From 1993 until 2001, few figures were more prominent among the critics of the Administration then in charge than Larry Klayman, the founder of Judicial Watch, who, during those years, launched eighteen civil suits against the Clinton White House, and was often to be found on Fox News during its early years, speaking of litigation to come.
After the 42nd President and his spouse moved to Westchester County, however, less was heard from the Florida-based attorney. He made some waves early in 2003 when, perhaps in the spirit of bipartisanship, he joined the Sierra Club in a suit against Vice President Cheney, seeking the release of documents concerning energy policy. But soon afterward he left the organization he’d founded to launch an unsuccessful campaign for the Senate in Florida. In the six years since, he’s turned up in the news occasionally – in 2006 when he sued Judicial Watch charging mismanagement on the part of his successors, and earlier this year when it was reported that his new book, having been lost in the shuffle at HarperCollins after the departure of Judith Regan who’d acquired it, was to be issued by a smaller Florida press.
But this morning’s Washington Times reports that Klayman has just undertaken an entirely new career – as a stand-up comedian, currently performing at the Funky Buddha Lounge in Boca Raton. The competition in this field in South Florida is pretty stiff – ranging from veterans of the circuit like Dave Attell and Greg Giraldo to, well, really old comics like Jack Carter and London Lee. But it is true that Mort Sahl is seen in West Palm Beach and St. Petersburg and Orlando less often since he started doing things like teaching at Claremont McKenna College. So there seems to be an opening for Klayman to try his hand at political humor.
The lawyer-turned-humorist informed the Times’s Jennifer Harper that he thinks of his new enterprise as being in the tradition of his 1990s work: “I have not given up as ‘freedom fighter, but with the Obama/Clinton crowd in power it’s better to laugh than cry. Besides, the Clintons always tried to portray my lawsuits as a joke.” He promises to take his act to LA and New York if things go well in Florida. Wonder if there’s a chance that he’ll show up at the next Comedy Central Roast.