Obama speechwriter Jon Lovett is quitting the White House to move to Hollywood and try his hand at TV comedies, The Washington Post's Jason Horowitz reports. The Post says this is notable because Washington is not a place that cultivates funny people, what with the inflated egos and wannabe alpha types and all. But we at the Wire find the more interesting part Lovett's story is the implication he wants to stop serving the President of the United States in order to have a more fulfilling career in the city of fake boobs. "It's always been a dream of mine to write comedy and be creative," Lovett told the Post. "I would like to be able to write in my own voice."
Horowitz notes Lovett has been deemed the funniest famous person in the nation's capital:
In December, his comedy routine consisting of Arianna Huffington impressions and airport-security-measure zingers ("Virgin Airlines had to change their name to 'Technically Still a Virgin' Airlines") edged out the midget jokes of budding comedian Grover Norquist to win "Washington's Funniest Celebrity" contest.
Back then Politico's Ben Smith observed the award "also says something about the meaning of the word 'celebrity' in Washington." Maybe it makes sense Lovett wants to get out of this town after all.
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Elspeth Reeve
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