President Donald Trump has become the go-to target for late night comedy, but comedian Anthony Atamanuik is upping the ante with “The President Show.”
Rather than merely commenting on Trump’s latest controversial statements, tweets or policy changes, Atamanuik physically transforms into the commander-in-chief for the Comedy Central show. He proceeds to rattle off his thoughts, set in the Oval Office, giving us a satirical look at the mind of the 45th president of the United States.
“I do an impression of his psyche. I do an impression of his soul,” the Upright Citizens Brigade member said during a press visit to his West Side set on Wednesday.
The show, which will air weekly, is aiming for a similar tone to “The Colbert Report” and “The Daily Show.” Atamanuik will serve up monologues, taped skits and feature guests, such as Keith Olbermann, who will chat it up with the presidential parody.
“The show is Donald Trump’s dream of a fireside chat,” said Atamanuik, who has already acted as Trump at several events, including Comedy Central’s mock debates last year.
He previewed his performance in a “news conference” with reporters at the show’s set Wednesday. Before answering a question from amNewYork, he called the paper the “lying media.”
“I look at amNewYork and it’s in the afternoon,” he said with a signature Trump delivery.
Atamanuik said it isn’t too hard for him to get into Trump’s personality. The secret, he said, is that any time the president talks to the media, he’s really talking to himself.
“That’s where he gets those refrains like, ‘This is the best crowd, an incredible crowd, one of the best crowds,’ ” Atamanuik said. “That’s him talking to himself.”
The comedian said his show is not out to normalize Trump’s controversial behavior or devalue the serious issues coming out of his administration. He hopes that by presenting a “giddy,” over-the-top persona, people will understand the man behind the weird hairdo.
“That’s sort of the funny relief and the other part will be how we fold in the contemporary satirical nature of it,” he said.
On TV: ‘The President Show’ premieres Thursday at 11:30 p.m. on Comedy Central.
