California Rep. Adam Schiff dabbles in stand-up. Is he actually funny? | Opinion
Here are a few things you may not know about Rep. Adam Schiff, who is favored to be California’s next U.S. senator.
He’s competed in marathons and triathlons.
He’s vegan. (It’s for health reasons, according to a member of his campaign staff.)
Before he was elected to Congress in 2020, he tried Hollywood screenwriting. (Donald Trump seized on that by adding “failed screenwriter” to his litany of Schiff insults.)
And — no kidding — the 64-year-old congressman does occasional gigs as a stand-up comedian, though unfortunately, no video clips of those live performances have surfaced. (If you have one, please, please share.)
‘Sometimes, I think people only see one side of him’
Given Schiff’s super-serious — dare I say uptight? — demeanor, he may be among the last politicians you’d expect to be funny.
But people who know him say otherwise.
“You know, being a former prosecutor, he’s attacked complex, weighty issues in a very serious way,” said his colleague, Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-Santa Barbara. “So sometimes I think people only see that side of him, but once you get to know Adam, you see that he is funny, very down to earth. He’s great to hang out with.”
There’s this assessment, from San Francisco Chronicle political writer Joe Garofoli: “Having gotten to know Schiff a bit over the years through several appearances on my podcast ‘It’s All Political,’ he does have a very dry sense of humor that’s somewhere between dad joke-funny and Seinfeldian archness.”
And finally, this praise from actor/writer/producer/comedian Seth MacFarlane:
“Tonight, Congressman Adam Schiff was funnier than me on @RealTimers. I’m retiring,” MacFarlane posted on X after appearing with Schiff on Bill Maher’s HBO show.
Schiff’s response: “Tonight, Seth MacFarlane had better political instincts than me on @RealTimers. I want to hire him. (Plus, I hear he’s retiring).”
Now that’s funny, though trolls lurking on X weren’t fans of MacFarlane or Schiff’s performance.
“You both sucked but OK,” was one of the few printable responses.
‘Yes, we are Adam and Eve’
Schiff is one of the better-known — and more polarizing — members of the House.
To many conservatives, he became the devil incarnate when he took the prosecutorial lead in Donald Trump’s first impeachment proceeding. Yet that made him a hero to many Democrats, which helped him win a decisive victory over fellow Democrats Katie Porter and Barbara Lee in the March primary, advancing him to the November run-off where he’ll face former professional baseball player Steve Garvey.
While fame is good for name recognition, it can make it hard to appear approachable. Humor — even the dorky, dad-joke variety — can help.
Adam Schiff will never be a Tim Walz, but he earns points for his self-deprecating brand of humor.
Example: When a New York Times reporter told him that she asked his fans what they found appealing about him, he shot back: “They all told you it was my Ryan Gosling good looks, undoubtedly.”
On the campaign trail, his repertoire includes a folksy, g-rated one-liner good for an occasional chuckle.
As he introduces his wife, Eve Schiff, he quips: “Yes, we are Adam and Eve.”
Sorta cute, right? At least the first time you hear it?
Schiff is said to get a little looser at private campaign events, including annual comedy nights he hosts at Southern California clubs like the Hollywood Improv and The Comedy Store. He’s been doing that for 15 years, according to an interview he gave to TMZ.
“We have professional comedians,” he said, “but I do start out and do my own set, mostly so the crowd will yell out, ‘Don’t give up the day job!’”
The congressman has appeared in other venues as well. He’s been interviewed several times by Stephen Colbert — first on the “The Colbert Report” and more recently on the “The Late Show.” (Side note: House Republicans, with an assist from Fox News, once accused Schiff of illegally letting a Colbert film crew into legislative offices after hours.)
More notably — at least from the standpoint of performance art — in 2020 he and filmmaker Judd Apatow made a campy public service video urging people to vote.
Schiff offered to “dance the TikTok,” to which Apatow responded, “I don’t think TikTok is a dance. I think it’s an app.”
Yes, it was a groaner.
And with that, here’s some advice for the congressman who may soon be senator: With all due respect, definitely do not quit your day job.
This story was originally published August 12, 2024 at 5:00 AM with the headline "California Rep. Adam Schiff dabbles in stand-up. Is he actually funny? | Opinion."
