Leno pokes fun at Bush

[FreedomAngel82]

My mother is an avid Leno watcher and she always tells me funny jokes he does with Bush. He has this guy on there who is a Bush double and does a REALLY good impersonation. My mother said on tonight's little skit Leno asked "Bush" what he was going to do when his term is up in 2008. "Bush" said: "my term is up in 2008?" and Leno explained how he couldn't run again since this is his second term. Then "Bush" said: "I really didn't win in 2000." I just thought I'd share since I thought it was funny Leno covered the 2000 issue. :)

[TrustingDog]

1. but Leno's jokes about child molestation were totally sick.

sure Jackson was the target but some of the things he said for cheap laughs talking about little boys butts, etc. made me see bright red. Anything for a laugh, hey, Asshole? I will spit on him whenever I hear/see him again (member of the family watches him regularly so I can't ignore him).

[Lindacooks]

13. Jokes about child molestation, huh?

Gee, maybe social workers in his state should open a file on Leno.

[begin_within]

2. That guy that does the Bush impression is outstanding, except that...

...he doesn't seem to be aging like Bush is. Other than that, he's doing the best impression of Bush that I've seen, far better than Will Forte's or Will Farrel's on Saturday Night Live.

[TrustingDog]

3. Yes, he's a ringer.Wonder how many threats he received. n/t

[bilgewaterbill]

5. That guy is awesome! nt

[Lisa]

6. and he doesn't even look like Bush, in real life ...

The effect is created by a Hollywood makeup artist. The makeup guy has been tinkering with his sculpting -- after working on their version from news photographs, he and Steve Bridges actually did meet the Shrub face to face, a while back. His website describes the meeting. They commented on how Bush's hair was darker and he seemed more muscular than they'd thought ... I wonder if the real George W.'s been using hair dye and padding? The Leno version of him would look more older and more haggard if not for that meeting (they "adjusted" the makeup afterwards)

http://www.stevebridges.com/news_meeting.html


I doubt Bush let them touch and measure him, or anything like that, but the more recent versions tend to look more similar in terms of facial details. (Except that they still haven't quite got the eyebrows right, in my opinion ...)

Having been a longtime professional actor, he's better at getting Bush's movements and mannerisms than the amateurs who just happen to have similar facial features. And his talent company was willing to put thousands of dollars into developing the makeup (plus wardrobe and scripts). (He gets 15-20k per appearance.)

added -- Has anyone else noticed that Bridges often leans forward, keeping his eyes on the camera but tucking in his chin? I think this is deliberate. His face (especially with the prosthetics) is a bit longer than Bush's, and by doing this he foreshortens it -- the optical illusion increases the resemblance. (There are video clips on the Tonight Show website.)

Bridges without makeup:


As Dubya:





Description of the process:
http://www.ppi.cc/ppi_players/kevin_haney2.htm

The guy is apparently a devoted Bush supporter and evangelical Baptist preacher, on the side -- I can't help thinking that it would be funny to stick the same prosthetics on someone like, say, Tim Robbins, and see what he could do!

This is the guy who used to be on the show. I feel kind of sorry he's lost his gig, because he's a building contractor from Missouri in real life, and couldn't really afford to compete with Bridges:
http://www.gwbushimpersonator.com/gallery.html

I think this other guy looks a bit more like Bush in a gloating mood -- maybe Letterman will invite him, or something!:
http://www.georgebushimpersonator.com

[OrlandoGator]

10. Amazing, there's actually a "chimpy" prosthetic he wears around his mouth.

n/t

[Lisa]

11. basically, everything you see is fake ...

So it's kind of like the actual GWB! (Seriously -- other people hae commented on how much pancake he must need, for covering up his bruises and sun damage)!

Except for the eyes. And I would imagine that they could have given Bridges tinted contacts if they weren't the right color.

My cousin works in Hollywood, and says that a full makeup job like that (full appliance coverage plus a hairpiece) can take half the day -- it's amazing that they can do it in only a couple of hours, and have it hold up to close visual scrutiny (it's easier to fool a camera than a roomful of people in bright light). Plus the fact that Bridges often goes on the road -- flies into a city in the morning, gets the makeup on in the afternoon, and does the event in the evening. So it's a pretty impressive technical feat! I might not agree with his politics or the fact he's basically being a roving (nice choice of words) ambassador for the Shrub -- but the man must be quite a performer.

[begin_within]

12. His name is Steve Bridges, and one article about him is at

http://www.cleancomedians.com/performers/presb.html

I have also seen a segment on "Inside Edition" about him.

[zann725]

15. I thought Leno was a hardcore Repug? Wasn't he "for" Bush before Nov.?

n/t

[burn the bush]

16. don't know what he is but he has always done bush jokes

I think he is most likely a republican who can see how stupid the chimp is. The other day they did a skit of the Bush Presidential Library. It had all empty shelves cept one little book. Curious George.

I try to cathc his opening monologue when I can coz he usually does at least one shrub joke. I think he's under a lot of pressure to keep it even (pugs and dem jokes)

[begin_within]

17. Schwarzenegger is a whore to business interests, and Leno is his pimp.

[jdj]

4. yeah, I got my days confused, thought it was SNL.

who was the man who did Bush, that was genius.

[Lisa]

7. Will Ferrell used to do the Bush impression on SNL

After he left the show a few years ago, a bunch of other people tried it -- they ended up settling on Will Forte (he'd portrayed a college-age version of Bush in the sketch where he met John Kerry, Bill Clinton, and Hillary Rodham in a New Haven pub). He's not as scary and aggressive as Ferrell's version -- befuddled and whiny, "it's hard work!" -- but he's getting better with practice, I think.

[pen dragon]

8. The guy Leno has doing Bush

is hilarious TV when he's on, I wish John Stewart hadda snapped him up for The Daily Show. I agree too that Leno himself rolls out mean and offensive jokes far too plentifully. It's the reason I lost interest in the Tonight Show. I'll watch if I see the Bush guy or Mel or Michael Buble or somebody while I'm flipping channels but that's it.

As far as other Bush impersonators, who could be more pathetic than Forte and Farrell?

[Lisa]

9. I was thinking they'd just stop showing Bush ...

Some of the other cast people tried portraying him, and Forte was actually not as bad as the rest (even Darrell Hammond). I could put up with Forte's whiny version once in a while, given the alternatives!

p.s. I suppose my partisanship is showing, but I'd prefer a performer who is critical (if not downright cynical) about Bush's character and motives, and wouldn't hesistate to show his uglier side. The Steve Bridges version of Bush comes across as a well-intentioned affable dimwit (there are videos available online, of him being a good sport and eating a pretzel, and showing up at a corporate event dressed as Santa Claus). Sure, he smirks on cue, but that's about it -- he either admires Bush so much, or wants to hang onto those high-paying corporate audiences.

Apparently Will Ferrell's working on a meaner, more conniving Bush -- he's used this a couple of times for political fundraisers.
"Adam McKay, a former "Saturday Night Live" head writer who wrote the scripts for Mr. Ferrell’s defense council performance and Internet ads, says: "When we first started doing Bush on `Saturday Night Live,’ the `Bush is dumb’ joke was too good. But now, the more we’ve gotten to see how terrible his record is on things like the environment and how he struts and sneers and how cocky he can be, the more we’ve been able to refine the impersonation."

http://bellaciao.org/en/article.php3?id_article=2926


It would be cool to have a scary, ruthless version of Bush in a rewritten version of "Tartuffe" (with him playing the con artist who scams a family into believing he's a holy man). It would show people how dangerous he is.

[Name removed]

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