, or do you avoid the topic?
A: When I do shows in Cleveland, I always talk about Cleveland n not as a butt of jokes, but simply because funny things do happen there.
Q: For example?
A: When I was growing up, the Indians had an outfielder named John Lowenstein. Assuming he was Jewish, the organist at the stadium played “If I Were a Rich Man” every time he came up to bat n never bothering to check whether or not he actually was Jewish. He wasn’t.
Q: What do you enjoy most about visiting Cleveland?
A: I love seeing the Indians, who have been on a hot streak of late, now that they’re out of contention.
Q: Why do you think there are so many Jewish comedians?
A: I think the sociological explanation is that outsiders and minorities tend to dominate comedy. If you’re in the ruling class, you don’t need to make jokes n things are going so well for you.
Q: Any upcoming projects you’d like to talk about?
A: People should go to the new “Borowitz Report” website (www.boro
witzreport.com) n it’s been totally redesigned and has much more content on it. It’s really the best source for fake news in this country, with the possible exception of The New York Times.
eweinstein@cjn.org
The upcoming presidential election has people buzzing about politics, and the cast of characters that has been assembled by both parties is providing ample material for jokes.
Just ask Andy Borowitz, a Shaker Heights native who has made a name for himself as author of “The Borowitz Report,” a satirical “news” e-mail blast sent out daily to hundreds of thousands of loyal subscribers. This weekend, the Manhattanite will return to his hometown for an Ohio Democratic Party fundraiser, “The Audacity of Jokes.” Borowitz took a quick break from his hectic schedule to talk to the CJN via e-mail.
Q: Tell me about “The Audacity of Jokes.”
A: “The Audacity of Jokes” is an evening of stand-up comedy devoted to fundraising for Barack Obama and energizing his supporters. But it’ll be a fun night of entertainment for everybody, and I will be doing extensive Q&A. I’ll try not to look like a deer caught in the headlights, like Sarah Palin did with ABC newscaster Charlie Gibson.
Q: What are your thoughts on Sarah Palin? What makes her such a ripe target for jokes?
A: She has that rare combination of confidence and ignorance that is only matched by … George W. Bush. I didn’t think we could find another political figure as promising as Bush has been, comedy-wise, but the Republicans have gone and done it. The Bush administration has basically been an 8-year-long YouTube clip. Palin could easily pull that off.
Q: I read an article recently about comedians finding it difficult to make fun of Obama. What do you think about this?
A: I will make jokes about Obama. It’s not impossible to make fun of him. McCain is easier, and Palin is the easiest, which just goes to show that I am making a supreme sacrifice, as a comedian, by supporting Obama.
Q: What role does comedy serve in a presidential election?
A: I hope that what I do, along with my more famous counterparts like Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, is draw attention to a lot of the hypocrisy, lies, and stupidity swirling about. But it remains to be seen whether we’re accomplishing that.
Q: If you could create a sitcom around any of the key politicians in this election, whom would you pick?
A: Far and away the best character to come out of this election is Levi Johnston, Bristol Palin’s baby’s daddy, who supposedly is going to marry her. I would follow him to Washington, where he would get into all kinds of hijinks. Maybe he would use the red phone to text one of his hockey buddies and accidentally start a nuclear war.
Q: Cleveland is often the butt of comedians’ jokes. In your routines, do you work Cleveland in, or do you avoid the topic?
A: When I do shows in Cleveland, I always talk about Cleveland n not as a butt of jokes, but simply because funny things do happen there.
Q: For example?
A: When I was growing up, the Indians had an outfielder named John Lowenstein. Assuming he was Jewish, the organist at the stadium played “If I Were a Rich Man” every time he came up to bat n never bothering to check whether or not he actually was Jewish. He wasn’t.
Q: What do you enjoy most about visiting Cleveland?
A: I love seeing the Indians, who have been on a hot streak of late, now that they’re out of contention.
Q: Why do you think there are so many Jewish comedians?
A: I think the sociological explanation is that outsiders and minorities tend to dominate comedy. If you’re in the ruling class, you don’t need to make jokes n things are going so well for you.
Q: Any upcoming projects you’d like to talk about?
A: People should go to the new “Borowitz Report” website (www.boro
witzreport.com) n it’s been totally redesigned and has much more content on it. It’s really the best source for fake news in this country, with the possible exception of The New York Times.
eweinstein@cjn.org
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