Avenue G

Fallon being Fallon -- Picture courtesy of NBC

by blogSpotter
Let me preface this by acknowledging I’m behind on my blogs. My wonderful stepdad succumbed to cancer July 3rd last week, and I’ve been in Round Rock helping deal with funeral details this week. John Latchford was a man who loved life and lived large. He will be missed by all of us; his comparatively quick, unexpected passing makes me realize how precious each day really is. That said, let’s proceed with a review of a surprisingly good show…

LATE NIGHT WITH JIMMY FALLON

Let me say, when I saw that Jimmy Fallon was replacing Conan on NBC’s Late Night, I was perplexed. My only impression of Fallon was his stint on Saturday Night Live, where he played mostly dopy, juvenile, silly roles. He didn’t seem to have the gravitas or tenacity to be helming a 5-day-a-week talk show that involves a constant flow of comedy monologs, celebrity interviews and skits. In my mind, he didn’t seem to have enough material, substance or talent to come through on it. Mind you, I like him jut fine as a sketch comedian on SNL but could not see him in such a substantive role.

Now, I must confess that I couldn’t be more wrong. His monologs are halting and nerdy in their delivery but somehow deadly hilarious in their content. You don’t hear belly laughs or guffaws from the audience but more like a wave of gentle chuckles. The audience genuinely appreciates the jokes but the reaction is sometimes as low-key as the laid-back delivery. Fallon does a lot of celebrity impressions and he’s also very effective in the comedy sketches. They do a soap takeoff called “7th Floor West” which makes me laugh my a** off. His acting style varies between semi-serious or campy as the skit may require.

Fallon’s show has a lot of youthful (Gen X?) appeal … there are gratuitous sex ploys like “Lick it for $10” where audience members are paid $10 to lick something (inanimate but nevertheless suggestive like a mirror). They also do guest web surfing where each guest is furnished a Mac Book and they all surf to a particularly interesting web site. More that might appeal to the college crowd -- little-known iPhone apps. Fallon was actually a computer science major prior to his comedy career, so his technical savvy is impressive for a late night comedian.

What else might you come across on this fun night cap of a show? How about Obama facial expressions where the Prez is caught giving a sneer or an evil eye. There are also “conceptual” gags similar to what Conan did in the same time slot -- shared audience experiences where everyone eats an Atomic Sour ball at the same time. One of the best things he did recently was the Fallon Dance Contest where people could send in video clips of original, improvised dance routines (done to a jazzy “Fallon Dance” tune). The submissions were hilarious; the two winning high school boys got to come on the how and show Jimmy how it’s done.

Am I still perplexed about Jimmy Fallon? You bet …. I’m perplexed that I didn’t have adequate appreciation for his comedy acumen and interviewing ability. He has surprising historical and pop culture awareness for such a young man... Sometimes a new dog does new comedy tricks, and this old dog has to admit that Jimmy Fallon is funny as hell.

© 2009 blogSpotter

Labels: Television