WATCH: Chris Christie and celebrities search for his golden fleece

(Image credit: YouTube, NJ governor's office)

last updated 8 January 2015

Politicians almost never go wrong by poking fun at themselves. Typically we see this at the national level when the press and the president gather each year for the White House Correspondents' Dinner. New Jersey's version of this annual gathering, it turns out, is more of a roast, with the press performing gently mocking song-and-dance numbers — and in the case of Gov. Chris Christie (R), poking fun at his weight.

The big topic at Tuesday night's dinner was Christie's lap-band weight-loss surgery, revealed publicly earlier in the day. "I guess Springsteen's not the band closest to the governor's heart," quipped local radio reporter Kevin McArdle, the evening's master of ceremonies. But Christie got the last laugh — and it didn't even involve any fat jokes.

In a short, seven-minute video, Christie manages to make fun of his own political aspirations, adoration of Bruce Springsteen, lovefest with MSNBC's Morning Joe, and the idea that the suit makes the man — and he does it with the help of Alec Baldwin, James Carville, Jon Bon Jovi, Saturday Night Live's Bobby Moynihan, celebrities not generally associated with Republican politics. The premise of the skit is that Christie's enviable popularity is intimately tied to the fleece he wore in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Watch Christie's humorous odyssey for his golden fleece above.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.