Comedy Central to air The President Show

Comedy Central is to air the late-night talk show hosted by a fake Donald Trump in the UK.

The British broadcaster will screen The President Show from 11pm this Saturday.

Starring impressionist Anthony Atamanuik, the programme reimagines Trump as ‘bypassing the crooked media by hosting a late-night show direct from the Oval Office’.

 The show launched on Comedy Central’s US counterpart last month, where it received mixed reviews, although Atamanuik’s mimicry was universally praised.

The Hollywood Reporter concluded that the show was ‘mostly toothless satire, replete with broad, shticky comedy’, while The Ringer said: ‘There’s so much Trump comedy at this point. The quality of Atamanuik’s impersonation notwithstanding, the risk with The President Show is that we’ve heard it all before.’

But The Onion said: ‘Atamanuik has actually found a way to stand out. Sure, he’s got the gross tan, toupee, petulance, whininess, and other grotesqueries down to a tee. But he’s also given us a brief and troubling glimpse into Trump’s psyche.’

And The Atlantic found: ‘The President Show looks to be a surprisingly robust, well-produced work with ambitions greater than scoring cheap hits.’

Atamanuik himself has said he hopes the show will target more than Trump himself with its comedy.

He said: ‘Laughing at the President is a proud American tradition and we hope not to disappoint anyone in that department. But our political system is too broken for us to be content joking about one man, even though he is a disastrous silly little toddler boy.’

It has also been announced today that Alec Baldwin will reprise his Donald Trump impression on Saturday Night Live for the episodes that air in the States on May 13 and May 20.

Here's a clip from The Presiden Show:

Published: 4 May 2017