Obama looking for laughs one last time
WASHINGTON: Once a year, the US president attends a party he can’t avoid and is asked to make Washington laugh.
When Barack Obama steps onto the stage of the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner tomorrow, he will carry out that ritual for the eighth and final time.
The clips will be played again and again and endlessly dissected by pundits — so finding the right tone and jokes are key.
“This is one of the hardest speeches of the year,” said 35-year-old Cody Keenan, who leads a team of speechwriters at the White House.
“Other than the State of the Union address, this is probably the speech we start earliest, just because humor is so difficult,” he added.
“It’s also the biggest team working on any speech other than the State of the Union address.”
This year, the team member with ‘the pen’ and tasked with making Obama funny is 34-year-old Tyler Lechtenberg.
“Jokes in general are some of the most nerve-racking parts of speeches,” he said. “With a joke, there is more vulnerability to it. If it flops, that is something that we can take personally too.”
One of the first steps in the writing process is developing a broad list of potential topics, which is circulated both inside and outside the White House.
Former Obama aides Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett, Dan Pfeiffer and David Axelrod are among those consulted this year.
Listening to other people “is a big part of the process” said Lechtenberg. “Every idea in the brain storming stage is a good idea.”
But then comes the tough task of whittling all those ideas down.
“We’ll probably have maybe 100 jokes total and bring them down to 20-25 by the end,” said Keenan. “You’ve got to have a thick skin because most of your jokes are going to get cut.”
Lechtenberg describes the process as having a ‘herding cats’ feel.
There will be some digs at political opponents and some at his hosts and the journalists who cover the White House and have invited all the guests.
But the most important element might be self-deprecation. — AFP