Al Smith dinner (MCain and Obama both funny) - NON-POLITICAL

[mellytu74]

Last night was the annual Al Smith dinner, which raises money for NY Catholic Charities. It was broadcast on C-SPAN. I found out later that Rachel Maddow used the second half of her show to show both keynote speakers.

I'm not sure I would have channel surfed had the Tampa Bay Rays not built up such an insurrmountable lead.

Traditionally, the dinner (which has existed since after WW II) has a number of mahoffs from politics, the media and entertainment all chipping in big bucks for a good cause.

The keynote speakers last night were Senators John McCain of Arizona and Barack Obama of Illinois.

In the tradition of the Al Smith dinner, they did standup comedy routines. Roast-ish.

Both were very funny. McCain is more of a natural but Obama had some good lines, too.

No matter your political stripe (or if you have no stripe at all), I recommend that, if you have the chance to catch the dinner on C-SPAN, do so (and since it IS C-SPAN, there WILL be reruns).

[An aside to myself: Mel, these people have LIVES. You are recommending that they watch C-SPAN on a Friday night! OR a weekend! Seriously].

Anyway, I found it very enjoyable and thought some of you might, too.

(Edited to fix a modifier)

[Catfish]

Segments were on Good Morning America this morning. I wish one, or all, of the debates had been run this way.

[MarleysGh0st]

[An aside to myself: Mel, these people have LIVES. You are recommending that they watch C-SPAN on a Friday night! OR a weekend! Seriously].

Lives?

5th Grader is being pre-empted by baseball tonight*, so I have the time, actually.




*It is still being pre-empted, right? The play-offs haven't ended early or anything, have they?

[mellytu74]

Catfish --

The thing I especially liked was the reaction shots.

These two guys seemed to be enjoying themselves. Really and truly.

And Senator Clinton looked like she was having a ball, too.

[dimmzy]

Was this the "white tie" dinner where the old guy behind McCain was eating chicken wings and sucking his fingers, oblivious to the speakers?

Howie Mandel showed a clip of it on Regis this morning. You could easily see the guy when McCain was talking.

Hilarious.

--dimmzy, who never eats at fancy events (just so she doesn't spill anything)

[mellytu74]

Was this the "white tie" dinner where the old guy behind McCain was eating chicken wings and sucking his fingers, oblivious to the speakers?

Howie Mandel showed a clip of it on Regis this morning. You could easily see the guy when McCain was talking.

Hilarious.

--dimmzy, who never eats at fancy events (just so she doesn't spill anything)

The old guy in the top row? By the time Obama spoke, it looked like he was eating a candy bar.

[earendel]

[An aside to myself: Mel, these people have LIVES. You are recommending that they watch C-SPAN on a Friday night! OR a weekend! Seriously].

Lives?

5th Grader is being pre-empted by baseball tonight*, so I have the time, actually.




*It is still being pre-empted, right? The play-offs haven't ended early or anything, have they?

No, but because Boston won last night, the teams go back to Tampa, meaning that this should be an off night for the playoffs, so 5th Grader should be on as scheduled.

[dimmzy]

The old guy in the top row? By the time Obama spoke, it looked like he was eating a candy bar.

YES! And I was wondering what the heck were they SERVING at this fancy dinner? Or did the guy bring his own snacks?!

I wonder how long it will be before Letterman has him on ...

[mellytu74]

The old guy in the top row? By the time Obama spoke, it looked like he was eating a candy bar.

YES! And I was wondering what the heck were they SERVING at this fancy dinner? Or did the guy bring his own snacks?!

Boonie thought that maybe the guy was diabetic or something because he wasn't eating what everyone else was (it actually looked like everyone else was done eating when the candidates spoke).

[dimmzy]

Boonie thought that maybe the guy was diabetic or something because he wasn't eating what everyone else was (it actually looked like everyone else was done eating when the candidates spoke).

That's a kind explanation, but it looked like he was eating a CHICKEN WING because he was licking his fingers ... And usually diabetics need to eat FIRST ...

Skip Joe the Plumber -- I want to get to the bottom of DINNERGATE!

[Bob78164]

[An aside to myself: Mel, these people have LIVES. You are recommending that they watch C-SPAN on a Friday night! OR a weekend! Seriously].

Lives?

5th Grader is being pre-empted by baseball tonight*, so I have the time, actually.




*It is still being pre-empted, right? The play-offs haven't ended early or anything, have they?

The playoffs are still going, but the next game is tomorrow. --Bob

[Jeemie]

"You can see the Russian Tea Room from the front door of the Waldorf" was one of the funnier lines of the night.

[Catfish]

"You can see the Russian Tea Room from the front door of the Waldorf" was one of the funnier lines of the night.

I liked "I was given my middle name by someone who didn't think I'd be running for president" or something like that.

[mellytu74]

"You can see the Russian Tea Room from the front door of the Waldorf" was one of the funnier lines of the night.

I liked "I was given my middle name by someone who didn't think I'd be running for president" or something like that.

I liked both those lines.

