Never a fan of DE VITO, I was impressed with his passing the Graham NORTON wit test
Some of the American stars fail miserably in the acid test of wit, the NORTON show. The late Dennis HOPPER and Robert whassisname-will-edit-(Sherlock, Chaplin ) DOWNEY, Jr, were particular dullards or dolts or both. Joan RIVERS fit in fine with the Brits (Irish?).
Last night, Danny DE VITO was the guest and I had low expectations. I've seen him on LETTERMAN or the other ones, sometimes in altered condition, usually close to his performing persona. But he took the stage and the couch completely at ease, was appearing in something in the West End (impressive) to accolades from Graham. He was totally self-possessed, did not either kiss up or down. Took his share of the space and shared the rest with the other guests. I loved it when he told a story about Ahhnuld running for governor, with DE VITO thinking about the money Twins II would lose without him and how Ahhhnuld as governor would not turn out well, ending with, "And I was right!1" He was fine.
And the musical guests were the group "Fun." with their super popworthy anthem, "Tonight We Are Young." Here's the standard video of the song, all studio and sleek with background filler. In their live performance on the show, the lead singer carried the whole melody pitch perfect and high notes and had to add his own voice filler where the video has back-up/background. Janelle MONAE's not being there was a particular hole the lead singer (name?) had to fill. It was like hearing a capella. "Fun." is Nate Ruess (lead), Andrew Dost, and Jack Antonoff.
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