seth meyers." goodnight everybody! [ cheers and applause ] ♪ ♪ ♪ [ cheers and applause ] ♪ >> announcer: from 30 rockefeller plaza in new york, it's "late night with seth meyers." [ cheers and applause ] tonight -- jeremy strong. from broadway's "the wiz," writer and comedian amber ruffin. an all new "closer look." featuring the 8g band with

fred armisen. ♪ [ cheers and applause ] and now, seth meyers. >> seth: good evening. i'm seth meyers. this is "late night." we hope you're doing well tonight, and now if you don't mind, we're going to get to the news. the white house hosted the 144th annual easter egg roll today, and about 40,000 people were expected to participate. 40,000! but then again, where else can you get free eggs? [ laughter ] house speaker mike johnson criticized president biden for designating yesterday transgender day of visibility and said the white house had, quote, "betrayed the central tenet of easter." oh, buddy that happened years ago. trump's holding up this bunny's arm like he just won easter by knockout. [ laughter ] former president trump is reportedly planning in his second term to implement anti-racism protections for white people. and if you're waiting for me to say april fool's, keep on waiting.

[ laughter ] former president trump this morning apologized for posting an image of president biden hogtied on the back of a pickup truck and said it was inappropriate. now april fool's. [ laughter ] "the washington post" published an article yesterday about how the tradition of the presidential first pitch has faded under president biden and former president trump, though we may be looking at a surge in presidential first slides. [ light laughter ] in a new interview on "face the nation" yesterday, house intelligence committee chairman mike turner said there's a group of lawmakers that wants to, quote, "stop everything in congress." it could be worse. they could be writing laws. [ audience groans ] according to a new report, aides believe that former president trump is planning on drawing out his running mate selection process, quote, "apprentice"-style, though based on what happened with pence, it may be more like "survivor." [ laughter ]

in a new interview, house speaker mike johnson said that he has exchanged text messages with georgia representative marjorie taylor greene since she filed the motion to remove him from power, which is unusual since she usually communicates via outfit. [ laughter ] the japanese imperial family, who are considered to be the world's oldest royal family, today made its first ever social media account on instagram. though if they were really the oldest, they would have joined facebook. [ laughter ] usps announced today that it selected ups to be its primary air cargo carrier for obvious reasons. [ audience groans ] [ light laughter ] today was national trombone players day. the official music of spirit airlines. [ sad trombone ] ♪ [ laughter ] and finally, the punxsutawney groundhog -- sorry, and finally

the punxsutawney groundhog club announced last week that punxsutawney phil has recently fathered two baby groundhogs, so i guess spring isn't the only thing that came early this year. [ laughter ] [ audience groans ] that's our closer. [ laughter ] and that was the monologue, everybody. [ cheers and applause ] i just think -- i just think that goldich who wrote that joke, just fundamentally doesn't understand how biology works. [ laughter ] one of the many things wrong with the groundhog day joke. you guys, we've got a fantastic show for you tonight. he's an emmy-winning actor you know from "the trial of the chicago 7" and of course "succession." [ cheers and applause ] he's currently starring in "an enemy of the people" at the circle in the square theater on broadway. jeremy strong is here. how exciting is that? [ cheers and applause ]

how exciting is that? and she is a tony-nominated writer for her work on "some like it hot" and emmy-nominated for her work on "the amber ruffin show" as well as right here on "late night" for the past ten years. she adapted the book for the revival of broadway's "the wiz," which is playing at the marquee theater here in new york. our very own amber ruffin is joining us, everybody. [ cheers and applause ] but before we get to all that, the stock price of donald trump's struggling social media business fell from its ludicrous high on monday after the company posted major losses, and experts warned that it was an ethical nightmare. meanwhile, trump celebrated easter by posting one of his most deranged screeds yet. for more on this, it's time for "a closer look." [ applause ] ♪ this morning, president biden and first lady jill biden hosted the annual white house easter egg roll, and to preview the event, they did an interview with al roker where they indulged in a few corny easter jokes. >> so the easter egg roll is about to start. >> yes. >> we had a little problem with the weather, but now the volunteers are getting set. and, dr. biden, what's the theme this year?

