Mary Walsh, a well-known Canadian comic actress who conducts satirical interviews with public figures, was hustled out of a bookstore in Columbus, Ohio, after she recently tried to “interview” Sarah Palin, The Globe and Mail reports.
Video of the event shows Walsh, playing her character “Marg Delahunty,” bustling into one of Palin’s book tour stops with a camera crew in tow, asking if the former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate had any “words of encouragement” for Canadian conservatives. Palin eventually urged Canada to dismantle its health care system, The Canadian Press reports.
Walsh is one of the original cast members of the CBC faux news show, “This Hour Has 22 Minutes,” where the video was first shown Nov. 24. Walsh’s Delahunty, occasional dressed as “The Princess Warrior,” is known for “ambushing” unsuspecting Canadian politicians and celebrities often with funny results, depending on the sense of humor of the target, which has included Prime Minister Stephen Harper. (See this YouTube clip.)
Comedy as Journalism
Although not part of traditional media in the way we think, I am more and more of the opinion that comedians and comedic entertainers are becoming a part of the journalistic conversation. I mean to say that comedy, at it's essence, is taking the truth and exposing some of the absurdity. We laugh and are entertained, but this type of commentary is important for the national, and international public knowledge.
Try as they might, many accomplished journalists just don't have the audience that's necessary to shine a light on what they have worked so hard to discover, but entertainers do. Here we have a reversal, not a comedian opinion, but a comedian using journalistic tools to create entertainment, and in the process, becoming part of the dialog.
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