Ben Stiller is the perfect mix of quick-witted dry humor and goof ball nervousness, as evidenced by his recent entrance on The Daily Show. When Stiller attempted to sit down and pull his chair closer to the desk, he couldn’t. He was subtly caught in a personal awkward moment, which caused him, finally, to just lean in to address Stewart’s first comments. It was affective, funny and almost seemed like a bit from a Ben Stiller movie.
As far as the verbal part of the interview went, it was clever and cozy. Cozy because here were two dads talking about their kids’ total lack of interest in their work. Stories were flying back and forth and male bonding was at its zenith. They concluded the lamenting with the following exchange:
Stiller: “They’re difficult. Children are difficult.”
Stewart: “I tell ya they’re too much. I want them out”
Funny stuff.
There was much discussion about Stiller’s new film Tropic Thunder, including Stewart asking how Stiller was to work with, as he was both director and star. Stiller replied “I find myself uncommunicative and distant.”
Interestingly, the way the show is shot there is not a lot of opportunity for much visual intimacy as there is in most TV interviews. The dominant camera two-shot, doesn’t offer the immediate reactions that viewers are used to seeing. But, with that in mind, and Stewart’s ever-present own agenda to deal with, I must say Stiller did a very good job at keeping the interview personal and lively. He piqued viewer’s interest in his film, got laughs from the host and stayed humble to boot. Well done.
Robert Downey, Jr. was a crack up from the moment he came out to greet Craig Ferguson. Playing to the audience, posing and eliciting massive amounts of cheer, Downey immediately established as strong rapport with everyone including the host. His casual, gum-chewing, jeans & jacket wearing persona is much more relaxed and much less cocky than previous talk show appearances and lends itself to accessibility, even while his intellect and quick wit kept Ferguson on his toes.
The discussion of his new film, Tropic Thunder, was interestingly handled in that it was talked about for several minutes without actually saying anything substantive other than Ferguson saying, about Downey’s character, “You can’t do that!” Then there much discussion about Downey’s new mustache (is it more “Star 80 porn” or “Super Mario Bros?”) but he further showed his non-stop entertaining qualities by easily slipping in and out of accents, winning much praise from the lucky studio audience.
Guest and host were so in sync that Downey even commented on it “…we have a spark going between us.” From “Googling” masquerading as “masturbation,” to thinly veiled allusions to Downey’s drug years, much ground was covered here – all of it with energy and style. I actually laughed out loud…twice! Not an easy feat at that ungodly hour.
You can’t buy good chemistry, but you can learn to play off the audience and your host by listening intently and drawing retorts from your arsenal well rehearsed anecdotes. For Downey, it just comes naturally. Probably just another reason why he’s such a good actor.
David Duchovny is a low-key, guy’s guy, charming from the word go. Dressed in jeans, shirt out and jacket, he even pulled his pants up before sitting down, just like a real guy. It’s that brand of relate-ability that made him a winning guest during a recent visit with Jimmy Kimmel. And as we are often say, relate-ability equals like-ability.
He started out his visit by saying he almost went through the wrong door backstage and wondered where he would have ended up. When Kimmel suggested the Ellen Show, Duchovny quickly replied that he might, then, have been “a little less flirty.” Duchovny felt right at home with Kimmel and readily offered up that one of his summer activities, in addition to finishing up the second season of his Showtime series Californication, was pimping “The X-Files – I Want to Believe.”
As the “pimping” part of the interview came around, Duchovny said that getting back into the role of Fox Mulder after six years only happened when he started working with Gillian Anderson again. “[She] keyed me into the whole vibe.” Kimmel then asked if he stripped everyone down as he seems to do on Californication on the X files set, and Duchovny said no, it was Vancouver, it was too cold for that.
The final bit of banter centered on the difficulty of keeping the X Files script secret for so long. Duchovny explained that basically he WAS irresponsible and that director Chris Carter was right to not trust him with the written script, as he confessed to losing the first draft.
As an anecdote master and with a casual, approachable attitude, Duchovny knows how to be a good talk show guest. He remained himself, got his numerous plugs in and showed how a pro can use the art of the appearance to stay popular in the public eye.
In 1996, readers of FHM voted Gillian Anderson the “Sexiest Woman in the World.” Over a decade later, now 40 years old and sporting an admitted baby bump, Anderson is still major sexy, and she scored big in her Late Show appearance by making David Letterman look sexy, as well!
