This piece originally appeared on Miami.com.
If this election season makes you want to build a secret bunker and hide out until Nov. 9, maybe it’s time to have a good laugh over the absurdity of American politics.
That is the premise of Make America Laugh Again, a roast of the American political system hosted by Comic Cures, a local organization that produces live comedic events for charity; The Plantain, Miami’s own Onion-style news parody website that has become a viral sensation; and Miami experts, The New Tropic.
The event, which caps off the Brickell Comedy Festival, will feature a mix of local comedians and politicians with Miami filmmaker (of “Cocaine Cowboys” renown) and political raconteur Billy Corben in the role of Roast Master. Comic Kira Soltanovich headlines after the night’s roast.
So which unlikely local politicians signed up to sit in a room with a bunch of comics out for blood?
Republican State Representative Jose Felix Diaz (District 116), Florida Senate candidate Jose Javier Rodriguez, City of Miami Commissioner Ken Russell (District 2) as well as School Board Member and Miami-Dade County mayoral candidate Raquel Regalado.
Maybe a better question is how did Comic Cure convince these politicians to participate in the event.?
“They are going to be judges on the show,” explains Comic Cure Managing Director Benjamin Leis, who created Comic Cure last year with his brother, Richy, himself a comedian, to blend their interests in philanthropy and comedy. “These politicians are all campaigning so it was easy to convince them to be in front of an audience filled with a key demographic of young, voting professionals.”
Also tapped to serve as judge is Joseph Uscinski, associate professor of University of Miami’s political science department.
Participating comedians will each have three minutes to get laughs using their best political material. “We’ve instructed them to keep their roast material diversified,” warns Leis. “They all know that Trump is the easy way out. Everyone is open to roasting the entire political process.”
Billy Corben, not one to pull any punches, is on deck to ensure that Miami politicians get their licks. “Corben is probably one of the most vocal local celebrities and he is definitely going to be covering South Florida’s own political issues,” assures Leis.
The roasters are quite the motley crew. There are comics that have participated in Comic Cure events like Ben Zieper, Cristian Munarriz, Fasil Malik and Shane Manuel plus comedians Buzz Fleischman, Josh Rosen and David Del Rosario. Ben Evans, Managing Director of BMe Community; The New Tropic’s Isis Miller; Jessica Fernandez, President of the Miami-Dade Young Republicans; Tony Lima, Executive Director of SAVE and Justin Wales, Co-Founder of ThePlantain.com and Engage Miami are all on the roster to take down the political elite as well.
The winner gets a $100 prize and a staycation at the Atton Hotel, which is probably a great place to bunker down until the election is over.
Get the details on the event and your tickets here.