this is something close to your heart. >> it is. you know i've been a teacher for over 30 years, so this is egg-ucation. so as you can see, there's something for everybody here. >> 1878 this started with rutherford b. hayes. i think i met him but -- [ laughter ] what is it -- >> he was a classmate of mine. >> one of your classmates? [ laughter ] >> seth: look, politics aside, that's what old people are supposed to do on easter. they're supposed to make corny jokes, wear silly egg-themed ties, and catch a quick nap during easter mass. [ laughter ] now, let's compare that to what donald trump was up to on easter. >> trump has spent easter sunday on this angry social media bender. >> donald trump marking the holiday, attacking political opponents in all caps, unleashing on prosecutors in his various trials, posting more than 70 times. >> seth: he posted 70 times on easter. what's in the baskets at the trump family easter egg hunt? cadbury meth eggs? [ laughter ] here's donald trump's easter greeting in its entirety.

i hope you're ready for this because it's insane. "happy easter to all. happy easter, everyone." [ laughter ] you know what? that was actually -- that was really sweet. shame on me for judging the man. maybe inside that gruff exterior -- what's that? okay. i'm sorry. i'm being told i was accidentally given a graphic with only the first and last sentences of trump's post, and we left out the entire middle. so let me try that one more time. "happy easter to all, including crooked and corrupt prosecutors --" oh, [ bleep ] me -- [ laughter ] "and judges that are doing everything possible to interfere with the presidential election of 2024 and put me in prison, including those many people that i completely and totally despise because they want to destroy america, a now failing nation, like deranged jack smith, who is evil and sick, mrs. fani "fauni" wade, who said she hardly knew the special prosecutor, only to find that he spent years loving her long before the georgia persecution of president trump began and thereby making the case against me null, void, and illegal, and

lazy on violent crime alvin bragg, who, with crooked joe's d.o.j. thugs, unfairly working in the d.a.'s office, illegally indicted me on a case he never wanted to bring and virtually all legal scholars say is a case that should not be brought, is breaking the law in doing so -- pomerantz!, was turned down by all other law enforcement authorities, and is not a crime. "happy easter --" okay -- everyone!" there you go [ laughter ] got it back there right at the end. the worst part, stole that from a hallmark card. [ laughter ] the next post was even worse. "also grandson who is hardly very grand took bite of chocolate rabbit even after i had called it, which is both wrong and sick. and when i threatened to sue him for his jelly beans as restitution, eric "ericy" trump told me to chill. when i asked him how he would feel if someone ate his chocolate rabbit on easter, he said he never got a chocolate rabbit on easter. take it up with your dad, i said, to which he said, you are my dad, to which i said, i thought don junior was my son, and he said you can have more than one. pomerantz!" [ laughter ]

that -- by the way, like i think three sentences in before they were like, this one's not real. every day is april fool's. that easter rant may be the most deranged thing trump has ever posted online, which is saying something because he once misspelled his own name. [ laughter ] just put yourself in a place where a friend or loved one sent you a text like this. would you immediately alert your entire family and urge them to seek help, or would you write back and say "you've got my vote in november?" also trump is so deeply immersed in his own little lunatic universe of right-wing memes and conspiracy theories that he thinks everyone will just know what he means when he blurts out names like "pomerantz." [ laughter ] sounds like george constanza yelling about a neighbor who stole his parking spot. pomerantz! [ laughter ] i followed [ bleep ] for nine years. i have a staff that spends every day poring over every word that trump utters, and none of us have any idea what the [ bleep ] he's talking about. [ laughter ] i typed "trump pomerantz" into

google, and even google was like, don't do this to yourself. [ laughter ] but trump's lunacy is not an aberration within the g.o.p. it's the norm. they spent all weekend furious about the fact that transgender day of visibility just happened to fall on the same day as easter this year, and they blamed it on joe biden rather than the real reason, the calendar. >> republicans are criticizing the white house over a statement that acknowledges today, march 31st, as the transgender day of visibility. their issue is that today is also easter. >> this year the two days only coincided by chance. the day of visibility is held every year on march 31st while the date for easter changes year to year. >> house speaker mike johnson rebuked biden, saying, quote, "the biden white house has betrayed the central tenet of easter, which is the resurrection of jesus christ, banning sacred truth and tradition while at the same time proclaiming easter sunday as transgender day." >> well, this is a clear effort and a coordinated effort to remove god from our society and to replace god with false gods,

