Waxing Poetically: Addressing Culture with a Twist of Poetry

Photo by Mary Ellen Matthews

When Comic/Actor Will Ferrell had an idea for a political comedy filled with ridiculous banter and kitschy, snarky one-liners. He thought of many things, Ferrell tells playbill.com, “I was listening to politic rhetoric on both sides and I got this idea of doing a one-man show about a fictional political candidate who basically never said anything one way or the other.” But Ferrell’s film schedule wouldn’t allow much time to ticker with a whole new project. Then when Ferrell’s manager suggested he revive his George W. Bush character/impersonation, it all came together.

The resulting live show is one of one part foibles, one part comic sentimentality with both parts adding up to possibly the most soothing and easily achieved 75 minutes of laughter you might see this year, Broadway’s You’re Welcome America: A Final Night with George W. Bush. The premise: “Dubbya” arrives via Secret Service helicopter at Broadway’s Cort Theatre (running through March 15) with the aim being to address his adoring fans for one final farewell filled with anecdotal insights and the occasional phonetic flub including fictional revelations about just how mysteriously powerful VP Dick Cheney really is, Bush’s real relationship with former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, his infamous AWOL years spent with “totally non-sexual” buddy David Rothchild and a plan to train 2000 Moroccan monkie to fight in Iraq and simultaneously entertain children. However, in true Ferrellian manner and form, the show opens with well wishes for the newly elected president (who is mentioned only a handful of times as “the Tiger Woods guy”) and a prayer to a “blonde, lightly bearded,… almost Swiss-looking Jesus” a la his Talladega Nights alter ego Ricky Bobby. The rest of the time is riddled with quizzical expressions, flightsuit-wearing, banner-waving, Katrina-reconciliations and Iraqi war regrets each with bits of real life taken from reality into Ferrell’s world of random, dirty humor that even allows for several occasions of audience participation.

Yet for all the sophomoric, silly and satirical moments in You’re Welcome America, Ferrell seems to sympathize at times with a George W. Bush portrayed as a common man thrust into uncommon territory and even more so as the play suddenly breaks from the laughs at one point to ask for a moment of silence for those who have died in the wars oversees. It is at times lambasting of Bush, while in other moments hilariously self- deprecating in a way Bush might actually approve of himself. Still other times, the viewer is reminded that the jokes found here may not be suitable for all ages. But in the end, it may be said that You’re Welcome America is worth its full price.

Wax Ferrellian!

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