President Obama Takes Aim In Stand-Up Routine

US President Barack Obama had political friends and foes alike in his comedy sights during a joke-packed speech at a star-studded event in Washington.

The American leader's traditional stand-up routine at the annual White House Correspondents' Dinner, also included his own anger translator to vent his frustrations, played by comedian Keegan-Michael Key.

Mr Obama made a light-hearted jest at Hillary Rodham Clinton who is the current front-runner to be the Democratic candidate in the 2016 presidential election.

The White House hopeful recently made a road trip to a key early-voting state in her bid to win the party's nomination.

Noting some Americans are living in a time of uncertainty, Mr Obama joked: "For example, I have one friend just a few weeks ago, she was making millions of dollars a year and she's now living out of a van in Iowa."

The President also had a dig over John Boehner, the Republican leader of the House of Representatives, who invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to speak to Congress last month against a nuclear deal with Iran that the White House was negotiating with other world powers.

The diplomatic spat deepened the rift between Washington and Tel Aviv.

Referring to how much his time in office has aged him, Mr Obama quipped: "I look so old that John Boehner has already invited Netanyahu to speak at my funeral."

The President also drew laughs when he said: "After the midterm elections, my advisers asked me, 'Mr. President, do you have a bucket list?'

"And I said, well, I have something that rhymes with bucket list ..."

Mr Obama also joked it was the night when: "Washington celebrates itself. Somebody's got to do it."

But the President also struck a serious note during his speech, paying tribute to US journalists Steven Sotloff and James Foley who were murdered by Islamic State militants.

He was followed at the dinner by comedian Cecily Strong who stars in the NBC show Saturday Night Live.

She joked at the expense of the Secret Service responsible for guarding the President, which have been hit by a string of embarrassing scandals and blunders.

Highlighting the recent series of deaths of black men at the hands of police, which have sparked protests around the country, she said: "They're the only law enforcement agency that will get in trouble if a black man gets shot."

And she told the President: "Your hairs so white now it can talk back to the police."