Bush bashing ends on the eve of Inauguration

CAMBRIDGE—About 10 people attended the “Pre-Inaugural Comedy Bash” at the All Asia bar in Cambridge last night where several comedians “retired” their George Bush jokes and tried out new Barack Obama material.


“For people who don’t have the money to go to Washington, the odds for a bathroom here are better,” the show’s host Janet Cormier said to start the evening.

Cormier introduced three other comedians—Erin Judge, Marc Basch and Dorothy Dwyer—in between interacting with the small crowd, which included a family of four children and a large group of teenagers waiting for the band to perform.

“Obama will raise the standards for all kinds of race relations,” Cormier said. “If anybody wants a black best friend, I am available; it will be very fashionable.”

Comedian Erin Judge said writing jokes about the popular president-elect was challenging for her as compared to creating bits about “easy targets” like President Bush and vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Judge, who has been performing at All Asia for six and a half years, said she went to high school in Texas while Bush was governor.

“For the past 14 years, this man has been my leader, and that ends tomorrow,” she said. “It’s a great thing to celebrate … I’m still in shock.”

Audience member, Aixa Aleman, said she was visiting from Washington D.C. because her city would be too crowded today. She said she plans to celebrate the inauguration by making “Yes we can” martinis.

Aixa’s brother, Jose Aleman of Somerville, said he has high expectations for the new presidency as a scientist.

“In terms of funding and general receptiveness, the current administration has been less than desirable,” Aleman said.

Tara Zanardi of Somerville said she came to the show despite the cold weather to celebrate the inauguration in a different way. Zanardi said that while she thinks Obama is “intelligent and thoughtful” and an improvement over Bush, she does not want to expect too much.

“With a person built up to be so fabulous, it’s important to remember he’s not perfect,” she said.

Comedian Marc Basch did not include the inauguration in his stand-up, although he supports Obama. He instead called his material “socio-political,” touching on race, religion and gender issues.

“Obama really seems to have a great family life and a good marriage,” Basch said. “Clinton cheated and George and Laura really don’t seem passionate.”

Cormier said she puts on a comedy show once a month at All Asia, and in February the show is traditionally themed for Black History Month.

“Social commentary is what I pride myself in,” she said.

Cormier said she thinks a large audience is hard to attract because of the economy, and she did not want to assume her whole audience would want to hear about politics, even in Cambridge. However, she said that with the historic event and all the excitement, “Why not, dammit?”

Cormier ended the show with her favorite Bush quote: “The Associated Press asks, ‘Mr. President, why can’t you find Osama bin Laden?’ And Bush replies, ‘Because he’s hiding.’”