Trying New Obama Jokes: 'I Would Like to Dedicate Always and Forever to My President'

From that quiet and lonely place where comedians consider the rare possibility and danger of making fun of Barack Obama, Amy Chozick of The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Wanda Sykes is trying out some Obama jokes on the road in anticipation of her May comedy gig at the White House Correspondents Dinner in Washington:

"It's so crazy how everyone is just in love with this man," Ms. Sykes said. She imitated a love-struck teenager calling into a radio show. "I would like to dedicate 'Always and Forever' to my president."

The audience laughed.

Mr. Obama should have chosen New York Gov. David Patterson as his vice president, she continued. "Who's going to hurt the half-black guy if you're going to be left with the whole black, blind guy?"

The audience groaned.

For younger readers, "Always and Forever" was a hit ballad for the soul group Heatwave in 1978. It began: "Always and forever / Each moment with you / Is just like a dream to me / That somehow came true." It does sound a lot like Chris Matthews discussing Obama on "Hardball."

Sykes should have comic latitude, since no one’s protesting the fact that Sykes is really an Obama fan:

In a recent appearance on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," Ms. Sykes said the country should trust Mr. Obama to fix the economic crisis. "We're broke and I'll tell you, nobody knows more about being broke than black people," she concluded. The punch line got a nervous laugh from the audience.

Among comics, there was some initial hand-wringing that the articulate Mr. Obama wouldn't provide as much comic fodder as former President Bush. Comedian Alonzo Bodden says lately he directs more jokes at the economic crisis than the president. At a recent show in Grand Rapids, Mich., he riffed that Michigan is an example of everything that is wrong in America. "People there laughed because what else can you do?" he says.

But this is the line in the Chozick article that’s really, ridiculously funny:

Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart," a premier venue for political satire, has focused lately on a feud with CNBC "Mad Money" host Jim Cramer. Comedy Central President Michele Ganeless says "The Daily Show" is "picking apart what [Obama's] saying the same way they did with Bush."

Previously: Wanda Sykes Tapped to Mock Obama at White House Correspondents' Dinner