In all the recent celebrity deaths the one you may not have noticed hit me a little harder than the rest. Lost among the others you may have missed the passing of a great comic, Fred Travalena.

Fred was one of those guys who I saw on TV when I was a kid growing up in Kentucky. My Dad loved comedy and would laugh out loud at the comics on late night shows. Fred Travalena, the young and unhip George Carlin, John Byner, and a host of others were the ones that inspired me to get into stand-up. Years later it was a great thrill when I got to meet a lot of them. I met Fred on a cruise ship when we worked together several years ago. He was gracious and friendly and we talked about comedy for several hours one afternoon. (more…)

I was curious. Obama jokes on Late Night TV, have been as rare as a smoking lounge in an airport. I wondered how the shows would do. (Certainly the writers know that their bias has been detected.) Would they turn their comedy knives against Obama with the same wild abandon they used on the previous President? The short answer: Maybe.

The only no-show of the night was David Letterman, who opted for a re-run. Jay Leno, Jimmy Kimmel, Conan O’Brien, Craig Ferguson, Jon Stewart, and Stephen Colbert all weighed in last night with attempts at presidential humor.  (more…)

Talk show writers and hosts, including “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” and “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” have been lamenting how they would love to bust President-elect Barack Obama’s chops more, but he just doesn’t do anything to make fun of. No matter what he says at the coronation tomorrow, there’s no material here… move along.

Let’s be honest.

#1: They love Barack Obama.

#2: He’s African-American.

That’s the bottom line and everybody knows it. The facts are, Barack Obama is a gaffe machine and has done more flip-flopping in the last two months than Jimmy Buffet in Grand Cayman. But do you think for a minute David Letterman would do a “Great Moments in Presidential Speeches,” with Obama saying; “I’ve already visited 57 states”…? (more…)