If Donald Trump were demanding comedians stop making fun of him – even demanding videos be removed from the Internet and asking for personal phone numbers to intimidate the comedians to cease and desist – would that be a news story? Odds are very high. But the Judicial Watch blog says Hillary Clinton’s people have demanded the comedy club the Laugh Factory take down a brief video of Hillary jokes and asked for phone numbers of the comedians. Will the media breathe a word?
This is no laughing matter for club owner Jamie Masada, a comedy guru who opened Laugh Factory more than three decades ago and has been instrumental in launching the careers of many famous comics. “They threatened me,” Masada told Judicial Watch. “I have received complaints before but never a call like this, threatening to put me out of business if I don’t cut the video.”
The Laugh Factory titled it “Hillary vs. The First Amendment.”
The video features five fairly unknown comedians making fairly standard gags mocking Hillary’s wardrobe, Monica Lewinsky, some lesbian jokes and her age: comedian Greg Fitzsimmons mocked Donald Trump for not wanting a president with a period: “She’s 69 years old!” Fitzsimmons made fun of Hillary’s outfits with this insult: “She looks like a linebacker playing for T.J. Maxx. It's the kind of outfit that you see -- 'Who wore it better? Caitlyn Jenner or Hillary Clinton?'”
Masada told Judicial Watch that, as soon as the video got posted on the Laugh Factory website, he received a phone call from a “prominent” person inside Clinton’s campaign. “He said the video was disgusting and asked who put me up to this,” Masada said. The Clinton staffer, who Masada did not want to identify, also demanded to know the names and phone numbers of the comedians that appear in the video. Masada refused and hung up. He insists that the comedy stage is a sanctuary for freedom of speech no matter who is offended. “Just last night we had (Emmy-award winner) Dana Carvey doing Donald Trump and it was hilarious,” Masada said.
It’s not like Masada is some kind of right-winger. He’s a blogger for the liberal Huffington Post, including a blog last December titled “An Open Letter to President Obama.”
The question I keep hearing from the comedians at the Laugh Factory is how come the policemen don't go after the people who work on Wall Street? Mr. President, why have you not enforced the laws when it comes to Wall Street? Laws are apparently roughly enforced for selling loose cigarettes, so maybe you can explain why nobody working on Wall Street has been shot or put in a chokehold. Is it because they are rich and powerful? In an office? White? It seems that the only people who are getting hurt and shot are poor people and minorities. Considering that both you and I are minorities, I think we should really give these matters much more attention.
Masada was born in Iran. The blog ended with Masada suggesting that doing the “right thing” could make the comedians go away: “You could save this great country of ours. You can go down in history as one of the greatest presidents. Make these changes and I'm confident that the comics will shift to subjects better suited to ridicule.”
