The Trump Comedy Hour
There are those who think Donald J. Trump has no sense of humor, who argue that his narcissism makes it impossible for him to laugh at himself and therefore he is incapable of finding humor in others without resorting to cruelty and bullying. The world, they say, is a dichotomy of Him vs. the Rest of Us. He sees it through the lens of his bathroom mirror and to make jest of anything would be to mock himself.
I disagree. I think the guy is the consummate funny man. His problem, I’ll argue, is he’s a straight man in search of a partner. He’s Abbot without Costello, Laurel without his Hardy. Edgar Bergan without Charlie McCarthy. He has these great pearls of comedy but never gets the shell opened. Take yesterday, just for example. He’s at his usual podium giving the State of the Pandemic rundown for the past 24 hours. He’s blasted blue states for their Democratic leanings and insinuated that this is the reason for elevated Covid-19 deaths. Okay, in and of itself, NOT funny. Actually kind of dumb, stupid even. He’s got Pence nearby, pretty obviously a ventriloquist dummy, ready for a second act entrance, but like the Big Man himself, an empty suit without Edgar Bergen moving his wooden lips. The health folks might fill the role, crack wise after such a pronouncement, “Right, Don, probably explains their weather this past winter too.” Drum roll please….
Trust me, the reporters would bust a gut. We all would. Course Fauci would disappear from the stage, but that’s not to say the gag didn’t work. And ratings would soar, viewership would go through the roof and in a few short weeks the Trump Comedy Hour could expand to three hours or even four. We’re all trapped in our quarantine cocoon, you think folks wouldn’t watch a genuinely funny variety show?? Get another Fauci every day, just part of the act, same as the other government agencies, a hilarious revolving door. Part of the joke is how completely inappropriate the pick is. Rush Limbaugh as head of the Center for Disease Control. The guy was an oxycontin addict before we’d even heard the term opioid epidemic. Rush might hang on for a week before You’re Fired.
How about the one liner that folks should take disinfectants, get them inside the body by injection or ‘almost a cleaning’ where it will do a number, a tremendous number, on the lungs? Sure, it sounds stupid when you leave it out there like that. Makes the man look like Pence, nobody to drop the tag line. You almost feel, I don’t know, sorry for him. Where’s the damn punch line, everybody? Don’t just stand there looking uncomfortable! Drop the dime!!
“Well, I guess, Mr. President, you might consider, in your own case, doubling down. A little Lysol with a toilet bowl cleaner for a chaser!” Admittedly the poor schmuck who followed through would be gone immediately, but hey, anything for a laugh, right? Right?
Hits: 284
Tags: Costello and Trump, Trump Comedy Hour, Trump Comedy Partner