Watching the polished, laughter-filled monologues of the late night hosts is always entertaining. But it turns out the unvarnished, still-in-rehearsal-stage versions carry their own charm, too.
On Thursday, Jimmy Fallon (like Stephen Colbert and guest host for Jimmy Kimmel, Pete Buttigieg) performed his monologue in front of a mostly empty audience.
"As of this morning we planned to do a show with a full audience, but as the day progressed, and the more we thought about it, we and NBC decided it would be smarter to not have an audience, in order to do our part to help decrease the spread of the coronavirus," says Fallon in the clip above.
"Like you, I'm watching the news, and I'm just as confused and as freaked out as you are. I know that speech last night didn't help. But what I do know is when we're there for each other we're at our best, and I am here for you. We are here for you."
Fallon then asks viewers to put down their phones and "enjoy an hour of mindless entertainment," before laughing his way through the ensuing monologue with his studio band and colleagues.
