One reason that Obama was funnier than dinosaur Leno... The Daily Show writers helped.

Not that anything would have helped Leno. He's an unfunny hack from another era.
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Obama Trounces Leno

“The only person whose ratings fell more than mine did last year is here. Great to see you, Jay!” Obama dinged the off-and-on Tonight show host, who, when his turn came on the podium at the Washington Hilton, proceeded to confirm just why that might be true.

Obama—aided (as presidential political guru David Axelrod acknowledged to me when the show was over) by the razor-sharp jokesters from The Daily Show—came armed with fresh and funny material that prompted some of the biggest laughs I’ve witnessed the Leader of the Free World receiving in more than two decades of attending this strange Washington media-political celebration of self-congratulation—a tribal (and, to outside observers, potentially unappealing) rite of spring in which supposedly discerning and skeptical journalists laugh their posteriors off and lavishly kiss the one belonging to the Comedian-in-Chief.

Even correcting for an undoubtedly unfair comedy advantage (in which any joke uttered by any president is automatically five notches funnier than the same one that slipped off the tongue of a mere mortal), Obama is a natural entertainer who has, among all the other things he has been doing in the past year, sharpened his comic timing and delivery.

Leno, while entirely competent, recycled and repurposed old material from his television show—and even made a mother-in-law joke. After one of his japes was greeted by eerie silence, it was hard not to feel a tinge of sympathy for him when he marveled desperately, “This is a tough room!”

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-05-02/obama-trounces-leno/full/

.... I swear, if Sasha asked him to build a doll house, he'd consult directly with Santa Clause.

something I noticed even back then was that he was at his best when one of his jokes "bombed". I remember that his best work was ehn he would tell a joke from one of his writer's that totally bombed, and then he would improvise about how bad the joke was. That was Carson's talent. Letterman even does it occasionally. Leno just isn't that quick on his feet. He's not bad, he just doesn't fill the shoes.

come up with on his mug. So funny..he was my kind of comedian. I don't watch Leno or Dave..even though I love Dave's political consciousness.

My humor now runs to "Chuck"..so funny tonight:rofl:

i have heard him many times get silence after a joke and then he makes a joke out of it.

I never understood how he won the Late Night wars against Letterman.

TlalocW

Was this during a specific year, or on a specific show, perhaps?

:evilgrin:

Not really, but I told my husband that if I were Obama I would have called Jon Stewart for my jokes. It looks like he may very well have.

Obama just mastered his stand-up skills. The dead-pan delivery is just awesome.

:)
"UPDATE: Those jokesters from The Daily Show have been taking a bit of heat from various quarters today over The Daily Beast's report that they helped with President Obama's standup routine. A Comedy Central spokesman called to clarify that one, repeat one, veteran Daily Show comedy writer, Kevin Bleyer, was acting independently when he wrote jokes for the president. No word on whether Bleyer was working as a volunteer or a paid consultant."

good delivery nor timing. Even if he had the same jokes that Obama had, I doubt they would've come off nearly as funny as Obama did.

Pres. Obama looked like he had fun and so did the sell-out crowd. I'm looking forward to next year already.