"I was crying I was laughing so hard," said Abdoulaye Wade, President of the Republic of Senegal. "Streaming, streaming my tears were!"
Others, already familiar with Gonzi's former career as a stand-up comedian, were delighted to learn the Prime Minister had added quite a bit of new material. "I caught his act at KrackUps, one of the best Maltese [comedy] clubs on the island," confessed Mohamed Nasheed, President of the Republic of Maldives. "This was about six or seven years ago. He was funny. His bits on married life were especially hysterical. I remember, quite distinctly, laughing out loud at several moments."
[inset pos=right]"Hey Yukio! Wake up, there's sushi!"[/inset]Prime Minister Gonzi's well-respected stand-up career was cut short when he decided to enter politics. Shortly afterward, he was elected to the nation's highest office, which provided the basis for his new material. "It's great being Prime Minister of an island nation like Malta," he said in his opening. "Since our whole country could fit inside Manhattan, nobody really cares what I do. Right now, most of you don't know who I am, except for Japan over there. Hey Yukio! Wake up, there's sushi!"
This produced uproarious laughter from Yukio Hatoyama, Prime Minister of Japan and the Japanese delegation.