Jimmy Fallon Does Show Without Audience During Hurricane Sandy
In the wake of Hurricane Sandy many New York based television shows have been cancelled but Late Night with Jimmy Fallon carried out its normal programming through the storm with one exception, they had no studio audience. The show began with Jimmy Fallon outside on the deserted streets of New York explaining that while they had sent the audience home as a safety precaution, he was pleased that their guests Seth Meyers, Padma Lakshmi, Robert Zemeckis, and the band Image Dragons would be able to attend. After being followed into the building, through the revolving door, and into the elevator by a rain splattered handheld camera, Jimmy Fallon took the stage in front of the empty theater. The cameras switched from the normal shots of Fallon to shots of the deserted seats as he announced, “Welcome to Late Night with Jimmy Fallon everybody, please keep it down.” He then began a hilariously awkward monologue without an audience, the only noises being the laughter of the crew and a few solitary claps.
Jimmy Fallon made several Hurricane Sandy jokes saying that many Broadway performers were having trouble getting into the city but that “Blue Man Guy” was still very good. “They don’t need an intermission, I’ll tell you that.” He continued with a line about Obama making an announcement that Americans should take Hurricane Sandy warnings very seriously. “Step one, give it a name other than Sandy,” he said and then launched into the most uncomfortable Danny Zuko impression OF ALL TIME, “Sandy, I mean, you’re like Frankenstorm, right? I can’t believe dis.” He sang a few bars of “Stranded at the Drive In” and then stopped to look uncomfortably at the empty house, giving his imaginary audience time to laugh and his crew time to laugh at him. Seriously, you don’t really notice the audience laughter when it’s present but when it’s gone, look out, folks. Overall though, I thought it was a very interesting look into the format of our television shows that we really take for granted. I found this alternate viewing fascinating and was quite impressed with Jimmy Fallon and the way he embraced the hurricane of awkward that was raining down upon him.
