Writer and comedian Nate Fernald, known for his many oddball sketches on The Late Late Show With James Corden, made his latest appearance on the show November 3 — returning in character as stand-up comedian Trey Wakeman. Wakeman’s act has changed a bit since the last time he was on the show performing an outdated pre-pandemic set in a post-pandemic world. He’s a rebel now: He gives his albums names like Triggered 2 and does photo shoots where he’s draped in caution tape to let audiences know his comedy is dangerous. True to character, he swaggers onto the Late Late Show stage, ready to put on a barn burner of a performance. But then something happens that knocks him off his rhythm. He tells his first joke — “Gas prices have gotten so high, I’m surprised they don’t have the munchies†— and it doesn’t get any laughs. “Is this thing on?†Wakeman says as he taps the microphone. Surely, it can’t be that the audience just didn’t enjoy his well-crafted and brilliant joke?!
What follows is a very literal exploration of the “Is this thing on?†stand-up cliché by Fernald as Wakeman: He goes through the entire The Late Late Show studio, conducting a thorough investigation to make sure every bit of audio equipment that may have prevented the audience from correctly hearing his joke is functioning. He then heads to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to check the status of the power grid the studio is located on. “I was doing stand-up comedy in that building and I told a joke and nobody laughed,†he tells the receptionist. “And so I’m kind of just trying to locate where the problem is.†After hearing Wakeman’s punch line, she offers an alternate possibility: “It’s just not that great of a joke.†Wakeman is rocked by this revelation. Having done everything short of testing every audience member’s hearing, he finally returns to the Late Late Show stage, ready to admit they just weren’t fans of his joke. “So I guess you didn’t like that one,†he says.
All things considered, Wakeman handled this more gracefully than most comedians of his ilk would, but there’s still time for him to double down. In all likelihood, he’ll appear on a podcast in two weeks and complain that people are just “too sensitive†about jokes that reference the munchies. He’ll frame his bombing as a First Amendment issue and make an earnest plea to listeners where he asks, “If comedians can’t make edgy jokes about gas prices, who can?!â€