and in this instance, it's the trans community. >> seth: yeah, we should have a more respectful easter proclamation that puts the emphasis where it's deserved. evil fani willis, sick jack smith, and the corrupt judges and prosecutors who despise america. not only did trump not mention religion in his screed, everyone who read it took the lord's name in vain. "jesus [ bleep ] christ with this guy." [ laughter ] i can't believe i have to explain this, but sometimes two things happen on the same day. for example in 2018, easter and april fool's were the same day, and i don't recall any republicans going on fox and claiming, the sacred resurrection of christ has been sullied by all these frivolous pranks and goofs, although who can forget when mary magdalene rushed to jesus' tomb, discovered it was empty, and told peter and john, "my dudes, i think we've been pranked." [ laughter ] who pranked us? pomerantz! trump's lunacy is dangerous on its own, but on top of that, he's also desperate for cash, which is a terrifying combination in the presidential candidate.

in fact, he's so desperate for cash, he's selling bibles glued to some bonus material he stole from an eighth grade civics class. over the weekend, his partner in that business venture, the singer lee greenwood defended their bible sales. >> people have gotten on us and donald trump about the god bless usa bible. i have mine here right in front of me, and this one is signed by the former president, donald trump. see how beautiful this bible is. check that out. it's leather. it has the documents of the constitution, the declaration of independence, the bill of rights, and the handwritten lyrics of god bless usa along with the pledge of allegiance. the reason we have this bible is to make sure more people have it accessible. if you have this bible today, you'll be able to actually find out how our country got started with those four documents and be able to read them because sometimes if you go to washington, d.c., those documents are under glass. >> seth: are you under the impression those are the only copies? do you want us to believe you, trump, and nicolas cage teamed

up to break into the national archives at night and made photocopies of the constitution so the rest of us could finally read it? "we have to share this with the world for the low, low price of $59.99." [ laughter ] seriously, you know about the internet, right? because they have the constitution, the bill of rights, the declaration of independence, and a quiz that tells you which "sex and the city" character you are. [ laughter ] i've taken it a million times, and i keep getting steve. "come on, miranda, just let me take the quiz again." [ laughter ] that's a very good steve. it never plays, but it's a very good steve. i don't need you to tell me because i know inside me it's good. trump's desperation for cash makes him even more of a target for corruption and influence peddling than he already is. just take his so-called trump media and technology company, which as we explained last week, is a massively overinflated bubble completely divorced from reality of the underlying business, which has been an abject failure.

experts are warning it's also an ethics nightmare. but how blank do you think trump's stare is when someone tells him his business presents an ethical conundrum? "well, you certainly could make billions on the deal, sir, but there is a moral quandary." [ laughter ] "who the [ bleep ] is this dork?" here's the obvious problem. any rich person or foreign entity could decide to invest in trump's company just when he desperately needs the cash to pay off his fines and legal bills, and trump himself said recently he could take foreign money if he wanted to. >> have you ever accepted money from a foreign government to pay the bond or your fines or -- >> no. i don't -- i don't do that. i think you'd be allowed to possibly. i don't know. >> seth: even when trump says he won't do something corrupt, he immediately confesses he might do something corrupt. by asking the question, you're giving him the idea. you could see the wheels turning as he answers. mr. trump, would you ever steal money from a child's lemonade stand? "no, i would never do that. they'd notice right away,

unless, of course, you know -- [ laughter ] you pretend to knock over the cup and then refilled it with things that sounded like coins when they weren't looking, you know, washers, old subway tokens. by the time they figured it out, you'd be long gone, so possibly i could do it. i might do it. i did it -- i did it yesterday, so yeah." [ laughter ] and then today in a turn of events that should shock absolutely no one, the stock price of trump's struggling media company fell after the company posted major losses. >> take a look at your screens right now. trump's media stock is down 18% right there. you can see it. it has been dropping throughout the morning. this comes after the company that owns truth social posted financial numbers this morning. >> truth social owner trump media lost $58 million last year, and it generated very, very little revenue. just $4.1 million in revenue. truth social is struggling. i mean it is shrinking. monthly active u.s. users on ios and android down 51% year-over-year.

i think all of this just underscores why there's a lot of warnings out there about this stock. >> seth: what a shock that the stock price of a company with no profits or success of any kind is falling. the way things are going, trump's going to have to start selling a deluxe bible with a dictionary attached. [ laughter ] "we love the disciples, john, matthew, merriam and webster." maybe trump will finally learn how a successful business works. he's in for a real education, or if the stock hits zero, it will be more of an -- >> egg-ucation. [ laughter ] >> seth: this has been "a closer look." [ cheers and applause ] we'll be right back with jeremy strong, everybody. ♪ >> announcer: for more of seth's "closer looks", be sure to subscribe to "late night" on youtube.

