President Obama — proving the old adage that dying is easy, comedy is hard — is getting less-than-stellar reviews for his supposedly funny bit on Zach Galifianakis’ “Between Two Ferns” show on Funny or Die.
In the satirical interview that debuted on the comedy website yesterday, the prez and “The Hangover” star trade insults, feign boredom and annoyance, and plug Obamacare in the six-minute clip.
“It’s not funny but it’s on ‘Funny or Die,’” said Roger Friedman on Showbiz 411, calling Obama’s appearance “less presidential than Richard Nixon saying ‘Sock it to me’ on ‘Laugh In.’”
“Obama should not quit his day job,” he added.
And the White House press corps grilled the prez’s press secretary about the skit yesterday, with ABC’s Jim Avila questioning whether the presidency had been “damaged” by the Fernfest.
“How much discussion was there in the White House about the dignity of the office?” Avila asked.
Of course, the appearance was an attempt by the commander-in-chief to capture those ever-elusive millennials and direct them to his health-care website. Or, as Galifianakis rather succinctly described it, “the thing that doesn’t work.”
Because if young, healthy people don’t sign up for Obamacare, then who is going to pay for all the medical bills the aging baby boomers run up???
Anyway, the right wingers were predictably horror-struck by the unconventional presidential sales pitch.
“Fox Friends” co-host Brian Kilmeade slammed the interview as “so inappropriate” and “pretty tragic.” And the right-wing Washington Free Beacon called it “just dreadful” and “gross.”
“Between Two Ferns” is a long-running Galifianakis talk-show spoof in which he lobs ridiculous questions at a variety of celebrities. Past guests include Justin Bieber, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Aniston and Tila Tequila. His questions to Obama included:
“How does it feel to be the last black president?”
“In 2013 you pardoned a turkey, what do you have planned for 2014?”
“What do you plan to do about North Ikea?”
And while Obama was extolling the virtues of his Affordable Care Act, the comedian quipped, “Is this what you mean by drones?”
As for the prez, he had a few good zingers while faking impatience and annoyance with his interviewer. When Galifianakis asked did it “kind of stink” that he couldn’t run for a third term, Obama quipped, “If I ran a third time it would be kind of like doing a third ‘Hangover’ movie, and that didn’t really work out too well, did it?”
File Under: Fail to the Chief?
Article source: http://bostonherald.com/inside_track/the_inside_track/2014/03/between_two_ferns_president_obama_bombs_funny_or_die_debut