That’s all folks: Franken pulls his punchlines

Al Franken is not going to be funny. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who watched his epic campaign against Norm Coleman. But the national media seems shocked that Franken didn’t begin his tenure in Washington with a fusillade of insult jokes aimed at the GOP leadership. It’s a meme that’s already gotten quite tired.

However, CQ Politics’ Jonathan Allen gets the award for the most thorough vetting of Franken’s designation as the first professional funnyman to serve in Congress. (Ben Jones apparently does not count.) While Allen came up dry in his search for prior (paid) comics roaming the halls of the Capitol, he did track down two comedians currently serving in state legislatures: California’s Tom Ammiano (“the mother of gay comedy”) and Vermont’s Jason Lorber.

The latter had this bit of wisdom for his fellow funnyman: “My advice to comedian Franken is to remember that while he may be the funniest one at the club (and he is, I love Al Franken), he’ll never be as funny as the chair of his committee. Especially if he wants to get the last laugh.”