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fantastic 8g band right over there, everybody. [ cheers and applause ] we are so lucky, so lucky this week to have fred armisen back with us. welcome back, fred. [ cheers and applause ] happy easter. >> fred: happy easter. >> seth: you know, you were telling me backstage, which i think is so cool, that the armisen family when you were little did not do the sort of classic easter egg hunt. you had your own tradition of what you would do every year. >> fred: we did. so in the backyard, we do um -- we would make little sculptures of rumpelstiltskin, you know. [ laughter ] >> seth: from the fairy tale? >> fred: from the fairy tale. >> seth: yeah. >> fred: and so we would just sort of like make sculptures with mud or rocks or whatever. >> seth: uh-huh. >> fred: clay, sand. >> seth: yeah. >> fred: leaves, sticks. >> seth: sure, sure. >> fred: and we'd sort of like -- we'd sort of cover them up with blankets. >> seth: okay. >> fred: and there were four of us, you know, the kids. and we would look around for them. we had this really small garden. >> seth: so wait. you would build them. then you would go look for them? >> fred: yeah. it was so fun.

[ laughter ] >> seth: but why -- why would you not remember exactly where they were? >> fred: well, it's just a matter of sort of, you know, playing with the idea of looking for it. so we were sort of like -- you know, it's the action of it. it's the tradition of it that goes back decades in our family. [ light laughter ] >> seth: so show us your face real quick as you pretend to find a rumpelstiltskin you knew exactly where it was. >> fred: okay. so it's like, 20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15 -- and keep, you know, counting. >> seth: down to zero? >> fred: yeah, yeah. zero! [ laughter ] there's one. you uncover it, and so, you know, rumpelstiltskin looks like he's sleeping, so his eyes are closed. >> seth: was rumpelstiltskin famously asleep in the fairy tale? >> fred: he was just sort of, you know, sleepy, you know. >> seth: yeah. what an amazing -- did you guys have a name for this tradition? >> fred: not yet, but we're waiting for anything you guys have. >> seth: don't rush into it. don't rush into it. >> fred: yeah. >> seth: thanks for sharing

that, buddy. >> fred: thank you. >> seth: i really appreciate it. give it up for fred armisen, everybody. [ cheers and applause ] our first guest tonight is an emmy award-winning actor you know from films such as "the trial of the chicago seven" and "armageddon time" as well as the critically acclaimed hit series "succession." [ cheers ] he's currently starring in "an enemy of the people," which is playing now at the circle in the square theater on broadway. please welcome to the show jeremy strong, everybody. [ cheers and applause ] ♪ ♪ >> seth: welcome, jeremy. >> thank you. >> seth: i'm very happy to have you here. >> thank you. i'm happy to be here. >> seth: there's been a lot written about your sort of sartorial choices, that you almost always wear just brown, sort of monochromatically brown outfits. [ light laughter ] >> well, that's -- it's a monstrous lie. >> seth: yeah. [ laughter ] this is a real thumb in the eye

of the press right now. >> yeah. it's a subversive -- i'm sorry. i'm really just trying to think of what to call the rumpelstiltskin -- >> seth: yeah. [ laughter ] it's hard, right? it's a hard thing to come up with a name for. >> yeah, yeah. >> seth: if it comes to you at any point during the interview -- >> okay. >> seth: -- feel free to break out because i do feel like fred needs that. hey, i want to say something else. i noticed something when i was holding this up. you obviously decided to grow a mustache after you took the photo for the playbill here. [ laughter ] >> yeah. >> seth: and the mustache is great. >> thank you. >> seth: yeah. but did you -- were you sort of -- did you realize after the photo, you're like this guy needs a mustache? >> i just -- you know, doing live theater is -- it's a bit like emotionally free climbing el capitan eight times a week, and i thought, "why not do that with a giant mustache?" [ laughter ] >> seth: yeah. that's true. yeah, you feel like -- i feel like you don't see enough rock climbers with just the mustache. >> no, exactly. >> seth: this has been a long time. we were talking backstage.

