NBCUniversal recruited “Saturday Night Live” duo Colin Jost and Michael Che for the first-ever live comedy special for its streaming service Peacock on Thursday evening. The pair poked fun at the unproven format and distributor of their comedy hour, titled “Colin Jost & Michael Che Present: New York After Dark,” in their opening monologue.
“Tonight’s going to be like group sex. If it goes well, then we can do it again every couple months with our friends. And if it goes really bad and it’s a disaster, we’ll never talk about it again. And either way we’re going to film it.” Jost started, taking the stage at the The Bell House in Brooklyn. “We’re on Peacock! You guys know Peacock right? You know Peacock from the phrase, ‘I can’t believe the NFL made us download fucking Peacock.’”
“The fuck is wrong with you man? Those checks didn’t clear?” Che joked. “This is the experience that we have when we go in and drop into places. We wanted to give that to the country… Does Peacock play all over the country?”
“We want it to be the second-funniest live event this week… after the debate,” Jost said, before joking about Trump’s debunked remark that immigrants are eating pets in Springfield, Ohio. “Nothing sounds more presidential than screaming, ‘They’re eating the cats and the dogs.’ I think that was Thomas Jefferson.”
The special saw a previously unannounced line-up of comics take the stage one-by-one, each endorsed by Jost and Che. The group included Alex English, Aida Rodriguez, Aminah Imani and Carlos Miller. Emmy nominee Mike Birbiglia took the mic for the final act of the night and began his set by forcing Jost into a Q&A.
“I recently texted Colin and asked him to be on my podcast, ‘Working It Out.’ Do you remember what you wrote back?” Birbiglia said, before razzing the host. “Nothing.”
“Impractical Jokers” star Sal Vulcano also made an appearance, along with fellow “SNL” castmate Sarah Sherman, who also poked fun at Jost: “This place is close to my apartment, looks like you didn’t respect the restraining order.”