Cooper The Funnyman

You might not have noticed it from the dour face outside the D.C. courthouse, but Time’s no-longer-embattled Matthew Cooper is actually quite the comedian. In a city largely devoid to true (read: non-sarcastic) humor, Cooper has made a name for himself as a stand-up comic.

The New York Observer today takes you inside his alter ego, who has done 30 to 40 gigs over the past seven years.

“I remember how he talked about Clinton and Gore, and he was comparing their personalities to two kids experimenting with pot,” political satirist Richard Siegel tells the NYO. “He said that Gore was the real uptight one–you know, ‘Mom’s gonna catch us, I know she’s gonna catch us,’ and Clinton was like, ‘Oh, c’mon, let’s listen to another album.’”

Cooper helped Roll Call’s Mary Ann Akers write a routine for a Press Club gig this spring, in which she mentioned Cooper’s legal troubles after a joke about the 2004 outing campaign that engulfed former Virginia Congressman Ed Schrock.

“My joke ended with something like, ‘Hey, did you know Ed Schrock still works on Capitol Hill?’” Akers recalled. “‘Yes, true story. He does. He’s an attendant in the men’s room.’ Then I said, ‘Hey, speaking of man-on-man love, let’s talk about Matt Cooper.’”

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