Stewart and Colbert find comedy winds blow their way in ‘Fangate’

Sometimes a news story is so ridiculous that Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert can’t help but lead off with it on “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report.” Thursday night, they had such a story thanks to Rick Scott, Charlie Crist and a small personal fan.

During the Florida gubernatorial debate at Broward College in Davie, Fla., incumbent Gov. Rick Scott refused to come to the stage for six minutes in protest of the small personal fan that former Gov. Charlie Crist had brought and installed under his podium. Apparently, the fan was against the pre-set rules of the debate.

But rules or not, the absurd spectacle of two grown men arguing over a small fan was like having comedy manna from heaven sent down for Stewart and Colbert.

Yes, they both hit some of the same jokes: Scott does resemble some kind of large reptile. But each of them focused on their own piece of the story.

For Stewart, it was the fan itself and what part of the anatomy that floor-mounted, upward blowing stream was intended to cool.

For Colbert, it was the fact that real discussion of the issues quickly became secondary to discussion about that tiny piece of equipment.

“It’s hard to imagine this is our country,” Stewart said.

Later in the debate, the moderators turned to social media to find out what the voters were talking about. No surprise, they were all talking about the fan. The whole incident was quickly dubbed “Fangate” and served up ready-made for mockery.

You can view Colbert’s take here. And Stewart’s take, with more genital jokes than you can count, here.

And for the curious, you can now follow Crist’s fan on Twitter here.

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