Hosting Obama, ‘Between Two Ferns’ Star Pulls No Punches

Trying to explain why young people should buy health insurance, President Obama said his health care plan would cost consumers no more than their cellphone bills. His host, Zach Galifianakis, looked bored. “Is this what they mean by drones?”

When Mr. Obama appeared on the popular online comedy show “Between Two Ferns” on Tuesday, the question wasn’t whether the president could hold his own — he has already proved that he can keep up with pop culture.

Fans of “Between Two Ferns,” a mock celebrity interview show on the comedy website Funny or Die.com, mostly wanted to see if the show’s star, Mr. Galifianakis, would treat the president as rudely as he treats his other guests.

He did.

With a straight face, Mr. Galifianakis asked Mr. Obama whether “Ambassador Rodman” had gone to North Korea on his behalf, and if he would now send Hulk Hogan to Syria — or, he asked, “is that more of a job for Tonya Harding?”

Mr. Obama played along, muttering, “Zach, he’s not our ambassador.”

“Between Two Ferns” is a sendup of public-access shows, with tinny music and misspelled captions, and the humor is webcam deadpan: Mr. Galifianakis solemnly asks inane or cringingly rude questions that guests deflect with varying degrees of awkward silence. (He once asked a stone-faced Natalie Portman: “You shaved your head for ‘V for Vendetta.’ Did you also shave your V for vagina?”)

More than any other president, Mr. Obama surfs the media, looking for new ways to reach viewers who don’t watch the news or even television. The president doesn’t seem worried about tarnishing the dignity of his office. As his tenure nears its end, he seems more intent on being the salesman in chief.

Mr. Galifianakis seemed most intent on not giving his special guest special treatment. It wasn’t until the end that Mr. Obama finally got what he had gone on the show for, a nonsatirical plug for healthcare.gov. That web address was flashed after the credits for “Between Two Ferns” had rolled, as if to maintain some distance: Comedians, it seems, take their integrity more seriously than presidents.

But Mr. Obama is competitive, and he certainly has comedy show experience. He has “slow-jammed” the news with Jimmy Fallon, traded barbs with Stephen Colbert and answered questions from the basketball Hall of Famer Charles Barkley.

Mr. Obama fell out of character only once. Mr. Galifianakis didn’t answer his question about the annual turkey pardon and instead stared back at him so balefully that Mr. Obama cracked a smile.

Mostly, the president tried to keep up with his host by putting him down — for example, making fun of his flop sequel, “Hangover 3” — and that was not quite as funny as his silences.

When Mr. Galifianakis suggested that if Mr. Obama had a son, he would probably be a nerd like his father, Mr. Obama took mock umbrage that sounded like a “Tonight” show joke, not web satire. “Do you think a woman like Michelle Obama would marry a nerd?” he asked indignantly. His host asked if he could speak to the first lady and Mr. Obama replied, “I’m not going to let her near you.”

Still, it took confidence to take his message to such an unwelcoming arena. The caption under his name described him as “community organizer.” His host asked if he would put his presidential library in Hawaii or his “home country of Kenya.”

When it came time for Mr. Obama to discuss health care, Mr. Galifianakis sighed wearily. “Here we go, O.K., let’s get this out of the way, what did you come here to plug?” When Mr. Obama asked him if he had heard of affordable health care, Mr. Galifianakis replied, “That’s the thing that doesn’t work?”

The show dutifully flashed on screen the 800 number that callers can use to sign up for health care, only the number was spelled out: “one eight hundred three one eight two five nine six.”

At the opening, Mr. Galifianakis shuffled his notes and while pretending to be speaking to the president before the show officially began, mumbled, “Sorry I had to cancel a few times.”

(By midday, the six-and-a-half-minute video had been seen 1.9 million times, according to the site.)

The interview looked as if it had been filmed in the “Between Two Ferns” no-frills studio. At the end, Mr. Obama pushed a button, and the black backdrop fell, revealing that the interview had actually been recorded in the White House. Even those intimidating surroundings didn’t daunt Mr. Galifianakis. He asked Mr. Obama, “What is it like to be the last black president?”

Mr. Obama countered: “Seriously? What’s it like for this to be the last time you ever talk to a president?” But that’s not likely.

Mr. Obama set a precedent, but so did his host.

Read More

5 Inspiring Quotes From the Women A.R.E. Summit

What do you get when you cross 300 of the country's most driven women with a stage, a few microphones, and the common goal of advancing women's roles? An awe-inspiring first Women A.R.E. (Aspire. Respond. Engage) Summit. Thrown by Women A.R.E. founders Angella Nazarian and Beth Friedman, the one-day event in Los Angeles united trailblazers in the fields of art, entrepreneurship, health and wellness, and philanthropy in a series of panels featuring speakers such as Sharon Stone, Kathy Freston, Chelsea Handler, and Catherine Opie. With so many inspiring women in one room, it's no surprise that I left with some nuggets of wisdom. Here are my five favorite gems from the day.

"Women don't have to be jealous of other women." —Chelsea Handler
"I didn't want to be an actress; they're not fun to be around," said Handler, who discovered the competitive and jealous side of the entertainment world when she first began auditioning in Hollywood at age 19. "When you do stand-up, you're the center of your universe," she said. Handler went on to forge her own path, becoming the first female late-night television host, best-selling author, and one of 2011's Glamour Women of the Year to boot. Currently, Handler employs a 500-person staff across multiple shows, and 300 of those staff members are women. Her motto? "[Women] should lift each other up."

