New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning may be best known for winning Super Bowls against the mighty New England Patriots, but he has built up a good reputation for being a funny guy that rivals that of brother Peyton Manning. For instance, he took the opportunity at the recent SNL 40 special to play a strange prank on comedian Kevin Nealon. Here’s Nealon explaining it on Conan, starting at around the 1:18 mark.
Of all the ways that someone can play a joke using a phone – at least the ones that don’t involve sticking it down one’s pants and snapping pictures – changing the text to a different language is pretty tame. But, considering Chinese characters aren’t intuitively understandable without a basic grasp of the language, this is one instance where tame beats extreme. He said he had to go to an Apple store to fix it, but I can’t imagine it’s that hard to change the language back, unless you just have no idea what the settings look like. I won’t be testing this out.
In telling this story, the former Weeds star also revealed himself to be what I presume is the only person in the world who has ever met Prince and gotten a handshake in while caught up in the middle of a prank. Most people just find themselves in a perpetual state of confusion, but Nealon gets to meet one of the most popular musicians who has ever lived.
Both of the Manning brothers have hosted Saturday Night Live in the past, with Eli’s gig happening back in 2012. Considering how everyone else on SNL seems to be a prankster, it only makes sense that these worlds would collide for something as ridiculous as this. (Peyton and Eli have been known for his jokes on the football field as well.)
Nealon also took up some of his time on the episode to play his hand as a potential late night host, what with all the switcheroos that are happening. Check the hilarity out below.
What I wouldn’t give to see Nealon taking over a talk show, with Jon Lovitz and Eli Manning as his first guests. NBC loves giving hosting gigs to former Saturday Night Live members, so maybe it’s not such a pipe dream (nightmare). That was my best Kevin Nealon impression, everyone.
