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Holly Montag, Sarah Palin & Joe The Plumber: Why 'Famous' People Shouldn't Try Stand-Up (VIDEO)

Huffington Post     First Posted: 06/14/10 06:12 AM ET   Updated: 05/25/11 05:10 PM ET

Stand-up comedy is an art, both difficult to learn and agonizing to perfect. That's why it's so disheartening when politicians, celebrities, or media personalities think that just because they're well known that they can rock the mic. Sure, they may get laughs, but quality comedy is usually traded for cheap jabs at rivals or flat observations about airline food. The reality? Just because you're famous doesn't mean you can bring down the house.

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Joe The Plumber
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At the 2009 "Funniest Celebrity In D.C." stand-up competition, Joe the Plumber supremely flopped. He goes on about the luxuroius lifestyle he had during the election and flubs several lines, then ends on a "lighthearted" note by claiming he hopes Keith Olberman has a stroke. Funny!
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Stand-up comedy is an art, both difficult to learn and agonizing to perfect. That's why it's so disheartening when politicians, celebrities, or media personalities think that just because they're well...
Stand-up comedy is an art, both difficult to learn and agonizing to perfect. That's why it's so disheartening when politicians, celebrities, or media personalities think that just because they're well...
 
 
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10:42 PM on 04/20/2010
the bottom line,if bush wasn't president we would not have obama.nuff sid.
05:31 PM on 04/15/2010
I actually like Palin better doing stand-up! Although we all got a laugh or two when she was running for VP. I guess it just comes naturally to her.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
edayres
Comedian with a New Jersey attitude commenting on
02:11 PM on 04/15/2010
Palin's jokes were formula jokes and not inspired funny but I have to admit she did deliver her lines like the TV weather girl she once was.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
AristophanesJones
I am a happily negative person
10:39 AM on 04/15/2010
What's really funny is how Arlen Specter and Mike Huckabee think the "this is a true story... UNLIKE WHAT YOU USUALLY HEAR OUT OF WASHINGTON" jokes are fresh and likely to elicit more than a bunch of groans from a DC audience.
10:33 AM on 04/15/2010
HEY GUYS! While you're at it, why not just go pilot a plane with the Blue Angels, spend a night playing lead trumpet with Earth Wind & Fire, or maybe try your hand at neurosurgery!
olddognewtrick
Half full or half empty...It's the same
09:22 AM on 04/15/2010
Conan?
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Darlene Jones
All of them are corrupt!
09:35 PM on 04/14/2010
Everytime I sere "Joe the Plumber" I feel like taking a hot shower.... Doesn't matter if I just took one or not.... Something so "slimy" about him. Looks like he spends his time sitting on a couch drinking beer. JMO.
08:17 AM on 04/15/2010
that shouldnt make you feel bad, if he does sit on a couch drinking beer. whats it to you?
06:53 PM on 04/15/2010
That is how he is supposed to make you feel. His "character" was created to be the stereo-type of a guy who likes to come home after work, sit on the couch with a beer and watch TV. Probably has empty pizza boxes piled around the house and one of the last Americans that thinks SPAM is real meat.
And if anyone has the misfortune of standing behind him while he is working, they will see what the term "Plumber-butt" comes from.
His stand-up was pretty weak.
09:20 PM on 04/14/2010
the former president had some fairly good writers but his delivery stunk from there to the potamac. dubya: get a teleprompter next time you want to open yer' yap.
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michelesda
My micro-bio is empty.
10:15 AM on 04/15/2010
Well, but then there would be this reading thing!
09:14 PM on 04/14/2010
i have a hard time believing George W.Bush isn't really pulling an elaborate Andy Kaufman like prank on us all.
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Mearcy
.We are stardust........
07:57 PM on 04/14/2010
Mr. Huckabee wasn't so bad actually. Great delivery, self depreciating.....
06:17 PM on 04/14/2010
I did tend to notice that Our Supreme Commander's attempts at stand up comedy were not subject to scrutiny in this article and generally appears sacrosanct to any satire that does not directly promote the greatness and wonder of the moment.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
vicco
07:48 PM on 04/14/2010
Well,it's not really quite like that, Obama just tends to be a little to intelligent in his humor and usually his timing is perfect so his attempts at humor always succeed....on the other hand entire hours can be filled with the last "Supreme Commander's" idiocy and feeble attempts at being "funny". My pet goat? Really bad timing and you know what they always say? Fool me once and.....ahhh,fool me twice you can't fool me once...I mean again, you can't fool me again...Actually he was pretty funny in that little brain fart.
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michelesda
My micro-bio is empty.
10:22 AM on 04/15/2010
If recollections of Obama's occasional trading shots with real life comics are any guide, one reason might be that he could actually do it.
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dspencer3491
05:58 PM on 04/14/2010
Joe was the worst and I think Specter or GWB was the best although G.W.B. had his material written for him so its not fair
05:56 PM on 04/14/2010
Sarah Palin is a joke!
03:38 PM on 04/14/2010
Regarding Palin's stint on "Tonight", other news sources say that she did not get that many laughs and NBC added a laugh track before running the tape of the show in the late night slot. No surprise there.