Will Durst misses George W. Bush—just not his policies or the way they played out during his administration. For this world-class political comedian and satirist, America's 43rd president was a consistent and source of fresh material as good or better than anything a writer could come up with.

“;For political comedy—I don't know if you loved him or hated him—but for political comedy he was a hard man to replace,”; Durst said last Saturday during a wide-ranging conversation about national politics, Hawaii's fascination with Las Vegas, the infamous teacher furloughs and the unique art of political comedy. Durst was calling from the Bay Area; he plays a one-nighter here Wednesday at the Pipeline Cafe.

But getting back to Bush:

“;We've had an extremely talented run (of political leaders),”; he continued. “;We've had Reagan and then Quayle and then Clinton, so there's always been somebody, but nobody will ever beat Bush.

“;Thirty years from now people will be saying, 'This guy's good but he's no George Bush.'”;

What about Obama?

Durst said it's always difficult at first to “;turn the Titanic”; and develop good comic material about the next man in the Oval Office, but it becomes easier with every day that passes.

“;My original line was, 'Tell jokes about him? I can't even see him. The halo is still too bright.' That's still true to some degree.”;

The unrealistic expectations of many Obama fans last January have morphed into equally unrealistic feelings of being let down because we're still facing the problems we faced before his election.

Durst summed it up this way: “;'What's the deal (with Obama)? We still have global warming and war and poverty, and he's been president for almost a whole year.'”;

Obviously, he's not one of those comedians, talk show hosts or op-ed columnists who defines “;good”; and “;bad”; in the political arena from a strictly partisan perspective—“;Democrats good! Republicans evil!”; or vice versa.

“;I try to hit every one,”; he said. Entries on his Web site prove the point.

LOOKING BACK at 2009, Durst said it provided plenty of “;grist for the comedic mill.”;

“;There was quite a bit (of material), and we didn't expect it. Weird stuff like pirates and health care and the Republican Senate (members) and the health care riots, and now the underwear bomber. I used to do a bit about the shoe bomber saying, 'Thank God he wasn't the underwear bomber.' It's kinda like life imitating comedy.”;

Asked to comment on some of the great political commentators/satirists of the past, Durst mentioned Will Rogers, Mort Sahl and Lenny Bruce.

“;Some of Will Rogers' stuff is just incredible in terms of being spot-on for the time (he wrote it), and it still works today. I've always been a fan of Mort Sahl's because he was one of the first guys to take out Eisenhower when it was kind of sacrosanct that you didn't take out the president. He broke that (barrier).”;

“;Lenny Bruce for using the language and changing the way that people used it.”;

However, Durst added, while Bruce was arrested several times and eventually convicted on “;obscenity”; charges, his own act is “;pretty clean. I've kind of rebelled against rebelling, I guess, (and) I do a lot of a corporate (shows).”;

That's good, too, he explained, because “;a lot of times the people in the (comedy) clubs don't know who I am. ... My comedy is for people who read—or know someone who does.

“;Sometimes the kids have a problem with that, but I still have a draw with adults who haven't been burned on the clubs.”;

And so, the club stage is only one of many platforms for his observations on topics that span the spectrum of contemporary affairs from Obama's Nobel Peace Prize to 10 ways to avoid swine flu.

“;I write a column every week, I do commentaries and I just have to do a little bit of everything. Some people like it. I think it's necessary (but) of course I would.”;

Durst has three CDs—“;Ring Toss for Aliens,”; “;Warning!”; and “;you can't make up stuff like this!”;—available through various sites. He also records a twice-weekly podcast.

Summing up, Durst said that with America's leaders practically doing the writing for him, he loves his job.

“;When it works, when comedy works, when they laugh out loud on purpose against their will, it is better than anything. It's a lot of fun.”;