Kennedy Comedy Hour

A Night of Laughter with RFK Jr. at the Million Dollar Theater in Los Angeles

PHOTOS BY DENISE AVALOS

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If laughter is medicine, American politics could stand a heavy dose. Luckily, Team Kennedy understands the power of comedic healing and creative campaigning. Just look at their off-the-cuff strategies to help rake in funds: giveaways that advertise everything from sailing trips with Bobby to Zoom bake sessions with Cheryl, all for the "longshot" candidate we've come to love (because an independent run is, you know, quite costly). He needs approximately $15 million to land his name on every ballot leading up to election day. If all goes well, we'll be laughing, sailing, and baking our way to the finish line. 

Initially, the evening lineup included Tim Dillon and Bobby Lee — arguably the most popular comedians out of the bunch. Dillon was a riot onstage at the Free Press event last year. So when word got out that Tim canceled the day before, I had to fight the Scorpio urge to message him asking why he would do such a thing after professing his love for Bobby on a podcast with Theo Von just a couple weeks before, where his name was brought up three times in the episode. Both men passionately endorsed Kennedy as their preferred candidate. 

I came to my senses later, concluding that I can't get so emotional over politics. I have to stifle spontaneous irritations. Plus, celebrities canceling on Kennedy is something I should get used to. 

We met our friends at Perch for dinner and drinks before the show. I brought my oldest son Arlo, his friend, and my middle son Leon — a first political event for him. 

When we left, the sad state of LA was made glaringly apparent as we passed a long stretch of ragged homeless encampments spanning several blocks. I counted one filthy tent after another, inhabitants stumbling around the street like dazed zombies manning a run-down city in a third-world country. I'm talking San Francisco bad. The shock of it made me wonder just how desensitized LA locals have become. Is the ever-growing stretch of decay they pass en route to work every day just considered part of the package now? Or do they also drive by and silently fantasize about gathering a fed-up coalition to egg Newsom's mansion at midnight?

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The line for the entrance snaked around the block. I attempted to walk it and film its impressive length, but gave up when I couldn't spot the end; a long trek in cheap heels is always a risk. 

Trailing me was a photographer from a mainstream outlet there to document me documenting the event. Admittedly, it made me uncomfortable. “You can’t keep hiding from a guy who was hired to photograph you,” my friend laughed, noticing each of my awkward attempts to outrun him. “If you go and hide in that bathroom one more time he’s going to write that you’re a coke addict.”

Before the show, we found Rob Schneider next door chatting with a small group. My friend Skelly asked him for a photo with Kennedy's Fauci book. He was exceptionally polite about it. Schneider has been a vocal supporter of Bobby for a while now. "Everything in there is true," he said as the flash snapped. 

Skelly, a former Trumper, met Bobby and Cheryl at a shop up north during his lawsuit against Monsanto in San Francisco a few years back. The photo of them posing together is still proudly hearted in his camera roll. He showed it to me the first time I posted about Bobby. He wanted me to know how personable and engaged he was during their encounter. He came into his shop with Cheryl one day after court to browse, but ended up staying an hour chatting with him about everything from music to legal stuff. "He kept asking me questions and was listening to me like he cared," Skelly told me one day at a local flea market where he chased me down at the taco cart to tell me how much he adored the man. “He’s a Jerry Garcia fan, too!” he added, pulling up a photo of Bobby wishing Jerry a happy heavenly birthday on IG. Skelly’s party affiliation has changed as a result. He texts me occasionally to make sure he’s informed on the latest protocols to ensure Bobby’s name is on the ballot.

Inside, the theater was adorned with brilliantly altered adaptations of iconic movie posters featuring Kennedy's likeness, inserting his visage into The Lone Ranger, Rebel Without a Cause (appropriately retitled Rebel With a Cause), and Camelot, with faded images of his father and uncle hovering above the White House. 

Before the show we ran into a couple Kennedy fanatics in the cramped lobby. Denise struck up a conversation with a woman proudly showing off some vintage JFK vinyl. When Denise offered to try and get it signed for her, the woman snapped, fearing she was attempting to steal it from her.

"Do you know how much this is worth?!" the woman barked, pulling it closer to her chest. 

