One of the few bright spots of 2020 has been the emergence of comedians spoofing Trump mercilessly. As we know, good comedy requires empathy and insight, two qualities in short supply with the Pretender-in-Chief. But these four talents have both in abundance, and they are resonating with social media—millions of TikTok views, hundreds of thousands of Twitter likes. And with good reason—they are funnier than hell, each with a different style. Without further ado, I present to you the four titans of COVID comedy: Sarah Cooper, J-L Cauvin, Brent Terhune and Randy Rainbow.
In George Washington’s place is Sarah Cooper, who has perfected the lip sync of Trump’s most idiotic musings. What makes Sarah even funnier is the nuance she adds to the performance, with hand gestures, eye movements, and the insertion of a lackey character (also Sarah, although it’s hard to tell) to give reaction. She titles her creations “How to...”; her “How to Medical” after the humiliating “disinfectant” press conference, garnered tens of millions of views. Here’s one of her most recent, “How to Empty Seat,” released after Tulsa. (I apologize in advance for the ads.)
In TJ’s place, we have J-L Cauvin, who does a dead-on impression of Trump. The beauty of his impersonations are the cadence, the made-up words, and the rambling that reminds one of a 4th grade book report from a student who didn’t read the text. J-L made his mark when Trump suggested he was going to open up the country for Easter:
In Teddy’s position, or as he refers to him, “the Ringo of the group,” I give you Brent Terhune. Terhune’s shtick is that he dresses in full MAGA gear, with a nod to Florida man (replete with beard and wraparound sunglasses), and begins every diatribe in a Trumpian way: loud, entitled, insulting, full of bluster. It takes about 15 seconds into his routine to realize he’s lampooning the MAGAts. Enjoy his most recent, as Brent describes why Mount Rushmore is sacred to the Red Hats:
Finally, filling the role of the Great Emancipator is the incomparable Randy Rainbow. Each of RR’s parodies come with amazing production values, and it’s a wonder he has been able to turn them around as quickly as he does. His “Spoonful of Clorox,” shown here, was released within two days of the infamous “injection” debacle.
The laughs these four titans give us reminds me of the glory days of Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, who people viewed through their comedy as about the only reliable sources of truth during the Bush era. I thank Sarah, J-L, Brent and Randy for giving me enough of a smile each day, and a few laughs, to make it through this pandemic and the Trumptanic disaster a day at a time.