Posted by Lex Friedman on Mar 18, 2009
- A new study concludes that men who prostate exams don’t actually prevent any deaths. But they’re still a great conversation starter. Like, hey, mind if I check out your prostate?
- Chris Brown and Rihanna have reportedly broken up. Rihanna’s taking it pretty hard — she’s telling friends, it really feels like a punch in the face. I’m sorry, that’s terrible. But she really is feeling blue. Black and blue, I mean.
- President Obama released his brackets for March Madness. And you know the economy’s bad, because the President is picking San Antonio to win by negative 300 trillion points. That can’t be good.
- The unwed birth rate in the United States reached an all-time high last year, according to a new study. In a related story: Pretty much everybody but you is having sex. (Lots of it. And they’re making lots of babies!)
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Tags: Barack Obama, births, Chris Brown, jokes, March Madness, prostate cancer, prostates, Rihanna, sex
Posted by Lex Friedman on Mar 16, 2009
- New Jersey may ban professional Brazilian waxes. Because if there’s anything you want done by an amateur, it’s the application of hot wax to remove hair from your vagina, right ladies?
- Chevy Chase will return to prime-time television, with a supporting role in a fall pilot for NBC. In future news, that show has been cancelled. Actually as of… NOW, I’ve had this show longer than Chevy Chase had his late night talk show. So congratulations, everyone!
- New research says that some children may be freed of their peanut allergies if they eat a tiny crumb of peanut every day for weeks. And.. the rest of them will die. So… Yay?
- A judge has withdrawn a warrant that had been out for Lindsay Lohan, after realizing that in fact, no, Lindsay Lohan can’t even get arrested in this town anymore.
- President Barack Obama will appear on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno this week. And it’s gonna be a solid evening for late night on NBC that day, because I have Carrot Top and Roseanne. Yeah, you’re not going to want to miss that. But seriously, Tonight Show producers are reportedly trying really hard to book Pinnochio as well. That way, they can have the biggest nose, chin, and ears in world history, all in one place.
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Tags: Barack Obama, Chevy Chase, Jay Leno, jokes, kids, Lindsay Lohan, New Jersey, peanuts, Pinnochio
Posted by Lex Friedman on Mar 10, 2009
My suggestions for tonight’s monologue:
- Bernie Madoff, the 70-year-old trader accused of defrauding investors of billions, will be pleading guilty, and could be sentenced to 150 years in prison. With good behavior, he could be released right before his 200th birthday.
- A first edition Harry Potter book was sold for $19,000. And they say there’s a recession! Specifically, it was Harry Potter and the Disappearing Savings Account.
- Coolio has been charged with crack cocaine possession. We talked about it in the writer’s room, and we decided this story needs so punchline: Coolio’s enough of a joke as it is.
- Chris Brown and Rhianna are reportedly recording a duet together. It’s reportedly a remake, entitled “Anything you can do, I can do battered.”
Boom! Good luck with tonight’s show, Jimmy!
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Tags: Bernie Madoff, Chris Brown, Coolio, crack, Harry Potter, Jimmy Fallon, jokes, Rhianna
Posted by Lex Friedman on Mar 7, 2009
Jimmy again seemed pretty relaxed at the start of his monologue. And, to my great pleasure, he scored a few nice laugh lines. Well done, sir!
I loved the line about Sanjay Gupta withdrawing consideration as a potential Surgeon General, since he wants to stay at CNN — because he just gets paid too much to keep Larry King alive. He made a few Michael Jackson jokes, and made his second Obama dis, again about the tax plan. (Daylight savings time will add two hours, instead of one.)
My favorite monologue joke was his closer, about Esquire’s list of the best dressed men. Obama came in at number 4. Number one? Hillary Clinton.
A great show to end his first week, and I wish Jimmy a hearty congratulations. I also wish Jimmy would hire me already. I’ve been applying longer than applicants spend at Google!
I’ll be back Monday with suggestions for that day’s show.
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Tags: Barack Obama, CNN, Google, Hillary Clinton, Jimm Fallon, jokes, Larry King, Michael Jackson, Sanjay Gupta
Posted by Lex Friedman on Mar 6, 2009
Jimmy started the monologue much more confidently Thursday night. Well done, sir.
His opener to greet the crowd: “You sound excited — I guess you missed the first three [shows].” Love self-deprecation. In fact, I think it’d be great for Jimmy to have some self-deprecating crowd greeting each night. We shall see.
Although I thought Jimmy looked less jittery tonight, I did in all honesty think the monologue leaned a little too close to to the “applause line” vs. “laugh line” side.
The noteworthy moments included Jimmy’s afterthought following the Bill Gates joke (he doesn’t let his kids use an iPhone or iPod; they have to amuse themselves by playing with piles of money). He then added, “It’s a fun game.” And then: “Not that I would know.” Heheheh. Jimmy, it’s okay to acknowledge that you’re a wealthy man! We love ya for it!
I was also intrigued by Jimmy’s joke about the New Jersey lottery winners (though he didn’t use mine): He said that the $260 million winners, under Obama’s tax plan, would now owe $300 mil. You don’t hear too many jokes attacking Obama and his policies yet, and I love that Jimmy went there. (Regardless of whether you like the president, which Jimmy and I both do, there’s no sense treating him as a sacred cow during Late Night.)
Jimmy and his writing staff are packing a lot of bits before the interviews. Last night there was a goofy “Flashback Master” skit, a sketch with Donald Trump, the audience president elections, and a follow-up with the new audience president all before Donald was brought out around the 15-minute mark. I love the idea of doing more sketches and bits; my sole complaint is that I thought the monologue got clipped a bit. It felt very short last night.
