There are glimpses of the Curb star at his razor-like best here \u2013 but they are desperately few. It\u2019s mainly worth watching for the immaculate Obama intro<\/p>\n
It is always an emotional blow to see former US president Barack Obama pop up on one\u2019s screen. The Instagram algorithm sends me a lot of him, because it knows I always click on him being charming with babies, statesmanlike in speeches, cool at rallies, articulate and witty at anything, endlessly composed, compassionate, intelligent, handsome, thoughtful \u2013 a fully functioning adult human, if you want the short version. The algorithm does not know that I jack-knife in pain before I click and weep softly at how far we \u2013 the US sneezed, but the UK has surely caught a cold \u2013 have fallen.<\/p>\n
And then he turns up at the beginning of Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness: an Almost History of America (one of the offspring of his and Michelle\u2019s TV company, Higher Ground Productions) to remind us that on top of all that he also has immaculate comic timing. As he walks through what I assume is the new Barack Obama Presidential Center, he modulates his performance so beautifully that I almost began to softly weep again. If I\u2019d known what a shambles was to follow after this masterclass, I would have sobbed.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/7fd44ca3585d37356f2bcd6f445bc7b84db6fc6b\/197_0_1600_1281\/master\/1600.jpg?width=140&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=0a827e96b3828204869024371794632f\" "\\"Life,")
<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"