On Friday September 17, Seattle welcomed respected satirist, Lizz Winstead, into its political fold. Winstead performed a traditional standup routine, at her show entitled My State of the Union: An Evening With Daily Show Co-Creator Lizz Winstead. Razor sharp wit and deadpan humor, both trademarks of The Daily Show, marked the hour long set. Winstead’s routine was both engaging and topical, as she managed to speak about both political and personal issues with equal tenacity and timing. In fact, Winstead’s cadence of humor eerily mirrored that of Jon Stewart’s.
From Bush to Obama, Healthcare to gay rights, no topic was off limits. Although Winstead’s liberal leanings are incredibly obvious, those tendencies are extremely apropos in a city like Seattle. Thematically, Winstead chooses to attack many political individuals who manage to abuse their power. While some of the topics she discussed came from national headlines, a few of the jokes referred to extremely dense and complicated political issues. As a result, many of the more accessible topics evoked an extremely humorous uproar from the audience. In contrast however, the too-specific jokes tended to fall flat.
Winstead’s unique voice has helped to shape the way many Americans have been able to talk about and react to political issues. If I had one small bone to pick, it would have to be the audience members themselves. Winstead’s humor rhythm was occasionally interrupted by an audience member’s incredibly lame attempt to make a joke. A word of advice to any future comedy show audience members: be quiet and let the comedians tell the jokes. Otherwise, you are and open field to be made fun of.
-Chris Heide
