How To Be Funny When People Think You're Serious

Republican nominee John McCain may be the butt of jokes in the blog “Things Younger Than McCain” but the presidential candidate will be the one making them during his appearance on NBC’s (GE) Saturday Night Live’s season finale on May 17.

Nearly six years since the nominee’s last hosting gig on the sketch comedy show, the cast has changed, and so has the political landscape. Then, McCain played attorney general John Ashcroft who has since resigned. But some things remain consistent. However, whether McCain will perform another Barbara Streisand song for the second time remains to be seen.

We do know that this man fights the enemy, sings, acts and is funny—making him a quadruple threat.

Going on SNL is a good opportunity for him to “connect with people that might not otherwise,” says Debbie Brown, career consultant and President at D & B Consulting Inc. “It allows people to show the lighter side of themselves, the more human side, and gives them the opportunity to poke fun at themselves, says Brown. Younger people “can’t relate to his experiences and his focus on the military and defense” and this can help him appeal to a younger audience. Rivals Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have appeared on the show, though neither has hosted. (See MainStreet’s story, “Desperate Times Call For Hilarious Measures.”

“Details on the sketch in which McCain is scheduled to appear are being kept close to the vest,” according to the New York Post (NWS). For now, mums the word.