Tony Hinchcliffe Bombed at a Comedy Club While Workshopping His Trump Rally Material

No one was expecting hacky roast jokes to become a focal point of this year’s presidential election, yet here we all are. 

Tony Hinchcliffe’s appearance at Sunday’s Trump rally was, as we’re all aware by now, peppered with jokes so desperately racist that even the dude who showed up at the same event waving around a literal crucifix and ranting about the Antichrist took a backseat to the media coverage of Hinchcliffe.

The right (and, oddly, Jon Stewart) has been adamant that these were just jokes, you know like Don Rickles used to tell (several decades ago and never as part of a political campaign predicated on xenophobia and dehumanization). According to his defenders, including vice presidential candidate and real-life Troy McClure J.D. Vance, the problem isn’t Hinchcliffe, it’s that the left just can’t take a joke. 

But during the Madison Square Garden rally, Hinchcliffe’s infamously offensive quip about Puerto Rico being a “floating island of garbage” even received groans from an audience of MAGA loyalists. A surprised Hinchcliffe immediately tried to rationalize the joke’s poor reception by suggesting that the venue wasn’t so ideal for his brand of humor. “Normally I don’t follow the national anthem, everybody,” he explained. “This isn’t exactly a perfect comedy setup.”  

Obviously, Hinchcliffe’s jokes would have therefore killed had they been told at a more appropriate location, such as a comedy club, right? 

Yeah, not so much.

As NBC reported, Hinchcliffe didn't enter into the gig with zero preparation, he took the opportunity to workshop his set during a surprise appearance at The Stand in New York City, just one night before the Madison Square Garden event. Come to think of it, given the unhinged references to Hannibal Lecter and dead pro golfer’s massive dongs, Trump himself may want to think about workshopping his rally material beforehand as well. Why not pop by the Comedy Cellar and try out the “they’re eating the cats” bit?

According to those in attendance, Hinchcliffe tried out the Puerto Rico joke, and it totally bombed, eliciting merely “handful of awkward chuckles.” He informed the audience that this was all in preparation for the Trump event, and following several muted responses to punchlines, he assured the crowd that the jokes would do much better “tomorrow at the rally.” 

Which, in retrospect, was probably the funniest thing Hinchcliffe said all weekend.

This anecdote makes the Trump campaign’s claim that they didn’t vet Hinchcliffe’s act all the more suspect. I mean, they could have caught the whole thing for a nominal cover charge and no drink minimum at The Stand a night earlier. Also, the Trump team reportedly prevented Hinchcliffe from calling Kamala Harris the C-word while they were busy not vetting his speech. 

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