Last night’s edition of Funniest Celebrity in Washington was marred by a disaster for quasi-charity. Josh Rogin, a friend and former sort-of-colleague (he was at Foreign Policy, part of whatever the Graham family decides to rename its non-Washington Post conglomerate), tweeted disparagingly about the comedy of Dan Nainan. The self-advertised “100% clean comic,” whose testimonial reel (!) includes endorsements from Barack Obama and John Tesh, and whose Twitter account features hundreds of thousands of paid-for followers (!!), did not take kindly to this.
Nainan approached the writer at his table in the back, Rogin said. “He said, ‘Are you Josh Rogin?’ I said yes, and he punched me in the jaw.”
Nainan also pushed him, Rogin said, then briefly walked away – only to return to take two more swings. (One connected, Rogin said.)
Anyone who enjoys true pain should spend some time trawling through Nainan’s ouvre. The man mastered the art of milquetoast stand-up that won’t offend anyone if you book them at your corporate retreat, and then convinced himself that this was synonymous with “comedy.” It’s all very depressing, which is why Patrick Gavin’s video from last night is so necessary.
Ladies and gentleman, the man who elected George W. Bush.