It was something like, "My first name, Barack, was given to me by my father and is Swahili for 'that one' and my middle name was given to me by someone who obviously never thought I'd be running for President."

Also, "I have the policies of Alfred E. Smith and the ears of Alfred E. Newman."

One of my favorite McCain lines was that Joe the Plumber needn't worry because he'd just signed a contract with a wealthy couple to take care of all seven of their houses.

[danielh41]

Last night was the annual Al Smith dinner, which raises money for NY Catholic Charities. It was broadcast on C-SPAN. I found out later that Rachel Maddow used the second half of her show to show both keynote speakers.

I'm not sure I would have channel surfed had the Tampa Bay Rays not built up such an insurrmountable lead.

Traditionally, the dinner (which has existed since after WW II) has a number of mahoffs from politics, the media and entertainment all chipping in big bucks for a good cause.

The keynote speakers last night were Senators John McCain of Arizona and Barack Obama of Illinois.

In the tradition of the Al Smith dinner, they did standup comedy routines. Roast-ish.

Both were very funny. McCain is more of a natural but Obama had some good lines, too.

No matter your political stripe (or if you have no stripe at all), I recommend that, if you have the chance to catch the dinner on C-SPAN, do so (and since it IS C-SPAN, there WILL be reruns).

[An aside to myself: Mel, these people have LIVES. You are recommending that they watch C-SPAN on a Friday night! OR a weekend! Seriously].

Anyway, I found it very enjoyable and thought some of you might, too.

(Edited to fix a modifier)

I saw this last night. I tried listening to the audience, and it seemed that while McCain had them laughing at every joke, quite a few of Obama's seemed to fall flat. Perhaps that's because McCain was consistently self-deprecating when refering to himself while Obama was not (comparing himself to Superman).

[mellytu74]

Last night was the annual Al Smith dinner, which raises money for NY Catholic Charities. It was broadcast on C-SPAN. I found out later that Rachel Maddow used the second half of her show to show both keynote speakers.

I'm not sure I would have channel surfed had the Tampa Bay Rays not built up such an insurrmountable lead.

Traditionally, the dinner (which has existed since after WW II) has a number of mahoffs from politics, the media and entertainment all chipping in big bucks for a good cause.

The keynote speakers last night were Senators John McCain of Arizona and Barack Obama of Illinois.

In the tradition of the Al Smith dinner, they did standup comedy routines. Roast-ish.

Both were very funny. McCain is more of a natural but Obama had some good lines, too.

No matter your political stripe (or if you have no stripe at all), I recommend that, if you have the chance to catch the dinner on C-SPAN, do so (and since it IS C-SPAN, there WILL be reruns).

[An aside to myself: Mel, these people have LIVES. You are recommending that they watch C-SPAN on a Friday night! OR a weekend! Seriously].

Anyway, I found it very enjoyable and thought some of you might, too.

(Edited to fix a modifier)

I saw this last night. I tried listening to the audience, and it seemed that while McCain had them laughing at every joke, quite a few of Obama's seemed to fall flat. Perhaps that's because McCain was consistently self-deprecating when refering to himself while Obama was not (comparing himself to Superman).

daniel --

McCain was very well received and clearly more experienced at this.

I thought the only Obama joke that REALLY fell flat was the one about the AIG sales meeting. And you could CLEARLY hear the "oooohs" in the crowd. And that may have been more delivery than material. A skooch more snark would have made it, I think.

{Edited to add -- On second thought, maybe not. I'm not sure it was a good joke for that crowd.]

But, seriously, you really don't think Obama was being self-deprecating when he said he was born on Krypton and sent here by his father Jor-El to save planet Earth?

Seriously?

I mean, judging from his reaction, McCain thought it was very funny.

[thguy65]

Those interested in watching the candidates can go to the MSNBC website.

I think McCain had both better joke-writers and better delivery.
In 25 years, I think Obama's delivery will be as well-polished.

[mellytu74]

Those interested in watching the candidates can go to the MSNBC website.

I think McCain had both better joke-writers and better delivery.
In 25 years, I think Obama's delivery will be as well-polished.

At the start, I was going to link the YouTube clips of the entire thing but McCain's weren't in sync (voice/picture) and it was distracting (and hence a lot less funny).

The stuff at MSNBC is OK?

[thguy65]

Those interested in watching the candidates can go to the MSNBC website.

I think McCain had both better joke-writers and better delivery.
In 25 years, I think Obama's delivery will be as well-polished.

At the start, I was going to link the YouTube clips of the entire thing but McCain's weren't in sync (voice/picture) and it was distracting (and hence a lot less funny).

The stuff at MSNBC is OK?

It's OK if you don't mind it being within the Rachel Maddow Show.

[Estonut]

But, seriously, you really don't think Obama was being self-deprecating when he said he was born on Krypton and sent here by his father Jor-El to save planet Earth?

Seriously?

You think Obama calling himself Superman is self-deprecating? Seriously?

[MarleysGh0st]

Thanks for the MSNBC link, Tim; I enjoyed both clips.