It’s the news you’ve been waiting for all morning… [drum-roll please]
White House economic adviser Austan Goolsbee took home the top prize in the 16th annual “D.C.’s Funniest Celebrity” contest on Wednesday evening, and he did so in a very unconventional way.
Unconventional, as in, he was actually funny.
Patrick Gavin, quite the funny gentleman himself, joined Nora McAlvanah as two of the all-star judges who awarded Obama’s economic adviser the first place trophy.
Instead of adopting a traditional comedic routine of joke buildup and punchline, Goolsbee peppered an otherwise expected stump speech on the Obama administration’s goals with subtle asides that constituted a humorous, sarcastic, self-deprecating and conspiratorial insight into the administration’s most accessible punchlines. The targets? Hillary Clinton, Sen. Ben Nelson, Rod Blagojevich, Sarah Palin and Fox News.
The routine, seen here , is actually very well done.
Other performers included Joe the Plumber [couldn’t get past minute two] and some guy named Grover [the other Muppet].
Also on hand last night for a few laughs was Sen. Ben Nelson. (D-NE). Nelson, who received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the event, wasn’t competing, but we hear he brought down the house.
Some highlights from Nelson’s routine:
“To be recognized in Washington for something other than picking up women in North Korea or ditching them in Argentina is a welcome change of pace. “
“Obviously, this honor is a lot easier to accept without the public option.”
After mentioning some of the women journalists in the crowd: “It used to be when you talked about female anchors, you were talking about Sarah Palin’s impact on John McCain.”
“We really need to stop this push to demand birth certificates from our elected officials-it would really be a pain if Senator Byrd had to roll out those stone tablets every time he ran for re-election!”
Here’s to hoping FamousDC is asked to help judge the competition next year, instead of being brought in to clean up after the event [insert drum roll here].