ten years since you've done a run of a show. >> yeah, a little over ten years. >> seth: do you find it thrilling being back onstage? >> yeah, it's all the things. it's exhilarating. it's terrifying. theater has a danger to it but also there's something about being there with the community every night. the electricity and the exchange of that that is just really -- yeah, it's thrilling. it's a privilege to do this play. >> seth: it's a -- it was a privilege to see it. i saw it last thursday. it's in the round. we're all very close to the performers. and i know this might sound funny coming from me because i get to sit with people i respect every night very closely. it's so exciting to watch actors you respect act up close. like that, for me, was this sort of palpable excitement of, "oh, my god, look, i'm going to see michael imperioli and jeremy strong do their thing," and i get to be so close. and you guys take it to another level, which is sort of there's this brief break, not a full intermission, but we come back. audience members are sort of sitting onstage, and, you know, you obviously know that's going to happen.

i didn't, so i was like "oh, [ bleep"]." got to get them off there. do you feed off that energy of who you have on any given night? >> yeah. you know, it's a -- it's, um -- it's a play that ibsen, a norwegian playwright, wrote in 1882. but it -- and we talked about this. but it really speaks to now. it's about a scientist in this small town who discovers that the source of the town's economy and tourism is -- which in this case is the baths of the town is sort of their main attraction -- is poisoned. and it's about someone who's trying to wake up the people to this imminent catastrophe. and so there's a scene in the play that is a sort of town hall-esque meeting, and the director, in a really brilliant and deft way, i think, opened the play up to audiences. circle in the square is in the round, and so we get to have a

sort of conversation with the audience every night. and the conversation is really about now. the play's an allegory about so many things. >> seth: and it's also -- obviously it's about environmentalism, which gives you this very present feeling. and you mentioned this conversation with the audience, but of course most nights the conversation is only one-sided, right? the audience doesn't talk back. but you did have a moment where there were protesters in the audience. >> yeah. we had, um, extinction rebellion come on a night when all the critics were there. and, listen, it was -- when you're up there, you're kind of walking a razor's edge of attention, so you don't really want to be thrown off of that. and at the same time, this is a play about trying to communicate an inconvenient truth to the power structure, and i guess it says something about our inattention that these activists feel a need and feel compelled

to decide, i didn't want it to happen, you know, on my stage, but at the same time, you know, you have kids. i have kids. i feel very -- this play is about -- i'd be a hypocrite if i didn't in a way support what they were saying. it only underlined the message of the play, which is that we're all in this together, and we're all in deep [ bleep ]. >> seth: yeah. >> i mean it's like record wildfires, record heat, record floods, unprecedented extreme weather events. and then i think the scarier stuff is the more insidious, these slow onset events. i read this week that these ice shelves in greenland, 30 million tons, the size of the eiffel tower, are melting every hour. so it's -- so these things are happening, and they're happening on our watch. and, you know, the ipcc said it's a code red for humanity.

so i'm doing this play, but i also think if we could be a force multiplier for saying something about the world we all live in, then i'm all for that. [ cheers and applause ] >> seth: it's a really -- you can't believe -- while you're watching it, you can't believe the play was written in 1882. >> no, it's crazy. i agree. >> seth: this is such a cool theater. i've been looking up to see a few things at circle in the square. have you seen anything when you were a younger actor? >> yeah. i've seen a bunch of plays there, but the one -- it was really a seminal event in my life. i saw phil hoffman do "true west" there. i don't know if you saw that. >> seth: i didn't. >> philip seymour hoffman and john c. reilly did this production of sam shepard's play, "true west," in 2000, i think. and he was one of my heroes, and there was no more courageous actor than him. so i remember sitting in the back row. i went four times. i was in college. and just sort of having -- making a bit of a wish and a

prayer that one day i might get to do something like this. so it's very meaningful to me to be at this theater right now. >> seth: well, it's a really special place. i have some more questions for you. we'll be right back with jeremy after this. [ cheers and applause ] ♪ ♪ limu emu ♪ ♪ and doug ♪ hello, ghostbusters. it's doug... ... of doug and limu. we help people customize and save hundreds on car insurance with liberty mutual. anyway, we got a bit of a situation here. ♪♪ uh-huh. uh-huh. ♪♪ [ metal groans] sure, i can hold. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty liberty liberty liberty ♪ ghostbusters: frozen empire. in theaters now. (vo) it's shrimp your way. ghostbusters: frozen empire. choose three flavors for just $20*. like new street corn shrimp.

