It was a Wednesday night when I first saw Senator John Kerry (D-MA) take the stage, nervously standing in front of the classic brick wall backdrop, where he floundered about in front of a less-than-captivated audience. But such is the struggle of a new standup comic.

“If Robin Williams can be a comedian and the President in that movie, I don’t see why I can’t either,” said a hopeful Kerry. “You know the Kerry flip-flopping flip-flops? I came up with those. They were my brainchild. Some people say I might have cost myself the election, but at least I did it in the name of comedy. Those were hilarious.” But all the joking stopped once he got onto stage.

“I hate it when the Republicans have a majority in Congress. What’s the deal with that?” he quipped. Kerry has tried to cultivate a unique brand of political humor, in which he’s not afraid to poke fun at himself. “Some people have called me a ”Cutter and a Runner.“ To that I say, ‘Cut her? I barely know her!’ And I wouldn’t shoot her either, because I am for stricter gun control.”

“It’s really an uphill battle for a comic like Kerry,” said Zach Dally, manager of the New York Improv Club. “His long face and sad eyes really don’t make an audience want to laugh.” But that hasn’t stopped him.

“I took some classes at Second City. But really I’m basically self-taught. I still make mistakes— my timing isn’t great,” he admits. “Sure people heckle. They call my material ‘non-relatable.’”

“I just didn’t ‘get it,’” said one dissatisfied audience member. “He spent twenty minutes talking about the horrors of Vietnam and his Purple Hearts.”

“I remember this one time Senator Ted Kennedy was at my house,” he began one of his stories. “We were having some delicious Freedom fries. And he could not get the ketchup out of the bottle. And I’m all like, ‘Hit the 57.’ And he’s all like, ‘Really? Does that work?’ So I say, ‘Let’s ask Teresa.’ It was a riot… maybe you had to be there? Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, Teresa is my wife; she used to be married to the Heinz Ketchup guy. If you knew that beforehand you would have found it a lot funnier. That’s probably why you weren’t laughing.” Kerry then went into a ten-minute bit about the French that was as edgy as it was topical.

After the show, Kerry remained optimistic despite the audience’s questionable reaction. “I can’t let one bad show get me down. All new comics struggle. It’s hard work, but I’m used to hard work; I served in Vietnam where I got three Purple Hearts. I’m living my dream. I want to be a comedian.”

Senator Kerry will be performing at Caroline’s on Friday, November 10th, and will continue to fine-tune his material until the summer, when he hopes to audition for Last Comic Standing. He is also planning on announcing his bid for the 2008 Presidential Election shortly thereafter.