Thursday, February 09, 2012

BIlly Long a hit as Washington Press Club speaker


Billy Long's brand of homespun humor wowed the crowd at the Washington Press Club Wednesday. Some samples of his humor are printed below:

“Here’s one guy they never confuse me with,” groused Long, “Aaron Schock. Voted the ‘best abs in Congress.’ How can they prove he has the best abs in Congress? ’Cause they never wanted to see mine. . . We should start a second Abscam investigation.”

Hahaha! Oh, wait — you’re under 50? Well, you see, back in 1980 there was this FBI sting called ABSCAM involving congressmen taking bribes from a sheik. . . No matter. Something about Long’s good-ol’ boy drawl made the crowd laugh at even the lamer jokes. An auctioneer by trade, he even managed keep the room’s attention through a routine that sprawled to the near-lethal length of 20 minutes. (Fellow speakers Rep. Linda Sanchez and Sen. Jean Shaheen kept closer to the recommended five minutes.)

We tell you: This guy’s gonna be a star. (At least within the field of really funny congressional after-dinner speakers, now that Anthony Weiner’s retired from that scene. He was good at this, too.) Cable-news bookers, put him on speed-dial.

“My wife got me one of those talking scales for Christmas,” Long said. “I got on it and it said, ‘One at time, please, one at a time’. . . If I lose 60 pounds it would be like throwing a deck chair off the Titanic.” Oh, and check out the photo of him with Chris Christie. Why’d the New Jersey governor want them to pose together? Because, he claims the governor told him, “I have never had someone look at a picture and say, ‘Hey, who’s the big guy with Christie?’

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