Arsenio Hall Show Highlights
Last night’s Arsenio Hall Show began with a spoken word performance by Ernestine Johnson. She was terrific:
While the decision to start the show with Ernestine was brilliant, Arsenio’s attempt to follow her with a monologue wasn’t. He basically did one long joke about who the next host of The Late Show should be. It was mediocre.
There were no comedy segment bits.
Tracy Morgan was the first couch guest. He is in the upcoming film Rio 2, and his stand-up special, Tracy Morgan: Bona Fide, will air on TV later this month. The interview was great. Tracy was his typical outrageous, honest and charismatic self. I really enjoy Tracy’s unapologetic comedy, whether it’s rehearsed or improvised, and he did both last night, to the delight of Arsenio and the audience. The entire interview is worth watching, and, fortunately, someone was kind enough to post it online:
After a break they did a bit where the audience was allowed to ask Tracy questions. Unlike the one with Prince, this one was at least kind of entertaining:
Nick Cannon was the second couch guest. He is many things in the entertainment world, and one of them is a musician whose album White People Party Music was recently released. The interview was fine. Nick was personable and flashy. I think he can be a funny guy, like when he’s hosting America’s Got Talent, but the benefit there is his sound bites are very small. During an interview like this one, however, in which there’s more time to get to know him, he just seems a lot less interesting.
Nick was also the musical guest. His performance was ok.
Good show. I give it:
– Woody
