Conan O’Brien: Correspondents’ dinner crowd ‘think they’re the coolest people in the world’

Former White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) dinner entertainer Conan O’Brien says the audience at the black-tie event is far from a comedian’s typical crowd, and they “think they’re the coolest people in the world.”

“That is not a normal crowd,” O’Brien said of Correspondents’ dinner revelers, while he appeared on a new episode of Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson’s “IMO” podcast, released Wednesday.

“They’re thinking a lot about their own world. And you need to be funny, but you can’t act like you know too much, because then they’ll resent you for that, or think you don’t belong,” the former late-night TV host explained.

O’Brien served as the headliner at the 2013 WHCA dinner.

The comic opened up about the process of attempting to entertain the journalists, lawmakers and celebrity guests that typically attend the Washington gala.

“Everything is this incredible long period of preparation to gauge what’s going to work in that room that doesn’t go too far this way, doesn’t go too far that way,” O’Brien, 62, said.

President Trump, who bucked tradition and boycotted the dinner throughout his first term, announced this week that he planned on attending the April 25 gala.

“Will be fun!” Trump........

© The Hill