Instead of a comedian or impressionist, guests at the Convention Center on Friday night will hear music from Sweet Honey in the Rock, the all-female African-American a Capella group that the RTCA dinner organizers tout as “a favorite of the First Lady.” Humor will come from JibJab.com, which says on its blog that it is “beyond thrilled” that its first satire of the Obama Administration will premiere in front of the man himself. (The satirists entertained President George W. Bush with “What We Call the News” at the 2007 dinner, as well.) Onion News Network will have a “special report.”

“For our dinner, entertainment is a plural term, not a singular term,” says Heather Dahl, a producer at Feature Story News and the dinner’s chair.

Despite the smaller table buys from some news organizations in this money-crunched year, what will stay the same, she says, is the attendance: Her preliminary estimates are that the crowd will number in the ballpark of recent dinners, around 2,000 attendees.

International news organizations took more tables, Dahl says, and some journalists whose employers refused to pony up for full tables have paid their own way. “I believe this shows that people really want to go out and have a nice evening, so that’s what we’re going to deliver,” she says.

EJensen History of Dinner Bush, Dinner, Jib Jab, Obama, RTCA, Sweet Honey and the Rock

D.C. Comedy Impresario Richard Siegel Hosted First Contest Sykes Entered

Wanda Sykes — the emcee of this year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner, who is known for her often raw, blush-inducing commentary — has a lot of inquiring minds wondering just how raw her routine might be this Saturday night.

Richard Siegel, veteran producer on the D.C. comedy scene.

One of her biggest fans thinks that, when time comes for her to address her high-powered audience, “she really should tone it down. Audiences here are a lot more conservative generally,” Richard Siegel tells WHCInsider.com. “They don’t like things getting too edgy.”

The longtime producer of the annual “D.C.’s Funniest Celebrity” contest, Siegel knows a little about what kind of comedy works in this town. He’s also known Sykes since the late 1980s, when he was managing a local stand-up comedy contest at the Comedy Cafe, located above a strip club that enforced a dress code. Read more…

BTriplett History of Dinner, Wanda Sykes Barney Frank, Edward Derwinski, Helen Thomas, Jim Bohannon, Richard Siegel, Ron Nesson, Sarah McClendon, Wanda Sykes

Wanda Sykes At White House Correspondents Dinner

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dadler History of Dinner

The WH Correspondents Dinner is known for outrageous moments, when a headline comedian roasts the President, who must sit and smile through the jokes. But in 2004, President Bush turned the tables on Jay Leno, giving him a little assist in standing.

John Fox Sullivan by Liz Lynch of National Journal

It was 2004 and Carl Cannon of National Journal was president of the White House Correspondents Association. National Journal Group Publisher John Fox Sullivan was seated on the dais, with a clear view of President and Laura Bush, and late night talk show host Jay Leno.

Sullivan said, “When it comes time for the president and the first lady to be seated, we all stand up, but Jay Leno was a little slow to rise from his seat. President Bush secretly reached over and goosed Leno, while making a funny sound to startle the comic.”

In a ballroom packed with 2000 reporters, a sitting president grabs an American icon — who is about to tell jokes at the president’s expense! This is what makes the White House Correspondents’ Dinner a must-attend event every year.

“The president looked at Leno with a wonderful jocular smile,” said Sullivan. ”Leno burst into laughter. After the speeches people asked what happened. Some thought it looked like Leno tripped.” Sullivan told WHC Insider it was one of the most memorable moments in his 33 years of working in Washington. 

Go to the Back Story to watch Leno’s 2004 roast of President Bush, after the president got closer than Leno ever expected.

thaddad History of Dinner Carl Cannon, Jay Leno, john fox sullivan, President Bush, White House Correspondents Association, White House Correspondents Dinner

That’s what Ana Marie Cox argues in the Washington Post. But Steve Benen in the Washington Monthly disagrees. What do you think? Tell us in a comment.

BTriplett History of Dinner, Uncategorized

You’ll get an answer presumably after today, when guest names are due at the White House Correspondents Association for being listed in the official dinner program. But even then, the bigger celebs usually don’t commit until the last minute, so don’t be disappointed if the star wattage seems low at first.

BTriplett History of Dinner BizBash, White House Correspondents Association

Jay Leno says he got competing advice about how to prepare for his first White House Correspondents Dinner when Reagan was president: 

“[I] was just a kid, well 30, but that’s a kid, and he’s the president and people said don’t make fun of him, and others said he’s got a great sense of humor so go ahead and make fun, and so I start throwing jokes out in both directions and the last group was right. President Reagan had a great sense of humor.”

From The Sacramento Bee, April 5: “It’s a Reno show, with Jay Leno”

lrozett History of Dinner Jay Leno, Ronald Reagan, White House Correspondents Dinner