Comics feast on US presidential debate

Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama AP/Charlie Neibergall

NEW YORK—There’s nothing more serious than a presidential debate. Well, unless you’re with a bunch of comedians laughing their heads off at the candidates.

At one of the more unusual debate watching parties around the United States, US President Barack Obama and his Republican challenger Mitt Romney appeared on screen in front of a raucous crowd at the 92YTribeca club in Manhattan.

Instead of the earnest pundits on usual news coverage, the debate here was overseen by the likes of Daily Show creator Liz Winstead and Baratunde Thurston from satirical newspaper The Onion, who traded snarky comments and expletive-filled double entendres.

When a poker-faced Winstead noted that behind-in-the-polls Romney was under pressure to “pull it out” in the first debate, a leering Thurston jumped in: “Game changer! That’s going to be a game changer!”

The laughs from the mostly Democratic crowd of about 200 only got louder the longer the policy-packed debate went on and the more the beer flowed.

As the candidates dueled on one big screen tuned into C-SPAN, a second screen alongside displayed a rapid fire feed of one liners from the team of comedians on witstream.com.

There may not have been much analysis of America’s policy choices, but there were drinking game suggestions aplenty.

One comedian suggested taking a swig every time Obama mentioned the government’s role in building the national railroad system.

Another called for drinking if Obama said “uh”—a sure way to drunkenness—while a rival plan called for glasses to be raised “every time Mitt Romney smiles condescendingly.”

‘I like Big Bird’

Sometimes the comedians had to look no further than the candidates’ own words, with Romney the most frequent target.

“‘I like coal.’ ‘I like Big Bird.’ These are actual Mitt Romney quotes from tonight,” Benari Poulten sniped, prompting guffaws from the room of political comedy fans.

John Fugeslsang riffed on Democrats’ portrayals of Romney as a corporate raider: “Mitt Romney would’ve eliminated Bin Laden by simply buying al-Qaeda and firing him.”

There was also rich material in the candidates’ body language and the comedians’ feverish, if not downright sick, imaginations on what every nuance might mean.

“Now Romney is doodling yachts,” one wit speculated about what Romney was up to while Obama was speaking.

Perhaps the most biting comment targeted the typically polite hostility between the president and challenger.

Matt Roller posted the view he imagined from space, saying: “‘Oh, I get it. Humans laugh when they’re furious.’ Alien watching the debate.”   AFP