Joke Reality Check #2
October 11, 2007 at 3:51 pm
Here now is the next installment of our new regular series — the Joke Reality Check — in which we put jokes told on the campaign trail or in the media or in the general political discussion through a VIP check-up and washing. We check whether jokes are stolen, poorly-premised, or poorly written or delivered. And we offer strategic advice to improve the attempt. Our first venture was reality checking a Mike Huckabee joke (click here to relieve that glory moment.) Today, we check in with Mitt Romney.
During Tuesday’s Republican presidential debate, Mitt Romney used this line against Fred Thompson:
ROMNEY: This is a lot like “Law and Order,” Senator. (Laughter.) It –
MATTHEWS: Okay, thank you.
ROMNEY: No, it has a huge cast, the series seems to go on forever –
MATTHEWS: Okay. Senator –
ROMNEY: — and Fred Thompson shows up at the end. (Laughter, applause, cross talk.)
MATTHEWS: Senator –
Fred Thompson had a great spontaneous response:
And to think I thought I was going to be the best actor on the stage.
But there’s something wrong with Romney’s joke. What is it?
The presentation. He inverted it. He gave away the punchline at the beginning.
Here’s how Joke Reality Check would’ve done it:
Get a load of this. There’s a huge cast. The series seems to go on forever. And Fred Thompson shows up at the end. That’s not a debate. That’s “Law & Order.”
Ba-dum.
MikeTheLibrarian said,
October 11, 2007 @ 4:37 pm
Can they kick Matthews out for stepping on the joke? Or at least not invite him back next time?
chris said,
October 11, 2007 @ 5:10 pm
you still helping fred thompson? or were you fired also?
Capt. Jeffrey T. Spaudling (Ret.) said,
October 12, 2007 @ 9:44 am
Mortman proves once again why HE is Washington’s funniest celebrity.
Jon Henke said,
October 12, 2007 @ 12:57 pm
Hooray for Captain Spaulding!
K T Cat said,
October 12, 2007 @ 3:34 pm
Don’t be so hard on Mitt. It looked like his subroutines were executing in the wrong order all night.
Ryan said,
October 13, 2007 @ 1:13 am
Actually, you’re missing the mark here. It’s much funnier and more effectively delivered the way Romney delivered it. It’s funny and it’s not an attack, yet it has the very clever effect of making Fred Thompson into a punchline that he can’t really object to.
Props to Fred, however, for his reaction. Off the cuff, that was “pretty good.”
Michael Kozlowski said,
October 20, 2007 @ 3:50 pm
Read my letter to the editor to see how I would have done the joke.