the Late Show (3/2/00)
This episode was recorded before a live audience (including myself!) on Mar 2nd, 2000, during the period when David Letterman was out for heart surgery. A few weeks earlier Nathan was slated to be the guest host, but it wasn't until the last minute that Mel Brooks was booked as a guest. On Tuesday, through my old Mel Brooks fan website I received an email from someone working on the show who said they could reserve seats for me IF I showed up Thursday. I knew this was going to be big so I flew out from LA the next day and arrived early in the morning.
The show was awesome! Nathan opened with a live performance of "Only Got An Hour Here" and then a pre-recorded skit about auditions for being a host. Segment 1: When Mel Brooks came on stage the first thing he did was to whip out a contract for Nathan to star in the Producers. Nathan responds that it's a done deal and mentions the possibility of having Martin Short as co-star. Even though Martin Short never made it for the NY performance the next week Mel Brooks appeared on the Martin Short show (which I was also lucky to be in attendence for in the first row!) in some sort of attempt to court him also. After the success of the Producers in Chicago and New York, Martin Short eventually joined Jason Alexander in the Los Angeles run at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood. Anyway, back to the show. Nathan then has a fairly long segment with Mel discussing his early career as a comedian. Segment 2: Returning from the break, Nathan and Mel play a wine tasting game to test Mel's ability to identify various vintages... pretty funny stuff... very Mel Brooks. The segment is finished with Mel Brooks and Nathan Lane singing "Spring Time for Hitler." The final segment featured the comedy of Mario Cantone.
When updating this page I realized that I was missing a complete set of screen captures for the show. Unfortunately I haven't been able to locate the video casette from which I pulled the other stuff. When I find it I will post a complete set of screens. In the meantime enjoy the audio that I've posted.
Nathan Fan Rating: A+++++ ( I was there!)
Have you achieved the state of higher laughing?
