That audience doesn't respond the same way to political humor, Mr. Perry contended.
"I think negative or attack humor is less appealing to the 'conservative' audience," said Mr. Perry, whose company operates both online and via a cable-channel outlet. "Situational humor trumps personal attacks every time. Ironically, that used to be the convention."
Political humorist Jimmy Tingle said conservative comics still face a dilemma that began the day Mr. Obama took office. The public at large sees the president as the underdog, facing seemingly insurmountable problems.
"People tend to give the underdog the benefit of the doubt," Mr. Tingle said, making audiences less receptive to no-holds-barred political comedy.
And while late-night hosts unmercifully mocked former President George W. Bush, many openly worried that Mr. Obama would provide them with far less material.
Immediately after the November 2008 election, Craig Ferguson, host of CBS' "The Late Late Show," observed of the president-elect: "A dignified African-American man — what the hell can I do with that?" The host said he concluded that "my only hope is Biden!"
But the news of the day — from government bailouts and the BP oil spill to Mr. Obama's graying hair and his passion for golf — have provided grist for the monologues of Mr. Ferguson and his late-night peers.
Mr. Ferguson panned the president's Oval Office speech on energy at the height the Gulf oil disaster by noting, "I know Obama was trying to take the long view, but talking about solar energy in the middle of the oil spill is like watching your house engulfed in flames and saying, 'We really should change the curtains.'"
Others do not shy away from an even tougher approach.
Firebrand conservatives, particularly those on talk radio and Fox News, "see [Mr. Obama] as this guy who needs to be brought down," Mr. Tingle said. They use those outlets to mock and satirize the president more than your average stand-up comic might.
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