Why being ‘humorless’ makes Bernie Sanders pretty funny

[n2doc]

By Amber Phillips

Bernie Sanders has little patience for things that Bernie Sanders has little patience for.

For much of the independent Vermont senator's presidential run, that seems to have included humor. Witness this July Q&A with the popular millennial-focused current events newsletter, The Skimm:

WHAT WOULD YOU ASK THE WHITE HOUSE CHEF TO MAKE FOR YOUR FIRST MEAL?

I really haven't thought too much about that.

HOW MANY TIMES DO YOU HIT SNOOZE IN THE AM?

I don’t.

HOW DO YOU TAKE YOUR COFFEE?

Do you have many of these questions?

NO, THIS IS THE LAST ONE.

With some cream.

This is Sanders in a nutshell. The senator has been described in a New York Times magazine piece as a "humorless aging hippie peacenik Socialist from Brooklyn."

Now, Sanders's no-nonsense authenticity has clearly been working for him. Polling in the past few months show he's either leading or catching up to Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton in key early-voting states Iowa and New Hampshire, and he's drawing crowds five times the size of Clinton's to hear his admittedly rather dry, hour-long stump speech on taxes and tuition.

But in recent days, Sanders seems to be altering his tack ever so slightly -- as in, actually allowing jokes that don't mention income inequality or student loan debt to be made at his expense. And whether he means to or not, he's actually kind of funny in a very special Sanders way.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/09/23/why-being-humorless-makes-bernie-sanders-pretty-funny/

[elleng]

1. Hey, that's BROOKLYN humor!

With some cream!

[merrily]

2. He's NOT humorless.

Is he?

[TwilightGardener]

3. That's actually kind of funny, in a grumpy old guy sort of way.

It's endearing.

[djean111]

4. I thought he was pretty funny on Larry Wilmore the other night.

http://www.alternet.org/media/larry-wilmore-asks-bernie-sanders-america-ready-socialist-president-video

[Brainstormy]

5. OMG, it's a big room

and hard to play to. But sometimes I get the idea that he's the only adult in it.

[SoapBox]

6. How about his Monster Roar!

Now I think that's funny.

[LiberalElite]

7. He was funny at the fundraiser last week nt

[n8dogg83]

10. was that the one in New York? I watched that one and i think that was one of his....

most funny and natural sounding speeches. He interacted with the audience very well, made some good jokes that made me laugh out loud several times. I think he is still perfecting his speeches and he seems good at being able to adapt to the energy levels of his crowds.

[LiberalElite]

11. Yes. At Town Hall

It was pretty high energy. Multiple standing ovations. We shoulda just stayed stood.

[Demeter]

8. Bernie's humor is sophisticated, wry, and witty

Therefore, one has to have both a certain amount of intellect and a certain amount of class to recognize/appreciate it.

That leaves out most of the MSM and the Evangelicals. However, the Evangelicals can be reached by the heartstrings and the morality. The MSM can only be reached by $$$$.

When the MSM starts making money off Bernie, they will be much more respectful.

[left-of-center2012]

9. We've had enough jokers as President

Bernie'd be a nice change