Although she began her career as a young actress with a punk edge, Anderson has always walked the line between rebellious counterculture icon and respected mature professional. That balance was evident when she walked onto the Late Show stage, dressed in sleek taupe and black, but with stray wisps of hair escaping her do, looking both elegant and mom-like. Flirty and irreverent from the start, she asked Dave if he was sucking up to her. He denied it but, glancing at her b-bump, replied “It looks to me…” “…like someone else has sucked up to me!?” she finished. The big laugh that got paved the way for the story of how she and Dave had made out the last time she was on the show. (A clip provided proof.) “You didn’t write, you didn’t call,” pouted Anderson, while Dave blushed and ate it all up.
Anderson connected to the show’s ongoing comic campaign coverage with a story about meeting Bill Clinton on the campaign trail. When Dave turned the focus back to her motherhood, she still kept him tightly in the circle of attention by asking about his being a father. And she always maintained the flattering flirtatious edge to the banter. Referring to her ex-pat residence in London, she rued, “After you rejected me, I decided I was going to move…countries.” By the time a clip from “The X-Files: I Want to Believe” was shown, all it needed to provide was a reminder of her chemistry with David Duchovny; she had already won us over as a star.
How does a deft display of talk showmanship like this pay off? Anderson’s presence was so memorable that when Simon Pegg came on after her (it’s always good to have a comedian as a closer), he and Dave spent the first part of his appearance talking about…Gillian Anderson!
When Seth Rogen edged out onto The Tonight Show set, he looked less than a sure thing. Sure, he had a nice suit, fashionably loose tie, and a fashionable-three-years-ago five-day beard. But he looked painfully uncomfortable, rarely making eye contact and sitting tensely. What a wonderful surprise to see him turn in a textbook performance as a great guest.
He first blew our expectations out of the water when Jay displayed a cover of GQ with Rogen front and center. Pointing out his modified-fro curls, Jay asked, “Is that your hair?” “Yes,” Rogen replied. “And if you’re wondering, the carpet matches the drapes.” The audience fell apart! Rogen milked his doofus persona and kept Jay in stitches throughout his segment. He had done his homework: bringing out a picture of Jay in jeans and denim shirt (his favorite outfit), Rogen referenced his Northern roots by noting “We call this a Canadian tuxedo.”
The comedy centered on Rogen’s underachiever past, showing a clip from Dawson’s Creek that revealed the stoner character he plays in Pineapple Express (which he was promoting) has deep roots. Jay even bounced jokes off of Rogen’s parents – in the audience – throughout the segment.
So why did Rogen succeed when he broke so many standard guest appearance rules? He stuck close to the most important rule: reveal something about your true self that the audience and the host can relate to. Play to your entertainment strength. And he did this masterfully.
A refreshing Kyra Sedgwick is fun, engaging and open to talking about herself. She readily discussed the fact that she and her husband Kevin Bacon just celebrated their 20th anniversary and are hoping to have dance party in November. She wants it to be a big party and said everyone was invited. She even turned to the audience to include them. Corny, but always a nice move.
Regis said it was just announced that Sedgwick is getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She said she didn’t know the location but Kevin’s is located where, if you went there at night, “you might die!” – so she was hoping for a slightly more choice piece of real estate.
There to promote the upcoming fourth season of her hit show, The Closer, Sedgwick talked about the toughness of being away from her family for several months at a time, saying she always thinks it’s going to get easier, but it never does. Regis asked if her character, Brenda, was ever going to hook up with anyone (clearly he doesn’t know the show, blame the producers for that gaff!) and she explained without missing a beat or making Regis feel foolish that she and her on-screen love interest, Fritz, have just moved in to a new place together complete with all the problems that come with a cantankerous couple.
It’s nice to see Kyra Sedgwick on a talk show so you can be reminded of how natural, nice and relatively normal she is in stark contrast to some of the neurotics she chooses to play. Now that’s part of what a good appearance is about.
The Ted Koppel who showed up to Conan O’Brien’s show recently was not what you’d expect from someone of his stature and import. Koppel was funny, slightly awkward and a bit goofy.
The first thing he said upon greeting O’Brien was “You’re goin’ down.” It seems he threw the gauntlet down to O’Brien when, during the writers strike, O’Brien aired writer-less shows (to which Koppel commented, “I noticed that!”) and desperately started spinning his wedding ring on his desk. A distraction Koppel claims to have been doing since “Conan was running coffee for the editor of the Harvard Lampoon.” Koppel said as much in a magazine article and challenged the talk show host to The North American Wedding Ring Spin-off saying if Conan loses, “he’s gonna have to promote my China series every night it’s on. If I lose…well, I don’t intend to lose.”
He even chided O’Brien saying, “Are we using the piss ant desk?”
