Roy Wood Jr. will be the headline entertainer at this year’s White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on April 29.
The daily show Correspondent has a standup special, imperfect messengerStream on Paramount+.
The performance is a high-profile commission that draws attention from cable news networks and countless social media excerpts, but it’s also one of the most challenging. The entertainer usually follows the president on stage, in the Washington Hilton’s cavernous ballroom, which seats nearly 3,000 guests.
Roy Wood Jr. gives his comedy a journalistic look. He is hilarious, but also makes his audience think when they laugh,” Tamara Keith, the WHCA president and White House correspondent for NPR, said in a statement.
“My goal for this year’s dinner is to highlight the importance of a free and independent press to a functioning democracy, so I’m delighted to introduce a comedian who understands what journalism is all about.”
Wood studied journalism at Florida A&M University when he began his career in stand-up. He was a morning news anchor at a radio station in Tallahassee, followed by his own show at WBHL in Birmingham, AL, and three years at WALR in Atlanta. He joined The daily show as a correspondent in 2015. He appeared on HBO Def Comedy Jam and a variety of other late night comedy shows and was a top 3 finalist on NBC’s Latest comic stand. He was also executive producer of the PBS documentary The neutral ground.
In a statement, Wood said it was “an honor to be part of a long-standing tradition of celebrating the members of the media who work so hard to uncover the truth and hold our government to account.” It’s going to be a great night that may or may not go down in the history books depending on what state you live in.”
Wood’s father, Roy Wood Sr., was a radio and television journalist who covered the civil rights movement, the South African race riots in Soweto and the Rhodesia-Zimbabwe civil war and the Vietnam front.
Last year’s entertainer was Trevor Noah, who recently departed as host The daily show. The event was the first since 2016 to be attended by a president. Donald Trump skipped the ceremony during his tenure at the White House. The 2020 and 2021 meals have been canceled due to Covid.
Bob Bain Productions will once again produce the event. Proceeds go to the WHCA, including scholarships.
There is more to come.
Source: Deadline
Mary Crossley is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. She is a seasoned journalist who is dedicated to delivering the latest news to her readers. With a keen sense of what’s important, Mary covers a wide range of topics, from politics to lifestyle and everything in between.
