The Boston Marathon bombing presented a difficult task for those whose job, as Jimmy Kimmel noted last night, is “to make you laugh” on a daily basis. Of the four late-night shows that aired new episodes last night, Kimmel, Conan O’Brien and Craig Ferguson opened their monologues with an honest moment expressing their compassion, and in Ferguson’s case, uninhibited, profanity-ridden “rage.” Here’s how they dealt with the fact that they were doing comedy shows on such a tragic day.
Inserting a smidgen of self-deprecation. All three hosts played on their innate inability to make people laugh.
Providing personal references to the city. “Boston’s my hometown. It’s where I grew up. It’s where my family lives,” Conan noted.
Segueing into the next topic with a timely joke. For Kimmel, that meant claiming each of his audience members as dependents on his tax return; for Ferguson, a hats off to the maturity of his guests, Rob Lowe and Larry King.
Watch how they tackled the topic in the video ahead.