So, off they went to a boxing ring set up with ropes, a desk and two chairs…oh and even a bikini-clad round/card girl, who would later be blamed for the loser’s failure. And that loser was… Koppel. The stunt went well and the audience loved it.
After the break, they spent the rest of the time discussing Koppel on Discovery – The People’s Republic of Capitalism. The series sounds very interesting, partly because it is and partly because Koppel made it so by talking to O’Brien, making eye contact and engaging him in conversation, which, in turn, made O’Brien behave more maturely than usual. Koppel then flipped the frame by getting bleeped while talking about Chinglish signs in China and how they are not well translated. One in particular was about things that happen in a bathroom. “The irony is I bring you on this show to class it up,” Conan retorted. “And it’s my opportunity to come down to my natural level,” Koppel replied.
And that’s how you felt watching him. He was having fun, being a regular guy and making what could have been a yawner, appealing. Not the typical newsman.
This will probably be one of the shortest reviews ever for The Guest Whisperer.
Will Smith is a perfect guest! He’s fun, funny, personable, full of energy and just plain great. He listens, interacts, dresses appropriately, brings visuals, is deferential to the host, has great timing, great stories and makes them interesting.
Want to hear about him golfing with Tiger Woods? Tiger’s comment about Smith’s severely curving shot, “whoa, let’s get a skirt for that hooker!” Or maybe you want to hear about his daughter’s new pet frog, which turned out to be a 3-foot boa constrictor which will eventually turn into a 12 foot boa constrictor, “Jay, I’m on your show tonight as cry for help.” Or his prowess in the bedroom — he calls it Willagra.
There to promote his new film Hancock, about an alcoholic superhero, Smith talked about donning a harness for stunt flying in the film 70 feet in the air at 60 mph for two city blocks. “ You can be sure I’m not doin’ that again, Jay.”
He is a publicist or film marketing chief’s dream – coming off as a great guy doing a great interview. Watch it and you’ll feel like you’ve had a shot of adrenaline. That’s all there is to say.
Jack Black knows how to make an entrance. Just watch him explode onto the David Letterman stage on his recent appearance – puffing his barrel-chest out, he worked the crowd, did a Kung Fu (Panda) inspired kick/turn and shed his black satin jacket, dropping it carelessly on the floor. He then proceeded to sit in the wrong chair…a nice, humorous cap to the wild antics. When Dave pointed out the mistake, Black shuffled like a reprimanded child, picking up his jacket (which, by the way, was now a gold satin jacket, having been turned inside out) and sitting in the proper spot. He went on to explain that his chest-puffing/gut-sucking-in was to test a new theory of his – that if you do something long enough, it will stay that way, like when you mother said “hey, don’t make that face all the time, it’s gonna stay like that.” When Dave asked how long he’d been trying it, Black said it was a brand new technique and then fondled his large pot belly until Dave asked him to stop “please quit playing with that!” Quite the opening salvo.
They went on to discuss his kids, his multi-colored hair (the result of a Ben Stiller film he just finished shooting) and a yak encounter he had, replete with photo.
I will say that I have never seen a talk show appearance where the object of the promotion (in this case Kung Fu Panda) was discussed as much as this. Dave kept going back to it and all aspects of it. They had clips of Black in the studio recording his voices, many of which he did live on the show, too. They even had a bit set up where he said a phrase live on the show and then had a clip of him saying the same phrase in the recording studio as if he had recorded it earlier. When they came back from the clip, he said “Yes! Nailed it.” Not sure it worked as well as they hoped, but they get an A for effort.
Jack Black is a force, full of unharnessed energy, crazy eyes, clever voices and delivery and sloppy, slangy speech, but he is prepared, funny, imminently watchable and, as Dave said in his introduction, “always entertaining.” That is true.
It’s hard to be humble and cocky at the same time, but Robert Downey, Jr. does it very well. Looking quite dapper in a dark suit and rose-colored tie on a recent Dave Letterman show. Downey was self-deprecating, with comments such as “you’ve come along way, baby” referring to his opening of The New York Stock Exchange that morning, modest, telling Dave that getting back to the U.S. and especially his show was the hit of his publicity trip…and meaning it, and arrogant, describing how he repeatedly balled up the script pages of his new movie, Iron Man, and threw them against the wall.
Now don’t get me wrong, he was charming, using a large and small action figure of himself from the film to illustrate the difference in height between him and co-star Gwyneth Paltrow. Funny stuff.
In the end, his matter-of-fact persona and dry sense of humor drew Dave and the audience in and made him a good guest who interacted well with the host and ultimately, made for a good interview… ego not withstanding.
