Pen-Elayne on the Web

Q&A Wingnuts

I loved Mark Evanier's review of the Rob Reiner interview with Al Franken last night, particularly the following observation:

Maybe it's always been like this but lately, every time I'm at a public event and they have a microphone set up for questions from the audience, the following occurs. The mike seems to attract people who really don't have a question... they just want the spotlight for a little while. Often, they seem to appoint themselves spokespersons for the entire audience ("On behalf of all of us out here, I just want to say how grateful we are that you came here tonight...") or they've figured out some way to tell everyone about themselves in the guise of a question. You have to be especially wary of that one guy who spends the whole speech or panel hovering near the audience mike, waiting for the moment when they throw it open to questions and he gets his big break. He's usually the first one and he's got a speech all prepped for the occasion.

Trust me on this, Mark, it's not just your perception. I've seen this time and again as well. On the other hand, between comics conventions and political fora I think we do attend many of the same types of events, so maybe it's just us. :)