CHICAGO — Comedians and satirists here have learned what their peers across the country are finding out about making fun of Barack Obama.
Some things are fair game: his age, his lanky physique, his Ivy-League-meets-street-slang vernacular, even his cautious nature.
And some things simply aren't. Obama, they've found, is not quite the easy target that his presumptive GOP opponent, 71-year-old Arizona Sen. John McCain, is.
In Chicago, home of the venerable Second City comedy troupe, few people are regarded as immune to social satire, and since Obama leaped into the national spotlight with his keynote address at the Democrats' 2004 national convention, the state's junior senator and city's favorite adopted son has become a commonplace subject at comedy clubs across the city.
Second City has produced three highly successful shows this year in Chicago that skewer Obama, including "Between Barack and a Hard Place," which joked about his chameleonic ability to identify with blacks, whites, gays, Latinos and even soccer moms.
The show, which closed this spring, was followed by "No Country for Old White Men" and "Campaign Supernova!, or How Many Democrats Does It Take to Lose an Election."
Both take pokes at Obama, but during a Friday performance of "Campaign Supernova," the actors teased the candidate with a softer touch:
One voter confides that he's voting for the most Irish-sounding candidate.
McCain?
"No! O'Bama!" replied the actor, sending the mostly white audience into gales of laughter.
South Side Chicago comedians, such as impressionist Reggie Reg, have built a following spoofing Obama. And other local stand-up performers say they routinely take shots at him.
"He's the Will Smith of politics -- the single most boring white person in the United States," quipped Aaron Freeman, a Chicago native and African American comedian. "I've been making these jokes for two years. . . . He's one of ours, so of course we're going to bash him. What none of us can figure out is why no one else seems to be willing to do the same."
Sometimes, though, a punch line falls flat.
Ray Hanania, a Palestinian comedian and former local journalist, decided to dip a toe into the issue of race and Obama at a show this year: "I don't understand Barack Obama's hesitation at naming Hillary as his running mate. Isn't that every black man's dream, to have a white woman at their side?"
