In a world that doesn’t shock easily, comedian Michelle Wolf stunned Washington with her take-no-prisoners act Saturday at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner.
Imagine if Richard Pryor or Lenny Bruce had tackled that gig, and you get an idea of how rough Wolf’s routine was.
The dinner celebrates the First Amendment, and Wolf pushed the limits in taste.
The former “Daily Show” performer used the F-bomb happily, and her targets included Bear Stearns, Sarah Sanders, Kellyanne Conway, Ted Kennedy, Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan, CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC. An abortion joke was about hypocrisy on that issue.
But Donald Trump, who skipped the dinner for a second year in a row, was her favorite target.
“Good evening, here we are at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner; like a porn star says when she’s about to have sex with Trump, let’s get this over with,” Wolf said in starting.
She recalled the “Access Hollywood” tape and reminded the audience that candidate Trump made the joke possible.
“I would drag him here myself, but it turns out that the president of the United States is the one p—- you’re not allowed to grab. He said it first. Yeah, he did. You remember? Good.”
Wolf said she wanted to make fun of Trump in a new way and suggested that the president isn’t that wealthy. “You might be rich in Idaho but in New York you’re just doing fine,”’ she said.
But her “Trump is so broke” material — in which the audience asked, “how broke is he?” — fell flat. Her responses included: “He has to fly failed business class” and’ “He had to borrow money from the Russians and now he’s compromised.”
Wolf also blasted Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter. “She was supposed to be an advocate for women, but it turns out she’s about as helpful to women as an empty box of tampons,” the comedian said. “She’s done nothing to satisfy women. So, I guess, like father like daughter.”
The comedian also mocked Democrats. “It is kind of crazy the Trump campaign was in contact with Russia when the Hillary campaign wasn’t even in contact with Michigan,” she said. The comedian ridiculed the Democrats’ tendency to lose.
One of Wolf’s gentler jabs went: “I’m here to make jokes. I have no agenda, I’m not trying to get anything accomplished. So everyone who’s here from Congress, we should get right get along.”
Her jokes about the media were tart and on target.
“CNN, you guys love breaking news. And you did it, you broke it,” she said. The channel used “breaking news” during its coverage of the dinner. (CNN commentators later described Wolf’s act as X-rated, raw, blue, edgy and vulgar.)
‘We cannot forget about Rachel Maddow. She’s the Peter Pan of MSNBC,” Wolf said. “But instead of never growing up she never gets to the point.”
In another MSNBC joke, Wolf said: “I watch ‘Morning Joe’ every morning. Now we know Mika and Joe are engaged, it’s like when a MeToo works out.”
Wolf said no one at the dinner wanted to admit that Trump had helped their reporting and ratings.
But she said she wouldn’t make fun of Sean Hannity of Fox News because “this dinner is for journalists.”
If you liked Wolf’s act, keep in mind that her weekly show, “The Break With Michelle Wolf,” starts May 27 on Netflix.
hboedeker@orlandosentinel.com and 407-420-5756.