Comedy

Dance, Monkey: Baratunde Thurston

We put a comic on the hot seat. This week’s victim . . .

By SARA FAITH ALTERMAN | September 26, 2008

There’s “Barack Me, Obamadeus,” “Barack The Vote,” “Barack And Roll” . . . What should the next pop-culture- referential Obama slogan be?
At the DNC, I saw Biz Markie in concert. He remixed “Just a Friend” to “Obama, you got what I need. When Obama’s president, when Obama’s president. . . . Ooooobama youuu!” This is obviously the next big thing.

Hmm. Thanks to all of this fuss about Merrill Lynch and AIG and Lehman Brothers, the financial landscape is looking a little dreary. Any ideas on how to spruce it up?
We can always print more money, but we should put the faces of the people who started this mess on the bills. People like Clay Aiken. You know he’s behind this, right?

What’s the most evil of all fruits?
Raw papaya. What an abomination. Papaya is supposed to be dry, coated in sugar, and packaged with nuts for an absurd price at an outdoor shop.

If you had to guess (and you do, because i’m making you), what magical creation will the Ipod elves churn out next?
They will add one extra button to the iPhone. The development will be praised by the press as revolutionary. Meanwhile, the elves will suffer birth defects for the next three generations due to their exposure to high concentrations of the toxic chemical bromine.

Please write me a haiku about haiku.
“Kids write them poorly/Calling it art does not help/I miss child labor.”

Baratunde Thurston | “Comedy Against Evil” at Club Passim, Cambridge | September 28 | 617.492.7679 or www.clubpassim.org