Teleprompter Jokes
So far, I’ve heard three speakers at CPAC, plus various introducers and emcees. Let’s just say that teleprompter-related jokes are already getting old.
I get the desire to make fun of Barack Obama. Really, I do. It’s what one does at a convention of an opposition political movement. Especially one where the audience skews young.
But, gee whiz, the fact that he gives speeches using a teleprompter is hardly particularly noteworthy, let alone funny. Ronald Reagan was called “The Great Communicator” and used a teleprompter without shame. It’s just how modern public speakers refer to notes.
Are any of these teleprompter jokes being read off teleprompters? Because now that would be funny.
It’s funny because he looks like I would if I gave a speech on a teleprompter (I have never done so). It looks like he’s watching a slow tennis match. He sucks at [look left] “giving a speech” [look right]as he merely reads.
Other people can do a much better job of making it look more natural or less obvious. What makes the joke funny is that Obama — the great orator — sucks at this. And God forbid there is a ‘prompter glitch, the man doesn’t look like he even knows what he’s talking about. That’s funny (but in the sad way).
You still haven’t seen the video of him wiping the floor with the Republicans when they invited him out a few weeks ago? No teleprompter in sight.
According to a link I saw earlier (can’t remember if it was at HuffPo or Fark), yes, at least one of these so-called comedians was using a teleprompter while making fun of Obama for them.
hpb, I actually agree with you to a degree that Obama is a little too rhythmic with the left-right-repeat style of speaking. But it’s a pretty minor quibble. I’ve never heard anyone criticize him for that; if anything, everyone says he’s an outstanding speech-giver.
And you’re clearly way out in left… excuse me, right field if you still think that Obama doesn’t know what he’s talking about and that it’s funny to boot. Yeesh.
Franklin, the irony is lost on these maroons.
James,
I had a similar thought earlier, as I saw a ref (maybe on Memeorandum, but perhaps elsewhere) about a teleprompter joke.
New material is needed, to be sure.
Are they just joking about teleprompters, or parodying them? The latter can be pretty funny if done right, but I’ve never seen someone do the former and come across as being that funny.
Sadly, I suspect they’re seriously (?) joking about teleprompters. Sort of like the hilarity of tire pressure gauge earrings, or whatever went on during the campaign. Or Kerry’s flip-flops and Dukakis wearing a helmet in a tank. Haha, what losers, who would vote for them, amirite people?
I guess I’m feeling extra cynical today.
Rubio read a teleprompter joke off of a teleprompter.
But it isn’t the use of the devices that are the source of the jokes. It’s his dependence on them. He’s more often a stumblebum of ums, ers, and uhs without one.
He’s not hopeless. He was rather more poised in his F2F with the House GOP, for instance (whether one thinks he “wiped the floor” with them is entirely dependent on one’s ideology). He gives decent interviews a reasonable percentage of the time. But he is over-reliant on the teleprompter more often than not.