The combined forces of Newsweek and Daily Beast strike gold again. Take a look at their invites for the 2011 White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.

Actress Anna Paquin, and husband Stephen Moyer (HBO’s True Blood), Colin Powell & wife Alma, Russell Simmons, Meghan McCain, German Ambassador Klaus Scharioth, and Rep. Aaron Schock.

This may also be the best dressed group, with designers Michael Kors and Diane von Furstenberg.

President Obama and WHCD host Seth Meyers will have their own cheering section with WH Speechwriter Jon Favreau and fellow SNL funnyman Jason Sudeikis.

Plus Tina Brown, Barry Diller, Jane Harman join NewsBeasters Howie Kurtz, Andrew Sullivan, Lois Romano, Peter Beinart, John Avlon, Lloyd Grove and Kathy O’Hearn.

WHC Insider WHCD 2011 Anna Paquin, Barry Diller, Colin Powell, Daily Beast, Diane von Furstenberg, Jane Harman, Jason Sudeikis, Jon Favreau, Klaus Scharioth, Meghan McCain, Michael Kors, Newsweek, Rep Aaron Schock, Russell Simmons, Stephen Moyer, Tina Brown, WHCD

Jon Favreau, Graydon Carter at the 2009 Bloomberg & Vanity Fair Cocktail Reception
Photo - BILLY FARRELL/PatrickMcMullan.com

President Obama owned the room at the 2009 White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner before some 3,000 elites in the Washington Hilton Ballroom. While the President’s charisma and innate comic timing carried him through the night, he did have a little help from his scribes.

Speechwriters Jon Favreau and Jon Lovett led the charge with timely references, including a video where the President welcomes a “Pirate” to the Oval Office (a tip of the feather-topped hat to Bloomberg Media guest Richard Phillips, Captain of the Maersk ship who was captured by Somali pirates in April 2009 and valiantly rescued by US Navy SEALS).

Senior Advisor David Axelrod was one of the top presidential aides who helped come up with the visual joke.

Tom Vietor, Jeff Nussbaum, Jeff Shesol, and a few other outside joke writers helped polish the President’s speech. This year, it will also be a team effort to make sure WHCA Dinner host Jay Leno will not be the only one getting laughs.

No pirates this year, but there’s bound to be a health care joke or two tickling the crowd’s funny bone.

Politico has more on what it takes to make a president funny – on purpose.

WHC Insider WHCD History David Axelrod, Jeff Nussbaum, Jeff Sheshol, Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett, Richard Phillips, Tom Vietor, WHCA Dinner

America’s favorite speech writer Jon Favreau finally comes forward to tell the world how he crafts President Obama‘s speeches.  He gives an inside look at wordsmithing at 30,000 feet.

Maybe now that David Plouffe is doing interviews, it’s ok for Favreau to step out of the shadows and video blog as well?

Video by Arun Chaudhary, the official White House videographer

gtruong White House Staff Jon Favreau, President Obama, Tokyo Japan

Release Party for the Beatles Rock Band

The Obama campaign team famously hung together in Chicago and reportedly spent what little “down time” there was available playing Rock Band.

Tuesday night looked like a campaign reunion with Katie McCormick Lelyveld on drums, Jon Favreau on bass, Jenny Cizner and Adam Frankel on vocals, and Katie Johnson on guitar at the Entertainment Software Association’s release party for the Beatles Rock Band video game.

At Gibson Guitar’s showroom in downtown D.C., politicos joined media mavens living the dream on the video game stage. The floor rocked when Viacom’s DeDe Lea (who revealed she was born 9 months after the Beatles first appeared on the Ed Sullivan show) and Senator Jim Webb’s Kim Hunter were joined by White House Visitors Office Director Ellie Schafer, Craig Hagen, Director of Governmentt Affairs, Electronic Arts and Rich Taylor from ESA. (And yes, he really did reenact Kanye West’s MTV awards show contretemps to the roar of the crowd.)

Also stepping up to the microphone: Representatives Jesse Jackson, Jr., and Joe Crowley, who won rave reviews for their performance of Beatles favorites.

Rock Lighter ruled and there was no mention of health care.

Check out the rest of the photos here!

thaddad Event Coverage, Washington Events Adam Frankel, Craig Hagen, DeDe Lea, Ellie Schafer, Jenny Cizner, Jesse Jackson Jr, Jon Favreau, Katie Johnson, Katie McCormick Lelyveld, Kim Hunter, Rich Taylor, Rock Band

The Examiner’s Jeff Dufour got the scoop of the night: Who wrote the President’s comedy routine? Jon Favreau, the president’s chief speechwriter. Favreau told The Examiner it took him two weeks, working with speechwriter Jon Lovett, Obama political adviser David Axelrod, and a team of joke writers, to craft the punch lines. He also said they spent several hours on Friday, working out Obama’s opening sight gag with the teleprompter screens.

thaddad White House Staff David Axelrod, Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett, Obama, The Examiner