Jimmy Kimmel Live! is taking a break from the airwaves tonight while David Letterman airs his very last show over at CBS. Kimmel’s always been a huge, huge Letterman fan and the rerun is not the only way the man is paying tribute to the late night veteran. He also gave a monologue bidding farewell to Letterman last night, choking up in the process. Watch the emotional video, below.
During Tuesday’s episode of Kimmel’s late night series, the ABC host spent some time talking about his obsession with David Letterman’s Late Night with David Letterman on NBC as a teenager. He even tears up a couple of times, which makes the video even more watchable. His compelling narrative talks about how Letterman at the time was doing sketches that no one else could even conceive of. It was weird, wonderful, funny stuff. You should really give Kimmel’s account a watch, but here’s one of the strange stories he tells in the video.
Dave once took a camera crew into a store that sold nothing but lampshades. The store was called Just Shades. And there was a huge sign out front that said ‘Just Shades,’ and he walked in and asked the very serious woman who owned the store, “So what can you get here?” And she said, ‘What can you get in here? Shades. Just shades.’ And Dave said, ‘But seriously, what can you get in here besides shades?’ She said, ‘Nothing.’ He said, ‘Have you ever thought about just going crazy and selling lamps also?’ The woman said, ‘No, never. We do not sell lamps. Only shades. That is why our name is Just Shades.’ It was like he had one of those tiny-sized screwdrivers you use on eyeglasses and he was only just gently twisting a little screw all the time.
That’s the great thing about Letterman. He strikes the perfect balance between being really clever and oddly stupid. On the surface, asking someone at a shade store if they sell lamps is really silly, but the key is he never lets on that he knows it’s stupid. He pushes and pushes, very slowly. He does the same thing when he’s interviewing guests, as well. He’ll ask a question that is remarkably blunt, and then when the other person laughs, he’ll gently push a little more. Like when he couldn’t stop asking Paris Hilton questions about jail…
The Late Show With David Letterman officially ends tonight. No guests have been announced for the final episode; Bill Murray was the last person officially signed on, and he showed up last night to give Letterman a very special cake. We have no idea what to expect from the finale, but we should expect to say goodbye to Dave on the late night circuit for the last time. Tune in to The Late Show with David Letterman for the final time tonight at 11:35 p.m. ET, only on CBS.
