# Colin Jost is bombing badly at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** talk-variety-show\ **Created:** [April 28, 2024, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-jost-is-bombing-badly-at-the-white-house-correspondents-dinner/1000856 "2024-04-28T02:47:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2024, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-jost-is-bombing-badly-at-the-white-house-correspondents-dinner/1000856/1 "2024-04-28T02:47:02Z")
This is painful. He is waiting for laughs that aren’t coming. Laughing at your own jokes when nobody else isl laughing is just sad. OK he now seems to be hitting his stride. His jokes are better but his rhythm is still really off.Meanwhile, Biden killed it. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2024, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-jost-is-bombing-badly-at-the-white-house-correspondents-dinner/1000856/2 "2024-04-28T02:48:52Z")
Biden did well, but Jost isn’t. Some just plain unfunny stuff. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2024, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-jost-is-bombing-badly-at-the-white-house-correspondents-dinner/1000856/3 "2024-04-28T02:53:59Z")
link? ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2024, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-jost-is-bombing-badly-at-the-white-house-correspondents-dinner/1000856/4 "2024-04-28T03:06:57Z")
Well, it’s pretty much all over now, but I’m sure that you’ll be able to find a link with a replay soon. I was watching the CNN live broadcast on TV; I wasn’t watching online. ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2024, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-jost-is-bombing-badly-at-the-white-house-correspondents-dinner/1000856/5 "2024-04-28T03:07:08Z")
> **[Watch the 2024 White House correspondents’ dinner](https://www.youtube.com/live/C16cHdbEQdI?si=qC3CDwaQR07xfDKE)** > > Celebrities, journalists and politicians come together for the 2024 White House correspondents’ dinner. President Biden and SNL’s Colin Jost give speeches. R... Speeches start at about 2:20:00. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2024, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-jost-is-bombing-badly-at-the-white-house-correspondents-dinner/1000856/6 "2024-04-28T03:35:02Z")
Biden did nail it. Colin was stilted but had some good lines. Wierd style to throw out the line and wait for them to land (or not). Kinda felt like watching a football game. ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2024, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-jost-is-bombing-badly-at-the-white-house-correspondents-dinner/1000856/7 "2024-04-28T03:37:53Z")
On a second watch, Jost’s material isn’t bad but his timing is way off. He does sort of hit his stride at the end but the beginning with him waiting for nonexistent laughs is still rough. Meanwhile, Biden of course has brilliant writers but he also managed to be on point with his timing. When he walked in he looked old and frail but he really turned it on for the speech. My favorite jokes: “I hadn’t done this is a year and my wife was worried about me. I said ‘Don’t worry, it’s just like riding a bike.’” also “They say Congress is now just political theater. I disagree. If it was theater they would have thrown out Lauren Boebert.” ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2024, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-jost-is-bombing-badly-at-the-white-house-correspondents-dinner/1000856/8 "2024-04-28T03:38:14Z")
Yeah, I wonder if his day job as host of the Weekend Update threw him off. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2024, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-jost-is-bombing-badly-at-the-white-house-correspondents-dinner/1000856/9 "2024-04-28T03:45:54Z")
That’s what surprised me. He hosts Weekend Update, so he must be used to using a teleprompter. But he didn’t this time, though a teleprompter was there. Biden was obviously using it. Jost’s head was often down, reading from his notes, then looking up to see if the joke had a reaction. He reminded me a little of Bob Hope, really. (Yes, I have heard Bob Hope do live standup monologues at a couple of tapings of his TV specials.) Throw out a joke, wait for a reaction. Throw out another joke, unrelated to the previous one, wait for a reaction. Lather, rinse, repeat. Maybe if there was a drummer there to provide rimshots … ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2024, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-jost-is-bombing-badly-at-the-white-house-correspondents-dinner/1000856/10 "2024-04-28T04:39:36Z")
It was like Andy Samberg’s roast style of deliberately unfunny jokes to evoke uncomfortable laughter, except Jost was evoking more discomfort than laughs. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2024, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-jost-is-bombing-badly-at-the-white-house-correspondents-dinner/1000856/11 "2024-04-28T05:10:47Z")
I caught most of the Colin Jost stuff on the YouTube video – thanks @psychobunny for posting. I’d have expected Jost to be much better than that. Fun fact for those feeling sorry for Jost: he’s married to Scarlett Johansson. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2024, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-jost-is-bombing-badly-at-the-white-house-correspondents-dinner/1000856/12 "2024-04-28T06:31:09Z")