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[ cheers and applause ] >> seth: we're back with jeremy strong. there's a moment in the show, and i'm hopefully not giving up too much. but you do -- you rip a shirt open, and buttons -- buttons go flying into the audience. and i was aware of this before i saw the show because it has been turning up on social media. people in the first few rows. [ laughter ] it's like a seaworld splash zone for your buttons. are you aware when you do it? did it -- is that it? okay. now i feel like you're like that's not the real button. >> no, but i'm sorry to whoever this button hit in the face. >> seth: yeah. that's a -- yeah. >> i didn't know that was -- >> seth: yeah. you do shows in the round, you pop off buttons. >> it's a fly ball. >> seth: it's a fly ball, yeah. it's the best acted version of "magic mike" i've ever seen. [ laughter ] >> thank you. >> seth: but is it true that people have asked you to sign the button?

>> uh, yes. [ laughter ] yes. >> seth: it's not a very big button. it must be impossible to sign. >> no, and i have like this big sharpie that they give me afterwards, so it is -- >> seth: yeah. >> it's actually smaller than that. >> seth: right. you couldn't sign this, and this is like twice as big as the actual button. did you -- this is obviously doing this show and the difference between ten years ago and now is "succession." so after the show, you come out. [ cheers ] i would assume -- i would assume you have some people waiting for you after the show. >> yeah. it's wild, actually, you know, because when you do theater, you're sort of -- you are interacting with the public in a way that when you're making movies or television. >> seth: of course. >> you're in a bubble. so it's been wonderful and surprising to me. but there's a lot of people out there every night, and, yeah, people give me all kinds of strange things. >> seth: any -- what's a good

strange trinket? >> some -- some plushies. >> seth: okay. >> macrame. somebody gave me a ceramic piggy bank that was sort of bejeweled. a lot of bracelets that say "i am the eldest boy." [ cheers and applause ] >> seth: that's really good. >> a lot of stuff -- a lot of stuff that says "i am the eldest boy." [ laughter ] >> seth: so i have question about -- >> like i forgot. >> seth: yeah. i have a question about that line because i've thought about it a lot, because that scene is so intense and, you know, so beautifully acted, and it's the culmination of this incredible show. and it was so thrilling to watch the show where, you know, for me stuck the landing and was so rewarding. and then like five days later, it occurred to me that "i'm the eldest boy" is the funniest [ bleep ] i've ever heard. but it wasn't funny in the scene, right, you know, because it was so serious and real. did it ever occur to you, like, oh, god, that's really funny, or was it -- did you just -- right, you just saw it through -- you

just saw it through kendall, right? >> yeah. >> seth: yeah. but you have to admit now it's a little funny. [ laughter ] >> i can't. i can't. [ laughter ] >> seth: now i feel bad i brought it up. >> no, no. >> seth: you know what? i'm thinking about it. it's not funny. it's not funny. >> but you know, when you came to my dressing room, we talked about sort of doing stuff that's tied to our world. >> seth: sure. >> and "succession" was one of those things, the sort of media industrial complex and, you know, the people who hold the levers of power, and this play feels similarly relevant. and i've always wanted to be part of things that -- that do that and that feel central somehow to the times we're living in. >> seth: well, i think it's really important. the other thing -- two things you mentioned have in common is they are central, they are important, and they're also very, in a really important way, because i think those messages get through when they're also entertaining.

and so i just want to thank you for making work that is just so fun to watch, and it's such a delight to have you here. thank you so much, jeremy. [ cheers and applause ] jeremy strong, everybody. "an enemy of the people" is playing now at the circle in the square theater on broadway. for tickets, visit anenemyofthepeopleplay.com. stick around. we'll be right back with amber ruffin. [ cheers and applause ] ♪ you ever feel like the only place you can find cars is in car commercials? oh, this isn't a car commercial. this is an autotrader commercial and this is one of the millions of new and used cars that you can find on autotrader. you can find cars like the ones on your favorite show. oh, no! or the car in this show. get out the water! i bet i can even find the cars in my feed. sure can! you can even find the car in that movie on autotrader. (to ufo) hey, find your own car!

