By Chris Graeme [email protected]
Gato Fedorento (Stinking Cat) started out in 2003 with a blog, did their own sketches, produced various successful TV series and did live performances. Before the elections in 2009, they hosted the ‘Gato Fedorento Esmíuça os Sufrágios’ TV show to which they invited most of Portugal’s leading politicians and sent them up to critical acclaim. Last week they entertained the American Club in Lisbon.
The jokes kicked off with St. Patrick’s Day and the American Club lunch with a “green soup and rainbow fish”.
“I was already told who St. Patrick was, a dear fellow, who is used to scare children in Ireland because it was he who introduced Catholicism there,” said José Diogo Quintela, who added that he had spent a year in the United States on an exchange study course and had had a great time, and so it was a great surprise that a country “known for its intelligence and for knowing everything had taken too long to invite him”.
Tiago Dores said the invite proved one thing: “There’s no such thing as a free lunch” and said that after other distinguished guests such as Kofi Annan and the Minister for the Economy, it was just a question of time before “these four clowns” got invited.
Ricardo de Araújo Pereira, who had just got back from two weeks in the United States, thanked the American Club for the invite to what was a Luso-American Club serving Portuguese food – “obviously you’re not fools!” he joked.
Talking about the relationship between “our two great countries”, there was one thing that was radically different. Portugal was a country where “things that happen don’t really exist”, where people could be involved in countless scandals and still continue to lead a government!
In the US, “things that didn’t happen – for example weapons of mass destruction in Iraq – were made to look like they were real and a war started on this basis!
And when President Bush was in Iraq, “we finally discovered where the Iraqis were hiding their weapons – in their shoes!”
Making a pun on the name and ethnicity of the President of the United States, Barack Obama, and the President of Uganda, John Mills, “it is fascinating how this is possible. Perspectives could be changed radically when you considered that Bernard Madoff, an old white man, robbed everyone and wrecked the economy while Barack Obama, a young black man, was out to save it.”
Barack Obama had inspired the American people by saying “Yes, We Can!” and inspired the Portuguese people by buying a Portuguese breed of dog.
“It’s so refreshing for once for an American to go behind a Portuguese to clear up the sh**t!”
Miguel Góis said that there was always some fear in mixing humour with politicians and that it was important for comedians to not be afraid of appearing alongside politicians.
“I won’t make fun of the Americans, not while Guantanamo Bay is still open!”
