the comic's comic

Watch David Letterman joke about the break-in at the Ed Sullivan Theater

In case you hadn't heard, a young man broke into the Ed Sullivan Theater over the weekend and trashed the lobby where they film Late Show with David Letterman.

Letterman got right to it in his Monday monologue, and yes, even managed to fit a Leno joke into his explanation. The screengrab below gives you more than a hint. Roll the clip!

 

Chris Rock tells David Letterman about doing Broadway, and he also says many other funny things

 

Sure, his jokes about the New York Mets and Justin Bieber are great and all, but it's the second half, in which he talks about his Broadway debut, that's really comedy gold. Chris Rock on Letterman. Always must-see TV.

Norm Macdonald wasn't joking when he said he was on Letterman talking about Steve Martin's Tweets.

Norm Macdonald got into a weird, public discussion with Steve Martin today on Twitter, and Macdonald even told Martin via Twitter that he mentioned it to David Letterman.

Norm wasn't kidding. So to speak. He kids a lot. You know that. Here's the evidence, from tonight's Late Show with David Letterman.

 

Background: This is the first Tweet of Steve Martin's that Norm was reading. And this was the second one that confused him and Dave.

On Letterman tonight! Matt and Trey use "Charlie Sheen" defense for their South Park Oscar fashions

Matt Stone and Trey Parker are on tonight's episode of Late Show with David Letterman to promote their new Broadway musical, The Book of Mormon (it's in previews until March 24).

But since it's the day after the Academy Awards, Letterman just had to remind them about the time they were nominated for Best Song at the Oscars for their South Park movie, and their decision to wear infamous outfits previously worn at awards ceremonies by Jennifer Lopez and Gwyneth Paltrow. Turns out they have a timely defense. They were on drugs, and those drugs were Charlie Sheen!

Roll the clip:

 

Related: Get info on The Book of Mormon, now on Broadway.

Bill Hader cracks up even when he's explaining SNL's "Stefon" character to David Letterman (VIDEO)

Credit Bill Hader for giving John Mulaney credit throughout this panel chat on tonight's Late Show with David Letterman, as Hader cracks up explaining how he cracks up whenever he performs the "Stefon" character on Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update.

"I've laughed every -- dress and air -- I've laughed every single time, because it's just ridiculous," he said, before bursting into another round of giggles. "You're not supposed to laugh. But Seth Meyers will start to go, and I'll see cue guy, the cue card guys will start laughing, and then, now it's gotten to the point where the guy putting on my mic will go, 'You are dead, buddy. You are going to laugh first thing out of the gate.' And then sometimes John Mulaney will change things as we walk out. I'll be walking out and he'll go, 'The club promoter's name is now Gay Liotta.' I'm like, 'Why did you just do that to me?'"

You've read about how Hader and Mulaney came up with Stefon. Now watch and listen to Hader explain it (and his new fan base) to Letterman!

 

Time capsule: Before "Late Night," see David Letterman in the morning with Steve Martin in 1980

Last night's Late Show with David Letterman included some remarkable TV, and not just because it felt like it could have been 1994 again -- what with Howard Stern bashing Jay Leno over three segments, and a musical medley from Naughty By Nature (that, yes, including both O.P.P. and Hip-Hop Hooray).

Watching Stern and Letterman dance verbally around each other, watching Stern idolize Letterman while also mentioning his sex scandal multiple times, watching them talk about their history of telephone calls, watching Stern talk about therapy, watching Letterman watch Stern. All great stuff. Of course, CBS won't put this online for you kids who didn't watch it then to watch now.

So I dug up something else for you to enjoy. Here are a series of clips from an episode of Letterman's short-lived run in the morning for NBC in 1980, when he had an hour after the Today show and before Wheel of Fortune and Card Sharks. Yes. Before we had Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford to mock in the mid-mornings, well before that, we had Dave.

His earliest incarnation of his talk show career on network TV. The David Letterman Show included stage manager Biff Henderson, the set layout is remarkably similar from how it still is 31 years later on a different network, and even back then, Dave was doing "Small Town News."

 

This episode also includes two segments with Steve Martin, who rolled out in his pajamas in bed with a six-pack of beer, there to promote his All Commercials special that would air that night, Sept. 30, 1980, on NBC.

 

In the second segment, they answered viewer mail questions about comedy.

 

Hope you enjoyed this trip back in time!

(And yes, that was John Tesh in a front-row seat in the audience. He was a local TV reporter in NYC in 1980.)

Chris Elliott shows David Letterman how he hung out with NYPD to prep for Adult Swim series Eagleheart

Chris Elliott, a David Letterman fixture from the early days in the 1980s on NBC, returned to Late Show with David Letterman on CBS last night to show how he spent a day with the NYPD to prepare for his new series on Adult Swim, Eagleheart.

