Why political orators and standup comedians are fraternal twins

Aside from the platitudes and pleasantries, President Obama said he would issue an executive order to the effect that Murphy resumes doing standup.

Murphy last did standup in 1987 and his concert movie "Raw" is still the biggest grossing standup comedy special of all time.

It made $50,504,655 which, when adjusted for inflation, is about $117,021,882 in today’s money.

Raw was indeed raw, with "Eddie Murphy in a stand-up performance recorded live. For an hour and a half, he talks about his favorite subjects: sex and women."

Eddie Murphy (right) with president Barrack Obama Pulse

Obama, the orator, knows the value of good standup comedy.

Indeed, anyone who knows anything about oratory will know that standup comedy is an integral part of what makes for an effective speech.

As a means of improving his delivery, even the humorless Adolf Hitler would study the comic timing of Munich Comedian Weiss-Ferdl.

More, the orator Winston Churchill cracked: "A lady came up to me one day and said 'Sir! You are drunk', to which I replied 'I am drunk today madam, and tomorrow I shall be sober but you will still be ugly."

Humor is the mother’s milk of a good speech.

Especially when delivering a high-minded speech, a few jokes to charm and disarm the listener will go a long way in ensuring the audience sees things your way.

Of course, it’s not about a joke a minute.

It’s about the comedy of what you want to say being circumscribed by the poetry of what must be said.

Without humor, the only thing that’s likely to be good about a speaker is that speaker’s intentions. And, to paraphrase an old saying, the road to a hellish speech is paved by good intentions.