Before we get into the top-five clips of the week, I want to highlight a weird mini trend this week in late-night television: shouting out your old improv theater. After Midnight held a Groundlings reunion with Stephanie Courtney, Jim Rash, and Nat Faxon. They had so much fun playing together and gave us all some wig tips. Paul Scheer told some stories of OG UCB on The Late Show. And Eddie Redmayne recounted his time at a French clown school on The Tonight Show. Improv comedy is okay, but clown is more difficult. Here’s who clowned best on late night this week.
5. It’s Corn!
A pretty standard-issue “That thing you never think about? It’s horrible†story on corn from Big John Oliver this week. But things went into prop-comedy territory when Oliver walked through a corn field that had suddenly popped up at the end of the episode. The corn came from nowhere, choked the frame, and seemed intent on hurting Oliver. He was really getting whacked with those stalks. Clown? It’s more difficult … and rewarding when pulled off well.
4. Billie Eilish Says “Death of the Author†on The Late Show
Watching Billie Eilish evade questions on late night is my favorite blood sport. Remember when she elected to cut a fan’s hair rather than do album promo? That was great. Eilish dodged questions from Stephen Colbert this week, refusing to give a definitive answer about what Hit Me Hard and Soft really means. Apparently this is her most “me†album, but that’s also what she said about the last one? But that’s okay, because growing is about having a new self every album cycle, right? Stream “Lunch,†regardless.
3. Two Styles of Celeb on WWHL
There was a real culture clash on WWHL Monday night — well, two if you count Julia Fox explaining her celibacy choice to Andy Cohen. During a game in which Fox and Shay Mitchell decided whether or not to “claim†past outfits (as a tie-in to Mitchell’s luggage company, Béis), the two could not have been more different. Mitchell performed abjection at her past self, cringing at every photo. Cohen had to convince her that at least one of her past fits was cute. Fox, on the other hand, wore wilder stuff and stood by almost every outfit. It was the difference between old-school, media-trained relatability and enigmatic new-media fame.
2. The Daily Show Finds Biden’s Only Fan
Well done addressing Biden’s likability problem head-on, TDS. And double props for using that clip of both sides of an Israel-Palestine protest both chanting “Fuck Joe Biden.†That’s one of the funniest political moments to come out of this tragedy. When a Daily Show field piece hits, it hits hard (and soft — callback). Troy Iwata found a guy who stans Joe Biden and just gawped at him in wide-eyed disbelief. As Indecision 2024 slogs on, I bet we’re gonna get a lot more of that.
1. After Midnight Is Going to Kill Rory Scovel’s Family
Rory Scovel was the perfect participant in one of After Midnight’s dumbest games to date. He, BenDeLaCreme, and Harvey Guillén had to decide whether various pics found online were of “caked-up†objects, and as each item — a starfish, a tree, Harvey Guillén — was shown to be double cheeked up on a Thursday afternoon, Scovel’s mounting anger and incredulity really worked. And if he got the questions wrong, they were going to kill his family! That’s awful, but the clip speaks for itself. You can’t argue with results.
More From This Series
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- Queening Out With the Divas of Late Night This Week
- Ta-Nehisi Coates’s Compassion Won Late Night This Week