"I saw the same record at a thrift store for a dollar," Denise whispered as we walked away.

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The first couple of comics were a safe intro. They mostly strayed from controversial political jokes. The others went full throttle, targeting liberal lunacy, COVID insanity, and good ole' Joe Biden with abrasive attack. Naturally, the trans jokes got the biggest laughs and the most criticism from mainstream recaps who sent reporters to act as verbal buzzkill to edgy political fun.

Erica Rhodes, possibly the least known on stage, was a surprising hit. Emilie, who knows Erica, told her afterward that she was the best one up there. "I have to be," Erica told her. "I'm the only female."

My friends are well immersed in the comedy / entertainment stratosphere so they tend to have top notch gossip when it comes to particular personalities. “Did I ever tell you about the sex party I was at years ago when that crazy girl overdosed in front of me and Bill Maher and I told him to “get the fuck outta there before the police showed up?”one of them mentioned in line for canned cocktails at a bar lit by a purple neon sign etched by Kennedy’s likeness.

“Yes. But tell me again.”

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Kennedy nostalgia one seat behind me

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"One of the reasons we love Bobby so much is that Bobby's not funny, not even a little," Mike Binder, an old friend of his who put on the event, quipped. I don't know if he was kidding, but I’d guess that slapstick is not Bobby's style. I don't take him as a punchline guy or a rabid jokester. Him not laughing at the comedians during the show was the funniest part to me. Let us not forget the video of him silently cursing his fate while Bobby Lee obnoxiously screams through an intro during their podcast interview. I've watched the clip on repeat since I found it. I never tire of how horrified he looks by Lee at the mic, with zero effort at hiding it. 

After he recorded with Whitney Cummings, I sent a text asking her how it went. If I remember right, she called him "charming." Later, she sent me a clip of him seemingly bothered by her chic but sterile home decor and lack of family photos. "Roasted," she wrote below the video, confessing that his comment caused her to order a bunch of picture frames, which she would probably leave stock photos in to fill the void. If there's one thing Bobby is fond of, it's a gallery wall dedicated to framed family photos and memorabilia. Gotta love that Whitney's utter neglect of that genuinely concerned him.

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Front Row With Dr. Drew

In the front row, I sat beside Dr. Drew. Next to him was his wife Susan, Drea DeMatteo, and her boyfriend Robbie. Watching Drew laugh at Adam Carolla got me all emotional — flashback to my teenage years, falling asleep listening to Loveline. After all these years, I want you to know that Adam still makes Drew laugh uncontrollably.

"Dr. Drew is red-pilled now, thanks to Bobby!" a friend texted. 

I sat there wishing that instead of comedy, we could all gather in a circle with the lights off in sleeping bags, listening to these two talk about gonorrhea like the old days — the money we would pay for this experience, right?

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What’s a Kennedy Event Without Family Drama?

Earl Skakel, a comedian (either Bobby’s cousin or nephew— it’s hard to keep this bloodline in order) complained on IG about being left out of the lineup. He seems painfully petty in his fury. His posted a May comedy event for the campaign with a caption that read, “I quit comedy” On another image promoting a contest to “win a day of sailing the pacific with RFK Jr.” he wrote, “Maybe I can get on this? GTFOH”

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The incomparable Dr. Drew

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Rob Vs. Democrats

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Bobby Vs. Comedians

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“A Comedy Show Where RFK Jr. Was Not The Butt of The Joke”

“The majority of Wednesday night’s audience appeared to skew younger than the typical crowds at former President Trump‘s rallies and President Biden‘s pressers. The RFK Jr. devotees, mostly white men and women in their 30s and 40s, packed into the small lobby of the historic venue, talking selfies next to cleverly designed reimaginations of classic movie posters with Kennedy’s image. There he was in a leather jacket for “Rebel with a Cause,” on a rearing stallion for “The Lone Ranger,” and so on.

Folks willing to speak to the mainstream media (one of many nefarious enemies on Kennedy’s list) said they were registered Republicans who’d voted for Trump in the last election, but were seeking change — and someone younger. And Bobby, as they call him, is 70, so he’s a mere pup next to Biden and Trump.

