Comedian-In-Chief

Ben Yagoda applauds Obama’s executive wit at this year’s Correspondents’ Dinner:

He’s got impressive comedy chops to start with: the poker face, the sense of the proper cadence of a line, the willingness to pause for a long beat while he looks off into the middle distance, in the manner of Hope or Benny. He has a trademark delivery, the way he barks out a huh! after setting down a premise. And nothing but God-given talent can explain his skill at milking or playing off a bit. The only wall this president wants to tear down is the fourth one, as he deftly riffs on the joke he’s just made:

I’m also hard at work on plans for the Obama Library. And some have suggested that we put it in my birthplace, but I’d rather keep it in the United States. (Laughter.) Did anybody not see that joke coming? (Laughter.) Show of hands. Only Gallup? Maybe Dick Morris? (Laughter and applause.)

Then, at another point:

Of course, everybody has got plenty of advice. Maureen Dowd said I could solve all my problems if I were just more like Michael Douglas in “The American President.” (Laughter.) And I know Michael is here tonight. Michael, what’s your secret, man? (Laughter.) Could it be that you were an actor in an Aaron Sorkin liberal fantasy? (Laughter.) Might that have something to do with it? (Applause.) I don’t know. Check in with me. Maybe it’s something else. (Laughter.)

Now, note the Dick-Vitalesque “second term, baby” in his opening bit, the “what’s your secret, man?” and “check in with me” in the one above. The truly remarkable thing about Obama as standup is that he really is the coolest guy in the room. This may be the nerd prom, but he is no nerd. Hearing him deliver jokes, you sense he’s actually listened to his teenage daughters talk (“I was like … “) and paid attention to what they’re interested in. (“Take the sequester. Republicans fell in love with this thing, and now they can’t stop talking about how much they hate it. It’s like we’re trapped in a Taylor Swift album. [Laughter.]“)