Let’s be honest: Donald Trump is easy to make fun of. His entire persona is a bit larger than life and has been since he became a busines...
Let’s be honest: Donald Trump is easy to make fun of. His entire persona is a bit larger than life and has been since he became a business icon in New York decades ago. The mannerisms, the voice, the hair — it’s all ripe for caricature, political views aside.
But has teasing Trump become too cliched? One comedian sure thinks so, and he’s pledged to leave the president out of the jokes during his new late-night TV show.
Actor and comedian David Spade became a star during his run on Saturday Night Live during the early and mid-1990s. He spent a lot of that time doing impressions and taking shots at pop culture with the late Chris Farley, but now Spade is taking a very different direction with his comedy.
“I thought, maybe it’s time for a nonpolitical fun show again,” he told The Daily Mail in a red carpet interview.
Spade, who is set to debut his Comedy Central show “Lights Out with David Spade” in late July, added that he plans to steer clear of Trump and would instead be “making fun of whatever else is going on.”
The long-running comedian also took a jab at other comedians who seem obsessed with Trump and noted that they might be a tad narcissistic about their own impact on national politics.
“[The] country’s going to work or not work without me involved, so I’ll stay away and let all the other celebrities handle it,” Spade said with a smirk.
That was almost certainly a veiled reference to the recent seasons from his SNL alma mater, which have made mocking Trump their bread and butter.
Perpetually angry liberal Alec Baldwin has repeatedly donned a wig and a bad accent to impersonate the president, while late-night hosts including Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel have gone on openly political rants against the commander in chief.
But after three years of non-stop and frequently un-funny attacks against Trump from every corner of Hollywood, the fresh approach from Spade just might be a breath of fresh air.
“It gets to be where after a few years Trump turned into an easier target because at the beginning it is like ‘Can you believe this guy?’ And now it is like ‘yeah we can,’” the actor said.
“At this point it would be just piling on,” Spade noted, before adding that real comedians should be able to find different topics of humor besides just railing against Trump. “So if you are funny you are supposed to be able to find something else funny.”
“And maybe it is time for a non-political fun show again making fun whatever else is going on,” he added. “Gender reveals drive me crazy, anything going on in music and acting.”
Who would have thought David Spade would be the voice of reason? He’s right on the money here. The long-running comedian probably has a pretty good sense of what resonates in pop culture and has figured out that it’s time to move on from endlessly bashing the president.
Because of that, there’s a pretty good chance that his new show will do well. After all, though Tinseltown hates to admit it, around half the country voted Republican in 2016, and alienating droves of your potential audience just isn’t a smart move. Spade seems to intuitively get that.
Now, can somebody please get Alec Baldwin on the phone? He could desperately use the same advice.
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