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♪ [ cheers and applause ] >> seth: our next guest is an emmy and tony-nominated writer, comedian, and producer. you know from her work on "the amber ruffin show", "some like it hot" on broadway, and this show. she adapted the book for the revival of "the wiz," which is playing at the marquee theater in new york. please welcome back to the show, our very good friend, amber ruffin, everybody. [ cheers and applause ] ♪ ♪ >> seth: amber ruffin, as i live and breathe. >> hi, sethy-poo, buddy! >> seth: i'm very excited we've been doing this show together for ten years. >> ten years. >> seth: i knew you for another ten years before this even, so i think we're about 20 years into friendship. >> that's right. yeah, which is odd because i'm 23. >> seth: yeah. [ laughter ] >> seth. >> seth: yes? >> that was a fun lie i told for fun.

that was a joke. >> seth: about you being -- yeah, yeah, yeah. >> yeah, but i want you to know i know it's april 1st. >> seth: yeah. >> so you're expecting me to tell you some weird april fool's lie thing, and i'm not going to do it. >> seth: okay. >> okay. >> seth: okay. >> okay. >> seth: because you know i don't love that sort of thing. >> yeah, you don't like surprises. >> seth: i don't like surprises, and yet we did our 50th -- our 50th version of "jokes seth can't tell," which is one of my favorite recurring bits with you and jenny hagel. >> yeah. >> seth: i'm nothing if not incredibly supportive, an ally one might say. and yet for the 50th one -- >> yes. >> seth: -- you surprised me. i had no idea, and you guys wore gowns and tiaras. and you walked out on a red carpet. >> in "jokes seth can't tell," we -- seth says the setups, and jenny, a lesbian, and me, black lady, we say the punch lines that seth wouldn't be able to get away with saying. >> seth: no. >> but -- and for the 50th, we made him say all the punch lines.

[ applause ] he didn't like it. he doesn't like that. >> seth: were you nervous at all at how i'd react? >> no. i knew you wouldn't like it. [ laughter ] >> seth: oh, so you started it, how bad it could go. >> oh, yeah. and i kept like -- jenny, the lesbian, she -- i didn't tell her how much you would dislike it on purpose because i knew she would chicken out. >> seth: oh, interesting, because everybody thinks you're the nice one, but you're actually the mean one. >> i like chaos. >> seth: yeah. [ laughter ] we were -- we did a wonderful podcast, people sharing their stories about the first ten years of the show, and you talked about fun obama was a character you played on the show. here's amber as fun obama. [ laughter ] there's fun obama backstage. >> so you may notice that none of these are during a show because when we rehearsed fun obama, like, [ bleep ], okay. so we do the show for d.c., right?

we go to d.c. everybody goes, man, the whole show. goes to d.c., having the time of our lives. we do one sketch in d.c. it is fun obama. we bring that stupid wig. we bring that whole suit, and we do it for the rehearsal audience. an audience bigger than you guys, and there was zero laughs. [ laughter ] >> seth: yeah. >> it was the hardest i've ever bombed, but look how happy i am. >> seth: well, look, there's -- this is about -- when you know you're about to bomb, look at how smug. look at how smug you are. >> i really thought it was going to be good. i really did. >> seth: and the really fun thing about you bombing is you are such an enthusiastic performer that there's no way to undersell it. you were just so -- like just flop sweat city, like jumping around, trying to get people behind fun obama. nothing. >> i'll never forget, like, during the second joke of it, where i looked at you, and you looked at me, and we're like,

there's five more pages. [ laughter ] it was great. >> seth: so "the wiz," congratulations on "the wiz." >> yeah. >> seth: and writing the book for "the wiz." [ cheers and applause ] how do you even approach a job like this? >> we actually started in 2018, i want to say. we put it up at a place called the muni, in st. louis, and it was so frickin' cute. and those people were like, "we're going to broadway. we're going to broadway." i was like, uh-huh. but then we remounted it, and we re-re-re-re-rewrote it, and now we open -- well, previews started a minute ago, and we open on april 17th. >> seth: so exciting. congratulations. >> yeah. [ cheers and applause ] >> seth: now, i'm wondering, though, because i know you have a performer's heart. is it weird working on a project where you are not one of the people onstage? >> oh, i'm performing -- in the