But aside from the oddball positioning of the fundraising event itself, was it actually funny? Not particularly.

Kennedy appeared in a short campaign clip that opened the festivities. The son of American political royalty lamented the “partisan elite” before rallying the crowd to “go take back our country!” He waited until the close of the event to climb onstage and thank the night’s talent and the crowd, some of whom he’d be meeting in person at the after-party — if they paid the $1,000 to $1,500 ticket price.

Hines wrapped up the evening by urging folks to register with the We the People Party of California. Kennedy, who hasn’t made it on any one party’s ticket, announced Monday that he’d launched the new political party to get on the California ballot. The We the People Party hopes to register 75,000 people in the state and get his name before voters in November. If successful, he’ll prove once and for all that RFK Jr. is no joke. Or at least he wasn’t at his own comedy show.” — LA Times

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“People appeared to have come for the politics as much as the comedy; they laughed, but just as often they cheered (the Constitution, Lindell) and booed (Jimmy Kimmel, Gavin Newsom). The crowd was diverse in age and style of dress, but mostly White and skewing male. In an informal survey of 20-odd attendees (many of whom refused to give last names), only one, a sharp-dressed Black man named Emmanuel, said Biden was his second choice. The rest leaned toward Trump.

“I don’t think [Biden] has one good policy,” Jason Betterton said while waiting in line for a drink. And what about Kennedy’s policies? “They’re just ideas, and some are big-government ideas. He is a Democrat, but, but he has a lot of good things to say about personal choice, freedom of speech. You know, there’s no freedom of speech any more.”

— Washington Post

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At the afterparty my boys raided the merch shop. Arlo and his buddy reappeared in Kennedy tees to take selfies with Bobby. Leon emerged with handfuls of stickers and posters.

Just like that political gear is hip again.

Arlo later told me that Vander showed up to school the next day proudly sporting his new shirt and his green “Make Earth Great Again” baseball cap.

As adorable side note: Seniors at San Clemente High-school —voting for the first time this year— are all watching and loving the campaign coverage, so when Arlo and Vander show up with slogans splashed across their chests they all want to know where they can find the same thing. It’s one thing to influence strangers on the internet, but another to inspire the town’s seniors into wanting to purchase wearable patriotism.

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Drea & Robbie “The Real Deal”

Waiting on an Uber back to the lot where our cars were parked, my sister-in-law boasted about her success with selfie snags: she managed to snap a photo with every single famous face in the room, but the only one I coveted was the one of her wedged between Adam and Drew, looking like a promo for a 90s KROQ reunion.

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At the end of the night Mike Binder dipped a little further into the danger zone when he dragged Larry David, saying "he would be here tonight, but this is a fundraiser, and we didn't want to spend the money on the operation to have Larry David surgically removed from Barack Obama's ass. What — am I wrong?! Give the band a round of applause." The snark ignited a large round of applause from the audience because it was true. And annoying. David's lack of support, for me, is a big turn-off. We already know he loathes the Trumpers. It's not far-fetched to assume he casts all of us"anti-vaxxers" in that same category.

During a bathroom break the ladies waiting in line exchanged thoughts on this topic—namely airing frustrations with Hollywood “cowards” who bend the knee to corporate “brainwashing.” One of them harshly criticized Cheryl for seeming to distance herself from Bobby’s beliefs and for “pandering” to “all that liberal bullshit.” Her friend leaned in close to whisper grievances amidst the soft hum of hand dryers and the gentle click of heels against tiled floors. “He said it himself. His wife is the only thing keeping him from that Trump ticket. Meaning the fate of our whole country hangs in the hands of Cheryl Hines. It’s like an episode of Curb. Except it’s not fucking funny.”

Schneider ended the show, addressing Cheryl directly from the stage with a heartfelt message: "I know how tough this has been for you," he told her. "My wife put up with a lot, Cheryl, but she stuck with me. And I'll tell you what — it's the only way, that's the only way they can ever break our spirits. But if you stand with us, with your husbands, there's nothing — they can't touch us, because we got something stronger than that."

His sentiments were much kinder than the restroom ladies in waiting.