"Love others and lighten up!" —Marianne Williamson
Williamson, who just announced her first run for Congress in California, has impacted countless lives with her spiritual advice, 10 books, and the founding of Project Angel Food, which delivers meals in Los Angeles to homebound people affected by AIDS. And then she said this: "Being the best person you know how to be, living as heart-centered a life as possible is the key to success in work and everything else."

"Do what you are passionate about, and the dollars will follow." —Jane Wurwand
"You have to have fun," said Wurwand, founder of skin care line Dermalogica. Julie Clark, who launched Baby Einstein—and later sold it to Disney—shared similar sentiments as well as her own wisdom, also drawn from experience. "When you are passionate, you are afraid, because you are putting yourself on the line. It's difficult to take the first step, but that's what draws the good juju to you."

"You get to make this whole thing up as you go along." —Abigail Disney
"I wish I had known that anything is possible," said filmmaker and grassroots activist Abigail Disney of what she wishes she knew at the beginning of her career. "I thought there were lines, like in a coloring book, and I had to stay in them. There are no borders, and there are no limits. You get to make this whole thing up as you go along." And the proof is in the pudding: The pioneering women's rights documentarian is currently at work on her next project, highlighting the Arab Spring and its effect on women in the Middle East.

"Give of yourself whatever you can give, but don't put a judgment on it." —Wallis Annenberg
"Never explain to anybody, 'I can only afford this,'" said keynote speaker Annenberg, who recently bestowed the city of Beverly Hills with the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts. In her speech, Annenberg emphasized being true to yourself and experimenting to find what you enjoy. A passionate philanthropist, Annenberg continues to reap the rewards of her work in culture and for her community. "You can't get that in a Neiman Marcus catalogue," she reminded the audience.

Read More

What You Shouldn't Tell Your Friends About Your Relationship

A post on BlogHer last week argued that our friendships could be jeopardizing our relationships. You know, that swift and sexy friends could swoop in on your SO like a love-starved vulture with their suitcase of privileged information you’ve been telling them casually over coffee. The issue here is that the rules BlogHer outlines on how to safeguard your relationship’s secrets are only applicable to friends we’re kinda sorta attracted to.

Those Ryan Gosling-next-door type friends who we’d really rather stay single. But surely there are friends who we have only the cuddliest of platonic feelings for that we should still keep from the inner workings of our love life. Before you reveal your partner’s penis size to the millimeter or divulge your girlfriend’s sexts to a group of pals, read this list of what to screen from even the best of friends.

Anything Your Partner Doesn’t Know

Do you have major underlying resentments toward your partner because he's been unemployed for months? Does the fact that he choked you in bed without asking permission really shake you to your core? If only your friends know about these huge, welling emotions inside you, it won’t do your relationship any good. It’s basic stuff: Your friend shouldn’t know things about your relationship that the person in your relationship doesn’t know about. Before you pick apart the same aspect of your relationship perennially with a friend, ask yourself if your partner has been given the full opportunity to change. If you find yourself always discussing conflicts that your partner doesn’t even know you have with him or your life together, then you probably just want to gossip with your friends.

The Ins and Outs of Your Sex Life
I get it: some friends are exhibitionist storytellers who live for the overshare. But the sexual intimacy you create within your relationship is only stronger if it’s not shared with everyone you know and her half-brother. Sex is almost better when the gory (sweaty?) details are left between you and yours.

How Much Money Your Partner Makes
You don’t want your friends weighing in on your relationship or judging your SO based on whether he shops thrift or at Bloomingdale’s. Also, it’s absolutely none of their business and inappropriate for you to volunteer the information.

Every Stupid Spat You Have
Think of complaining about your partner to your friends like it’s chili powder. It’s useful in small amounts, but it should really be used sparingly. When you report every small argument you have over who last vacuumed or who watched the last three episodes of Law and Order: SVU on Netflix, it’s going to get old. Once more, you’re slowly building an army of friends who detest your partner. Your harmless daily bickering might not amount to much for you, but if it’s all your friends hear, they might start to wonder why you don’t just dump the jerk who once insinuated you were fat. The more minutiae you filter out, the more easily your friends will be able to dispense good and accurate advice when it comes to the major league problems.

Your Partner’s Life History
If your lover tells you a very personal aspect of his life story during pillow talk or after years of dating, it’s not within your right to share that with all your closest pals. When you let all your friends in on your partner’s mom’s breast cancer scare or his history of childhood abuse, you’re breaking the trust of your relationship. Your partner told you those things because there's enough comfort in the relationship to open up about really difficult topics, not because of a desire to invite a round-table discussion on personal issues a la The View. The heavy conversations between you and your SO should be in a relationship safe zone. Your friends should understand.

Private Correspondence Between You and Your SO
Your boyfriend didn’t send the text, “Hey baby, I think we should talk tonight. That thing you said last night really bugged me,” to Margaret, Jen, and Alex, so they really don't need to see it. Keep the emails, texts, midnight voice mails, and, yes, nude selfies away from your friends’ eyes. Did you know that some revenge porn is actually posted by friends of friends of ex-lovers that have passed along the photo through email forwarding? Yeah, it makes you think twice.

Read More