Hijinx ensue. Special bonus appearance by longtime Letterman writer Gerard Mulligan. Roll the clip!

 

Related: Eagleheart debuts Feb. 3. Catch a sneak peek of Eagleheart with Chris Elliott here.

Bill Cosby jokes about aging, tells David Letterman how his father wanted him to pick football over comedy

You know what's great about Bill Cosby? Just about everything. Still. After all of these years.

The Cos can go on David Letterman's show without having anything but another stand-up date to promote, and go out, as he did Monday night, sit in his chair, and regale us with comedy. In this bit, he jokes about what it's like to be an old man today.

 

And then he does panel, and Cosby tells Letterman about the early days of doing comedy, working across the street from Richard Pryor back in the old days of Greenwich Village, and how he had dropped out of Temple, but how his dad hoped that a New York Giant could convince The Cos to go back to school and pursue an NFL career instead of stand-up comedy. Looks like Bill Cosby knew best, didn't he? If you have the chance to see Bill Cosby perform stand-up, by all means do it!

 

Jerry Seinfeld visits David Letterman before Thanksgiving: Was he great, or did he suck? Yes

Jerry Seinfeld is such a big guest now that he's not only the first guest on late-night TV, but also does his stand-up before panel as the first guest. Such was the case the other night this week on Late Show with David Letterman.

Seinfeld's set was a variation on a theme he has been performing in theaters for the past year or two, about how our views on what is "great" and what "sucks" is essentially the same. Also, what's the deal with 5-Hour Energy?

 

Afterward, Seinfeld sat down with Letterman, discussing a trip to the White House to perform for President Obama and Paul McCartney, as well as his involvement in Colin Quinn's new Broadway show, "Long Story Short."

 

Watch Jay Pharoah on Late Show with David Letterman

Jay Pharoah is a very confident young man. And yet he is still a young man. Both of those things were plainly evident as Pharoah became one of the quickest SNL hires to get a sit-down with David Letterman on last night's Late Show.

If you were hoping to learn more about Pharoah, you'll leave this clip not knowing more than you maybe already knew, especially if you're a loyal reader of this site. Pharoah opened big with an absurd gag on Letterman, then showed his youth by getting thrown off by Dave's next sincere question. He does voices, and we heard him do his big ones -- Eddie Murphy, Denzel Washington, Will Smith, President Barack Obama -- and we also heard him do a little bit of Lorne Michaels as he recounted his audition process this summer. Remember: He's just a featured player in his rookie season. Vanessa Bayer has a great recurring sketch, Paul Brittain and Taran Killam are still hoping to get some real screen time on SNL, and here is Pharoah doing panel with Letterman!

So while you get all excited hearing Pharoah do two lines as Obama, and wonder if this shot across the bow will convince Lorne to put him in coach instead of Fred Armisen, just remember the real highlight is the fact that Pharoah was on Letterman already to begin with.

Roll the clip!

 

In separate monologues, David Letterman and Jon Stewart acknowledge their "new" late-night competition

Meet your new late-night TV competition, same as the old competition. That was the case for David Letterman last night, as just like a year ago, he's up against Conan O'Brien for viewers. And unlike Jay Leno, Letterman had no problem bringing up Conan by name. Or using it at Leno's expense.

Here's some footage from last night's Late Show monologue (with added jokes about former President George W. Bush's new memoir). Roll it.

 

The situation is decidedly different for Jon Stewart on Comedy Central. He's been ruling the roost at 11 p.m., but now he and Conan will be targeting the same demographic. For some reason, Stewart isn't all that optimistic, at least by how he opened the show last night on The Daily Show. Roll it.

 

Tina Fey explains her Sarah Palin impersonation for David Letterman, yet neither can explain Palin herself

One more time, for old times' sake. If old times are 2008, this week, or the next two years of nonstop election coverage that undoubtedly will give way too much media attention to reality TV star Sarah Palin.

So last night on Late Show with David Letterman, guest Tina Fey tried to remember how she pulled her Palin impersonation together for SNL. Neither Fey nor Letterman, however, has a valid explanation for why Palin continues to be a thing.

Roll the clip!

 

Watch as Will Ferrell tries to fill in for Celine Dion on her Vegas show (as seen on Letterman)

Will Ferrell told David Letterman last night that not only was he good friends with Celine Dion, but also that he was planning on filling in for her during maternity leave on her big show in Las Vegas. Not that Ferrell would do his own comedy show in place of Dion. Oh, no. He'd do her songs. Want to see how much he has learned so far?

Roll the clip!

