US PRESIDENT Barack Obama delighted 2,500 guests at the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner with a presidential stand-up debut featuring oneliners about his cabinet, his Republican critics and himself.
Noting that it was “the 10-day anniversary of my first 100 days” in office, Mr Obama promised to maintain his administration’s hectic pace in the coming weeks.
“During the second 100 days, we will design, build, and open a library dedicated to my first 100 days. In the next 100 days, I will learn to go off prompter – and Joe Biden will learn to stay on it,” he said.
“I believe that my next 100 days will be so successful, I will be able to complete them in 72 days. And on the 73rd day, I will rest.”
Like his predecessors since 1920, the president used his speech at the dinner to poke gentle fun at Washington’s political stars, many of whom were present.
“I must confess I really didn’t want to be here tonight. But I had to come. That’s one more problem I inherited from George Bush,” Mr Obama said.
"Dick Cheney was supposed to be here but he's very busy working on his memoirs, tentatively titled, How to Shoot Friends and Interrogate People."
Hillary Clinton wasn’t there either but that didn’t stop the president from directing one of his zingers towards his former political rival turned secretary of state.
“We may have been rivals during the campaign, but these days we couldn’t be closer,” he said. “In fact, the second she got back from Mexico she greeted me with a big hug and a kiss – told me I really ought to get down there myself.”
Stars from the world of entertainment present at the dinner included Sting, Whoopi Goldberg, Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes, Steven Spielberg, Kevin Bacon, Forest Whitaker, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Stevie Wonder, Robert De Niro and Natalie Portman.
The president was joined at the top table by first lady Michelle Obama, wearing a sleeveless fuchsia gown. When Mr Obama joked that his wife had united all sides in Washington behind the view that she had “the right to bare arms”, the first lady flexed her muscular biceps.
Following Mr Obama on to the podium, comedian Wanda Sykes teased the president about the numerous photographs of him without his shirt.
“It’s funny how they never caught you smoking, but they somehow always catch you with your shirt off,” she said.
“I know you’re into this whole transparency thing, but I don’t need to see your nipples . . . there was never a nipple portrait of Lincoln.”