It could be a twist on an old vaudeville joke: A comedian walks into a podcast and walks into a political spin zone.

And Jon Lovitz is still trying to figure it out.

"It's nuts," says the comedian, best known for the droll delivery of his characters, including compulsive liar Tommy Flanagan, on Saturday Night Live.

Lovitz, who is at the Palm Beach Improv this weekend, is talking about how clips of an interview he did with actor Kevin Smith in January, in which he criticized what he viewed as President Obama's fluctuating stand on taxing the rich, went viral, and has seen him interviewed on Fox News, CNN and more.

"I'm not really a political comedian. I make fun of everybody and everything, like religion, including my own. Straight people, gay people, whoever," he explains. "Usually it's fun and silly."

And the interview, called "The ABCs of SNL" and taped live at the comedian's Jon Lovitz Comedy Club and Podcast Theater in Los Angeles, was supposed to be about the history of some inspired comedy silliness. But during the conversation, Lovitz says the talk turned to the news, and the president's comment that "people in the higher tax bracket aren't paying their fair share," while he also attended a fundraiser at George Clooney's house with rich Hollywood people within that tax bracket and raising millions of dollars.

"It just seemed hypocritical to me," says Lovitz, who has always considered himself a liberal. "I'm a Democrat, and I voted for the guy. But you don't throw a whole group of people under the bus. He says that, then he goes to George Clooney's house. So it's like, 'These people aren't paying their fair share, but let's go to their house and raise millions of dollars.' "

During the podcast, Lovitz says he also talked about how the president exemplifies the idea of hard work, and "how much I respect him for that." But those comments weren't included in the hype when, weeks ago, his criticism, including calling Obama some epithets, went viral. Although Lovitz says that his crisp language was taken out of context - "It was recorded in a comedy club" - he stands by his frustrations. Still, he's "shocked" at the response.

"I'm not a politician I used to make fun of George Bush, too. Bill Maher and Dennis Miller were stand-ups who got interested in politics. I'm not like that. I have opinions about things, but not (to that extent)," he says.

"When Bill Maher was doing Politically Incorrect, he wanted me to come on the show, but I said 'I don't want to come off like an idiot.' You can hear a lot of people thinking 'Too late!' Anyway, Bill went on the show and said 'I've been trying to get Jon Lovitz to come on forever but he says he doesn't know enough about politics, which is like people saying they won't vote because they don't know anything. It's not a valid reason to not vote just because you're ignorant like Jon.' "

Lovitz, who took the ribbing as a challenge and actually eventually appeared on the show, says he's been asked about writing a book or doing a show about his views.

While he's not at that point, he says he believes it's in his rights as an American and as a performer to discuss these things.

"It's like 'Oh, that's just the Hollywood elite. Why are they talking about that?' and then they turn around and say, 'Ronald Reagan! The greatest president we ever had!' " he says, laughing.

"The reason actors are so good at this is that they're good at making speeches. Because they're actors. Someone could write me a political speech and I could deliver it way better than the president or Mitt Romney, because that's what we do."

If you go ...

JON LOVITZ: Friday, May 25-Sunday, May 27, Palm Beach Improv, CityPlace, West Palm Beach. For ticket information, call (561) 833-1812.