audience. so hard. man, these people are like -- it's so funny because when you do comedy, you can sing fine. it's fine. >> seth: yeah, yeah, yeah. >> your voice is fine enough -- >> seth: you're a great singer on this show. >> perfectly fine enough for people who don't know what music is. [ laughter ] but to sit in the audience where those people, like, melt your face every night, they're simply the best singers on the planet. and it makes listening to the radio hard. >> seth: uh-huh. >> they're so good at singing. >> seth: that's so exciting. >> yeah, i'm pretty quiet nowadays. >> seth: you have -- you have a podcast that i want to talk about, with your sister, lacey. "the amber & lacey, lacey & amber show." >> yay! look! >> seth: look at those two. >> yay! look! yay! yeah. >> seth: my brother and i have a podcast. you were a guest on our podcast. what do you think -- do you think your dynamic is different than josh and i as hosts? >> well, first off, me and lacey's show is better. >> seth: okay. [ laughter ] >> okay. also we will just rip each other so frickin' bad.

the other day, lacey had gotten done up to do the podcast, and i didn't because i'm a schlub. and lacey kept saying that we were a before and after picture because we look exactly alike. the difference is the makeup. [ laughter ] >> seth: you do have a very exciting, very real announcement to make. >> yeah, i do. >> seth: not an april fool's. >> it's not an april fool's at all. >> seth: okay. >> it's just a personal announcement. >> seth: okay. great. >> okay, so like, seth, we're friends. this is true. i got divorced last year. that's true. >> seth: yeah. >> i married fred armisen. [ laughter ] >> seth: i don't think it's true. >> i think it's -- it's true. seth, we got married. >> seth: nope. >> yes. we're 100% married. i mean it's not implausible. we got married.

fred. >> fred: yes. >> do you remember our vows? >> fred: yes. >> yeah. >> fred: i said, "hey, right here, right now. let's go. let's do this. come on, please. you're so great." >> and that was -- >> seth: you said please in your vows? >> fred: yes. [ laughter ] >> because, like, it was like a surprise wedding. >> seth: yeah. well, i'm wondering why i wasn't there. >> i know. two of your best friends got married, but we -- you're just -- you steal the spotlight. we got married, and we're -- we're in love. >> seth: that's great. >> seth, i got something to tell you. it was an april fool's. [ laughter ] >> seth: really good, amber. >> god. >> seth: you really had me going. >> thanks. >> seth: really good. [ cheers and applause ] hey, fred, grr. rrr, fred, grr. >> good job, fred. good job, bud. >> seth: you're hosting the

webbys, that's a real thing. >> yay. i'm hosting the webbys. the webbys are an awards show for the internet. seth. >> seth: yeah. >> you hosted the webbys once. >> seth: i did. >> was it fun? >> seth: it was. >> did you love it? >> seth: i did. >> okay. >> seth: there you go. >> thanks. >> seth: thank you. >> no, no, no -- yeah, thank me. [ laughter ] >> seth: thank you for being here. amber ruffin, everybody. [ cheers and applause ] "the wiz" is playing at the marquee theater in new york. we'll be right back with more "late night," everybody. [ cheers and applause ] ♪ some people just know that the best rate for you is a rate based on you, with allstate. because there are people out there who aren't you. a lot of them. and you don't drive like... whoa. i don't want my child being raised by a robot! other drivers are not you. yes, thank you so much to all 50 of my subscribers. nope, definitely not you.

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♪ >> announcer: come join the audience at "late night" live in studio 8g. for tickets, head over to latenightsethtickets.com. follow us @latenightseth on all social media platforms. subscribe to late night seth on youtube. find us online at latenightseth.com. and subscribe to the "late night podcast," featuring "a closer look," guest interviews, and more. available wherever you listen to podcasts. ♪

♪ [ cheers and applause ] >> seth: i want to thank my guests jeremy strong, amber ruffin everybody. i want to thank fred armisen and the 8g band. thanks for watching. we love you everybody. [ cheers and applause ]

♪ ♪