I’ll be back with joke suggestions for Jimmy’s first Friday show later today.
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Tags: Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Donald Trump, iPhone, iPod, Jimmy Fallon, jokes, lottery, New Jersey, self-deprecation, sketches
Posted by Lex Friedman on Mar 5, 2009
Last night’s show was solid. I thought Jimmy actually seemed more nervous during (and immediately prior to) his monologue; he showed some nervous laughter before he even got underway.
This was honestly my least favorite of the first three monologues Jimmy’s done. The opening Madonna joke did nothing for me. The Chris Brown / asteroid joke was funny (“The asteroid could have done as much damage as two atomic bombs. Or one night with Chris Brown!”), but I’m thinking Jimmy needs to give himself a roll of punchlines to run through on great setups like that. (“Heck, it could have done as much damage as Rosie O’Donnell at a buffet. Or OJ Simpson at a place where people are living.”)
As promised, Jimmy continues to make lots of references to modern living and technology, with his second Facebook reference in two shows (Iraqis can get on Facebook now — if your face is covered with a veil), and his second dig at Microsoft, too. But there weren’t enough solid laugh lines — more the “applause” lines. Jimmy showed on Weekend Update that he can generate actual laughs at his topical jokes, and doesn’t need to settle for the Jay Leno-esque “that was a joke” recognition applause.
The “Bromance Novels” bit was cute, and the audience seemed to really enjoy it.
I’ll post some joke suggestions for tonight’s show a bit later on.
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Tags: Bromance Novels, Chris Brown, Facebook, Iraq, Jay Leno, Jimmy Fallon, jokes, Madonna, Microsoft, OJ Simpson, Rosie O'Donnell, Weekend Update
Posted by Lex Friedman on Mar 4, 2009
Amazon released a Kindle app for the iPhone, so you can carry half a million books in your pocket. Or, you’re just very, very, VERY happy to see me.
The Fed today announced that the outlook for the economy is “poor.” They also announced that they’re changing their name to the “Department of Obviousness.” (Do you think the Chairman of that new department should be called Captain Obvious?) But seriously, the economy is really hurting. There’s a homeless guy I pass on my way to the studio, and each day he asks for me a dollar, and I always give him one. But today, with the economy being what it is — he asked me for two.
An asteroid whizzed right by the Earth yesterday, and scientist’s said that it was a close one. Of course, it was nearly fifty thousand miles away — which apparently, scientists think is close. The same scientists are like “I am THIS close to scoring with Angelina Jolie.” Yes, you are both humans on the same continent, that doesn’t make it close. And I’m guessing these scientists are no Brad Pitt. I, of course, am THIS close.
Robin Williams had to cancel a few Florida stand-up gigs because of shortness of breath. Now, that’s definitely something I can see affecting Robin — (this is really just a setup for Jimmy to do a moment of his spot-on impression. So yes, I’m pitching a joke that’s all set-up, with Jimmy’s own impression as the punchline.)
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Tags: Amazon, Angelina Jolie, asteroid, economy, iPhone, Jimmy Fallon, jokes, Kindle, Robin Williams
Posted by Lex Friedman on Mar 4, 2009
Jimmy’s obviously still a bit nervous, but the improvement from the first show to the second was exactly what I expected, and I imagine that evolution will continue.
The monologue tonight was stronger than Jimmy’s debut. He seemed to make a few more off-the-cuff follow-up remarks to his own jokes, which I loved.
I thought the “Facebook status” audience bit was a big improvement over the first night’s “licking” one. But the monologue’s my real obsession, and I was impressed by this one. Jimmy touched on the economy and the weather in one smart joke (“The Dow reached 30 below”) that the audience didn’t love, but I did.
There’s a definite issue where as a light-night comedy show you don’t want to discuss “bad news” that could bring people down, so I was happy that Jimmy’s willing to address obvious downers like the economy with humor.
Joke suggestions for tonight coming later today.
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Tags: economy, Facebook, Jimmy Fallon, jokes
Posted by Lex Friedman on Mar 3, 2009
The first night’s monologue was strong. I’m hoping that tonight Jimmy keeps up the pace (he rattled off jokes a bit quicker than Conan, Jay, or Dave do), and keeps things topical. Some ideas:
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Tags: acupuncture, Britney Spears, Chevy Chase, Jimmy Fallon, jokes, Judaism, Lindsay Lohan, Michael Jackson, Prince, Target, The Bachelor, Wal-Mart
Posted by Lex Friedman on Mar 3, 2009
“A smart man would leave now.” Great line to start off his first-ever monologue, after the cheerful, loud, greeting ovation.
Jimmy kicked off his first show with a great Conan bit, and really ran a very nice show straight through. He was clearly a little nervous, but the show was well-written, and Jimmy wore his nervousness charmingly.
The “snow day” joke was cute, although I’ll admit I wasn’t a huge fan of the Rush Limbaugh joke. I would have loved a few more jokes about his Day 1 jitters.
Definitely think it was the right move, though, to include monologue jokes on other topics. I loved the Microsoft/Apple store joke — that the difference between the two stores will be that, at the Microsoft store, the staff will freeze when you ask them a question. Great line.
“Slow Jammin’ the News” with the Roots behind him wasn’t just a funny conceit — the implementation was great. The camera switching focus between Jimmy and the band behind him was excellent. Just before the show started, I was thinking about how great Jimmy is at funny music, and was hoping it would have a place in his show. Well done!
Tonight, Jimmy’s hosting Tina Fey, his old co-anchor. I’ll post some monologue jokes for the day a bit later on.
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Tags: Apple, Jimmy Fallon, jokes, Microsoft, music, Rush Limbaugh, Slow Jammin' the News, The Roots, Tina Fey