Day: June 22, 2009

David Koechner, that character actor who has made you laugh in many movies and TV guest appearances, got his start in Chicago studying improv at the iO (improv Olympic). Coincidence? Only in that I just spent the weekend there for the inaugural Just For Laughs Chicago festival, and that Koechner stars in a new Funny or Die video, in which he tells a group of youth baseball players what it takes these days to become a famous athlete. Life lessons! How to be a Sports Celebrity – watch more funny...

While I decompress and get my notes and videos in order from my weekend in Chicago, let me catch up on the funny that happened in the rest of the world. Which means we have to mention John Hodgman's performance over the weekend at the 2009 Radio and TV Correspondents' Association Dinner in Washington, D.C., where he publicly confronted and quizzed President Barack Obama on his "nerd" credentials and spoke of the nation's true culture war between jocks and nerds. It's not quite as daring nor as audacious as what Stephen Colbert pulled off a few years ago in front of George W. Bush and the White House press corps, but for people who say you cannot joke about Obama, it's at least a start. And Obama shows he not only can take the jokes, but also is cool with showing off his Vulcan salute. Yes. That's right. He was OK with doing that, knowing we would see it....