funny that’s how I first heard about Imus in the early 90s was he flopped at one of these ( I think one in clinton’s first term) right around c-span was doing a thing on “American Talk Radio” ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2024, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-jost-is-bombing-badly-at-the-white-house-correspondents-dinner/1000856/13 "2024-04-28T07:58:56Z")
Jost may be used to the _need to pause_ or something since he’s usually quite funny on SNL? I haven’t seen the whole bit yet, but his words about his grandpa were very sweet and he is a fan of Biden, it seems. ---
**Author:** ![XOldiesJock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/ec9cab/32.png) [@XOldiesJock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XOldiesJock)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2024, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-jost-is-bombing-badly-at-the-white-house-correspondents-dinner/1000856/14 "2024-04-28T14:10:04Z")
I find it hard to think of Colin Jost as a “comedian” in a traditional sense. He’s more of what I might call a “wry observer.” He got off a few zingers, and my wife laughed more than I did, but this is a losing gig. More people have failed at it than succeeded. (Though I recall Trevor Noah got pretty good reviews.) You’re assigned the task of telling jokes for and about a roomful of politicians and journalists who, in my observation, often have very little sense of humor, especially about themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2024, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-jost-is-bombing-badly-at-the-white-house-correspondents-dinner/1000856/15 "2024-04-28T14:20:18Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Fun fact for those feeling sorry for Jost: he’s married to Scarlett Johansson Or as he said, “A even better black widow than Coretta King.” Note: Michael Che wrote that joke. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2024, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-jost-is-bombing-badly-at-the-white-house-correspondents-dinner/1000856/16 "2024-04-28T14:32:05Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > Colin was stilted but had some good lines. Wierd style to throw out the line and wait for them to land (or not). Kinda felt like watching a football game. Force of habit from Weekend Update? ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2024, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-jost-is-bombing-badly-at-the-white-house-correspondents-dinner/1000856/17 "2024-04-28T15:20:37Z")
> [@XOldiesJock](#): > > More people have failed at it than succeeded. (Though I recall Trevor Noah got pretty good reviews.) You’re assigned the task of telling jokes for and about a roomful of politicians and journalists who, in my observation, often have very little sense of humor, especially about themselves. I’m going to have to rewatch Stephen Colbert’s turn. Colbert, in the satirical persona of his conservative pundit from The Colbert Report, played to the television audience while most of the room seemed uncomfortable as they didn’t get it or slowly realized Colbert was skewering them to their faces. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2024, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-jost-is-bombing-badly-at-the-white-house-correspondents-dinner/1000856/18 "2024-04-28T15:30:21Z")
I agree with others, the problem is the crowd – DC politicians. Every expression they make is carefully calculated based on how it’ll play with such-and-such constituency, and they needed time after each joke to figure out whether they should laugh or not (based in part on whether others were laughing.) It threw Jost off. As an old DC hand, Biden knew what jokes they would immediately know were “safe.” ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2024, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-jost-is-bombing-badly-at-the-white-house-correspondents-dinner/1000856/19 "2024-04-28T15:37:14Z")
> [@XOldiesJock](#): > > I find it hard to think of Colin Jost as a “comedian” in a traditional sense. He’s more of what I might call a “wry observer.” He got off a few zingers, and my wife laughed more than I did, but this is a losing gig. More people have failed at it than succeeded. (Though I recall Trevor Noah got pretty good reviews.) You’re assigned the task of telling jokes for and about a roomful of politicians and journalists who, in my observation, often have very little sense of humor, especially about themselves. He’s been a standup comic a lot longer than he’s been on SNL. He’s a comedian. It’s a pretty much no win situation with a bad crowd. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2024, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-jost-is-bombing-badly-at-the-white-house-correspondents-dinner/1000856/20 "2024-04-28T16:42:56Z")
> [@flurb](#): > > I agree with others, the problem is the crowd – DC politicians. Every expression they make is carefully calculated based on how it’ll play with such-and-such constituency, and they needed time after each joke to figure out whether they should laugh or not (based in part on whether others were laughing.) It threw Jost off. As an old DC hand, Biden knew what jokes they would immediately know were “safe.” Maybe. But how many of them are actually DC politicians, as opposed to journalists? I don’t know the answer, but isn’t the “Correspondents’ Dinner” supposed to be, like, for correspondents, not for politicians, although clearly some politicians are invited? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-jost-is-bombing-badly-at-the-white-house-correspondents-dinner/1000856.md?page=2)