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President Barack Obama, right, waves after speaking at the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner at the Washington Hilton, in Washington, Saturday, April 30, 2016. Larry Wilmore, guest host from Comedy Central, left, first lady Michelle Obama, second from left, and Jerry Seib, second from fight, of The Wall Street Journal, join Obama on the stage. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

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Story highlights

Gene Seymour: Larry Wilmore hosted, but Barack Obama owned the Correspondents' Dinner

He says his zingers, comic timing remind us Obama pulls off these nights better than anyone

Editor’s Note: Gene Seymour is a film critic who has written about music, movies and culture for The New York Times, Newsday, Entertainment Weekly and the Washington Post. Follow him on Twitter. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the writer.

(CNN) —

Well, I’ll be. Who’d have thought it’d take another black comedian to make white people feel more comfortable about having a black president around them?

We kid, because we care. But do we exaggerate?

If the immediate reaction to the dueling African-American jokesmiths at Saturday night’s 2016 White House Correspondents’ Dinner is any indication, Barack Obama scored higher with the movers, shakers and screen stars in the Washington Hilton ballroom than this year’s host, Larry Wilmore, who presides over Comedy Central’s “The Nightly Show.”

The second reaction: Take a picture, because we won’t be seeing this kind of high-quality presidential comedy again anytime soon.

01:23 - Source: CNN

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