 

Dana Carvey with David Letterman, voicing Robin Williams and Jay Leno, while Williams is on Leno

File this under odd occurrences. Last night in late-night TV, Dana Carvey was a guest on Late Show with David Letterman and did all sorts of voices, reminiscing about "Chopping Broccoli" and Johnny Carson, and impersonating several celebrities.

Carvey also impersonated both Jay Leno and Robin Williams, and after he jumped around the set pretending to be Williams, acknowledged that if you had changed the channel just then, you might have been seeing Williams do his thing himself on Leno's show. Shhh. Don't tell anyone. But roll the clip! (The Williams bit starts at 9:11, btw) And if you'd like to see what Williams had to tell Leno, you can watch that here.

 

Carvey is a guest tonight on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. And oddly enough, last night, another famous impersonator was on Fallon, as Rich Little was showing off his Johnny Carson. Wild. Wacky. Stuff. Now if Carvey pretends to be Little tonight, I won't know what to do.

David Letterman advises Jon Stewart and everyone not to dine and dash on Oprah, or else she'll hate you

So now the truth can be told? Amid laughing along with Jon Stewart about his recent appearance on Oprah Winfrey's "final" season, David Letterman disclosed the real reason Oprah had been giving him the cold shoulder for years upon years. Turns out she doesn't enjoy "a little horseplay." And by horseplay, he meant a little practical joke he pulled when they were both vacationing on a fancy island and dined at the same fancy restaurant. Or maybe the restaurant wasn't fancy. Sounded fancy, though. You be the judge. Oh, celebrities. They're just like us!

Roll it.

Top Ten things Ellen DeGeneres has been thinking about this summer

I would not have guessed that nachos take up more time in the mind of Ellen DeGeneres than dancing, or even Oprah, but I guess my telepathic powers do not apply to Ellen.

There she was last night on Late Show with David Letterman, delivering a special edition of the Top Ten list with things that have been on her mind recently. DeGeneres also, according to a trade publication, made a "surprise" visit to Broadway. Which, considering the Late Show is literally on Broadway, is hardly a surprise. Anyhow. Roll it.

David Letterman kicks off 14th season of The View, talks heart-to-heart with Barbara Walters and crew

The 14th season of ABC's daytime lady-chatter The View kicked off Tuesday morning, and despite the presence of comedians Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar on the hosting panel, what made the new season premiere more important was that Barbara Walters convinced David Letterman to spend much of the hour as their special guest to welcome Walters back from heart surgery.

In the first two segments, Letterman and Walters discuss their heart surgeries (also available as a Hulu clip), and the ladies get Dave to dish about Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien (not much new here, although Letterman says he'll watch Conan on TBS), his in-his-own-words infamous hosting of the Academy Awards, the Jersey Shore cast (he's not a fan), and how he feels about The Daily Show with Jon Stewart winning Emmy after Emmy (he jokingly suggests wanting "to kill the little bastard!"). Roll the clip!

In the third segment, Letterman talks about getting his son a dog named Sully: "part Yellow Lab, part crime lab"! He also discusses life after heart surgery. Roll the clip.

Tommy Johnagin's third date with David Letterman

Wondering how Tommy Johnagin has coped with finishing runner-up in the 2010 edition of Last Comic Standing? Wonder no more. Johnagin made his third appearance on Late Show with David Letterman on Thursday night heading into the Labor Day weekend.

You may have heard bits and pieces of this before. But not all together, and certainly not in a three-piece suit. Without all of the pressure. Although as Johnagin opens his set, he says: "I hope I don't get voted out of show business!" No, Tommy. Not to worry about that just yet. Roll the clip!

William Knoedelseder talks to Craig Ferguson about his book and The Comedy Store strike of 1979

Not sure about the timing of this booking, since his book has been out for more than a year and went paperback in July, but author William Knoedelseder went on Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson to talk with Ferguson about his book, "I'm Dying Up Here: Heartbreak and High Times in Stand-Up Comedy's Golden Era," which features mugs of Ferguson's boss, David Letterman, alongside Jay Leno, Richard Lewis and the late Andy Kaufman on the cover.

The book covers the late 1970s comedy scene in Los Angeles, which Knoedelseder covered as a reporter for the Los Angeles Times in 1978 and 1979. Remember when more newspapers had people writing about comedy as a performing art? Ah, memories.

His book is about all of the comics who flooded the L.A. clubs hoping that Johnny Carson would give them their big breaks on the Tonight Show, and how the comedians unified and organized a strike against The Comedy Store in 1979. Well, here, let Knoedelseder tell it:

And here is him telling the story to David Letterman last fall, which has a different tone to it because Letterman lived it and is in the book.

Want to buy a copy for yourself?