First of all, hats off to Jimmy Kimmel for sticking up for his “Mean Tweets†segment after it was plagiarized by Nikki Haley. It’s just nice to see a late-night comedy show denying Haley a platform, ya know?
Like last week, this week in late night was dominated by what had passed (Taylor Swift’s record-setting fourth AOTY at the Grammys) and what’s to come (Taylor Swift’s presence at the Super Bowl). Also, the election — that’s in the future too. Stephen Colbert had Elizabeth Warren on, and Seth Meyers had Bernie Sanders, both beating that “vote†drum loud and hard. Props to Meyers/Bernie for discussing Gaza at all, something that has been somewhat lacking in late-night TV discussions since around November. But in terms of spirited and immanently relevant debate, nothing will ever top that time Colbert made Warren defend the existence of the Senate. But enough politics. Here’s what really zinged on late night this week.
5. Guillermo Rodriguez, Gross-Out Provocateur
GG Allin, Jamie Loftus, Guillermo from Jimmy Kimmel Live! What do these three have in common? All are artists who use(d) their bodies as the prop in the prop comedy. Loftus butt-chugged Infinite Jest and ate too many hot dogs in pursuit of a deeply American truth. GG Allin took his body so far that even his funeral was a gross-out affair. And Guillermo Rodriguez forced multiple football players to contemplate his belly button. Guillermo went to the Super Bowl media day, and he made a 49-layer dip of the experience. His confrontational, physically embodied work evoked performance artists like Carolee Schneemann and Janine Antoni, but it also was about the Big Game, so even dads can appreciate it.
4. Stephen Colbert Bullies Christopher Nolan
At the time of writing, Googling “Christopher Nolan†will get you the autofill “Fast and Furious,†and that’s 100 percent Colbert. The late-night host did one of his extended interviews (previously afforded to folks like Barbra Streisand) with Nolan, and he used part five of the affair to lightly bully the Oppenheimer director. First, he tried to razz Nolan into being definitive about his art. Light work, no reaction: Nolan won’t be goaded into expressing authorial intent. But then he demanded a marathon viewing of the Fast and the Furious franchise, because Nolan’s a huge fan and Colbert’s never seen even one. Nolan was on board — completely. He’d watch all of them with Colbert, but he doesn’t think that’s entirely necessary for the Fast mythos, you know? Things don’t get truly serialized until like 7 anyway. Nolan trying to gently onboard Colbert into the Fast-iverse is very much like me talking Twilight, and I love that Mr. No-Chairs has been made relatable to me. Thanks, Steve!
3. Late Night Is a Safe Haven for Authors
Meyers does a lot of things phenomenally. Exemplarily, even. But something that he must collab with the Late Night booker on is getting authors — especially fiction writers — on his show. This was Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah’s second time on the show, and it was such a breath of fresh air. Especially since the end of the late-night wars, the guest sitch on these shows can get a little same-y. Alan Cumming (see below) was on The Tonight Show and WWHL this week, for example. So getting a literary-fiction author who’s willing to say capitalism sucks on-air is something to be lauded.
2. Alan Cumming’s Naughty Little Secrets
This clip coasts on Cumming’s charm. Him staring into the camera and telling tall tales, then confirming or denying them, is delicious, especially when he says a story is “false.†When it’s true, he kind of demurs, but when it’s false, he’s a brazen liar. Not to mention the gorgeous aside of saying people in Scotland lose their virginity early because it’s too cold and you have to do something. This (and the bit on Fallon when he said The Good Wife offered him a “vulgar sum†to do the final season) makes me want an entire chat show hosted by Cumming. It could be called Cumming Clean, and it could shoot in bars late at night like Insomniac used to. Get at me, BBC America, who I presume is the most likely target for this idea.
1. After Midnight Does Prop Comedy
I am really grooving on what After Midnight is becoming. And it’s no coincidence that its gelling process truly took hold when the show had a RuPaul’s Drag Race alum on. This episode (starring Reggie Watts, Wendi McLendon-Covey, and Bianca Del Rio) was the perfect panel-show spread: one person being a Good Guest and delivering the pre-written jokes with enthusiasm (McLendon-Covey), one person being an on-brand scamp (Del Rio), and one person trying to stage a coup from inside the show format (Watts). This game had each contestant sissying their walk to get Postmates, and it was … fine — normal game-show stuff. But when Watts took a bite out of the prop food he was given, it clearly shook host Taylor Tomlinson to her core. First she asked if he was all right, if that was edible food. Then she shouted, “This is a show!†This is a show, Taylor. That’s true. The fact that Watts could do something so organic (chomp on a pickle) that it made Tomlinson call out the surrounding artifice? That’s variety TV at its essence, baby.
More From This Series
- Chris Fleming’s Experimental New Play Won Late Night This Week
- Late Night With Seth Meyers Delivers the Best Topical Comedy for This Moment
- Queening Out With the Divas of Late Night This Week