Monsieur Ferguson

I find that the interview, as a format, is absurd. This absurdity becomes highly visible when watching late night. There are only two hosts that have actually made me laugh, Conan O’Brien and Craig Ferguson. The former makes me laugh only when he does his absurd goofball/slapstick physical comedy by swinging his head around in violent motions. But the later, made me laugh for the entire duration of his show. Unfortunately, the only way to see the marvel, that was the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, is through YouTube now (because he stepped down from the show earlier this year). I will not talk about James Corden because I cannot, because I haven’t seen the show since Craig left.

But what made the show so special for me is just how absurd it was, to the point where it didn’t feel like a show per say. But rather, it felt like I was tuning in to someone just messing around in front of a camera. The way he did his opening monologue, the existence of Geoff and Secretariat, and the way he did his e-mails and tweets – it was all so ridiculous. One small moment of absurdity that I could never get enough of, was when he threw a log into the fake fire.

During his time as the host of the show, he deconstructed each element of the late night format, from discarding pre-interviews and the need to fill the conversation with forced laughter or needless plugs about projects. Oh, he also swore the most out of all the late night hosts, but probably the best thing about that was the way he censored swears (you will see in the video).

But although first time viewers may think that this show is absurd and only absurd, upon further viewing they may be pleasantly surprised to see just how smooth of a talker Craig is – a personality that exudes the rat pack confidence (Like actually, watch any of his interviews with female guests. I’m straight and even I’m turned on.).

Sorry for the lackluster tribute, but I need to get back to my classwork. So I will just…