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| The latest stand-up UK election debate (sans Cameron and Clegg) |
While stand-up comedians try to "slay" the audience, stand-up politicians have a different target, namely their opponents. "Stand-up politicians," by the way, are just normal politicians coached and brought into the TV studios to participate in stand up debates against their opponents.
The dream is to achieve a knock-out blow that will be replayed over-and-over in subsequent days, by looking one's opponent in the eyes, pausing, then, when everybody is listening, dropping a bombshell on him or her; like Lloyd Bentsen's famous "You're no Jack Kennedy" line, delivered in the 1988 Vice-Presidential debate to a hapless Dan Quayle, who had been nurturing sub-Kennedyesque posturings for some time.
That moment defined Quayle's career until he had a spot of trouble with his spelling a few years later. It is also the only reason that anybody ever remembers Bentsen, who was clearly no Jack Kennedy himself.
That moment defined Quayle's career until he had a spot of trouble with his spelling a few years later. It is also the only reason that anybody ever remembers Bentsen, who was clearly no Jack Kennedy himself.
