There Was A Man: Clay and Jimmy: Together Again

I was visiting my dad for a few days, and when I arrived home I found out that Clay was scheduled for a visit on Jimmy Kimmel. It was a short notice visit which I find are the best kind. I hate waiting with anticipation for weeks on end like a kid waiting for Christmas. Clay was a last minute booking taking the place of Cameron Diaz who appeared on Leno that night instead. Leno has an earlier timeslot and better ratings, so I can't really blame Cameron, but I have to say that Jimmy is much funnier than Leno. I flipped channels between Leno and Letterman waiting for Kimmel to come on and I was really surprised at how bad Leno was at interviewing/talking to his guests. It was felt so totally scripted, whereas Jimmy scripted or not just seems more engaged. Anyway, Cameron pre-taped her segment to be aired at a later date before the show with Clay. It worked out all around. I always enjoy Clay's Kimmel visits because the have a chemistry together, and Clay seems more relaxed than some of his other talk show appearances.

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For a first-hand perspective by an attendee here is a summary posted by poshpenny on the message boards:

Jimmy comes out to do the monologue. Every time he mentions Clay, or us, it triggers synapses in my brain that shoot this message through my mind... "Clay is here right now!" This, of course, creates a chain reaction and needless to say, I was in a good mood. Now shut up Jimmy and go to break. As he is finishing he lists the other guests first *applause* and then Clay. *WOOOOO!* Jimmy smirked at getting the expected reaction. Only a bit of it made it to air.

Now we are at break and everyone fidgets in their seat. Two guys come out and remove the guest chair. There is nowhere to sit. Just a desk and a lot of carpet. EEE!! The horse is coming! I keep looking to the left in an attempt to glimpse Horsey Clay. I finally decide he must be behind the blue drapes next to the seats. I see them moving at about guy-in-a-saddle height. It's Clay! He's back there on a horse! EEEE! I wonder what he is wearing. Cowboy outfit? English riding breeches? Normal clothes? WHY ARE THERE SO MANY COMMERCIALS????

The applause signs blink. The director counts down with his fingers. We're back! EEEEEEEEE!! I don't think I even looked at Jimmy during his intro, I was staring intently at that blue curtain. I see the camera pan back there, a curtain rises and there he is! On a horse! Clay is led out and waves to us. He looks so comfortable up there! Not the teeniest bit scared, nervous, unsure of himself, no goofy "I'm a dork who can't ride a horse" faces.... just confident, smiling, waving, hand shaking Alpha Clay. *Swoon*

I love him in bangs but they were so much better in September. Still, he looks cute and way better than he did on GMA last time so yay for that. I'm a sucker for a man in a waistcoat and didn't even care that it was brilliant spring green. I even enjoyed the green/purple combo though he did look a bit like he was going to some sort of Derby Party.

When they held the entire interview while he was on horseback, I just had to laugh. Here he was, talking about completely serious topics while sitting on the back of a horse in a TV studio for no apparent reason. And did I mention how very at home he looked up there? He never reacted to any movement of the horse, just chatted away, alternately gesturing and resting his hands on the horn of the saddle.

He said many things that got reactions out of me. He looked like Jesus, wanted to kill Osama, and said those children he was teaching English to may be screwed. Clay just said they were screwed! How fun! Jimmy finally mentioning the horse and Clay's reaction were great.

During commercial he got off the horse. Very easily, BTW. They all posed for a photo and Taco went backstage. The mob that always appears during commercials materialized out of thin air, the chair was returned, and as he has done each time I've been to Kimmel, Uncle Frank made sure to go over and shake Clay's hand. I did not see Uncle Frank do this to anyone the night before. I have not seen him do it to any other guest on Clay nights, either. Uncle Frank likes him some Clay. I looked behind me at Live!Clay! Virgin lady and put my hand on her knee. Without removing her eyes from Clay, she leans toward me. I ask her if she is having fun. "Uh-huuuuh." I ask her if he's pretty. "Uh-huuuuh." Apparently she is enjoying herself.

After commercial, new Afghanistan footage! A teeny peek at Clay on a donkey. I'd love to know what happens to ALL that footage they shoot that never ends up in public. They'd make a fortune if they sold DVDs. Then Clay tells me some wonderful things! He's in LA talking to producers for the new album! He's actively working on the album RIGHT NOW! Huzzah! He's playing the Greek with the LA Philharmonic! Squeeee!! I was anxiously awaiting which orchestra he would use here and I am peeing myself with excitement that it's the Phil! YAY!

I didn't see the horse get excited. I was pretty much directly in front of it and Clay was about even with my head, so I was looking at him and not so much at anything else. Though other people said it wasn't erect. One person thought it needed to pee and one thought it was on tranquilizers.

Another commercial, and the mob reappears. I really have no idea what they all need to be doing up there but who can blame them for trying to get closer to Clay. The couch was still not on the stage and I was beginning to think that was the end of our fun. Luckily the wonderful stagehands brought it out and we all knew we got to stare at Boyfriend like a lion at the zoo for another two segments. Yay! I have no idea what Clay and Jimmy were talking about to each other, but they were cracking each other up. Clay sipped lots of water.

During Aida's interview I saw Clay do just what he did last time. He watches the monitor most of the time. He knows just when he is on camera and when he isn't. He was not on camera at the time, but when Aida said that one of the marks of diabetes is thirst, he scrambled for his glass of water, like he did when he co-hosted that one morning talk show. She didn't see it so he was sure to point it out to her later. Clay said she could kick his ass. Screwed and ass in one show? How did this happen? I love it.

During that break he and Aida were chatting away. At one point he was talking to her, in her ear because it's so loud in there with the band, and her jaw dropped open. She pulled back a little to look at him then leaned in again. A moment later she looked at him again and said, "Oh my God!" I thought about it and figured he was telling her about Gregory.

Alexa was introduced and Clay, of course, watched her while sitting on one foot with his arm on the back of the couch while she sang that really weird song. It sounded kinda like I was at a prom in the 50's and I kept waiting for Marty McFly to run out from backstage. I saw Clay's fingers tapping but not as much as for that chick they had on Valentine's Day. It apparently pays to have famous parents because she came right over to be interviewed. Clay and Aida had to squeeze onto that teeny little couch. At least for a moment he had his arm on the back of the couch behind her. I thought that was cute. When Alexa said her dad is tired of Piano Man and is thinking about what to have for dinner while singing it, Clay smiled and nodded and I think told Aida that he did that too. I wonder if it's a particular song (Invisible?) or if he just generally thinks about other things while singing. If one day the Aiken Random Lyric Generator spits out a word like "pizza" in the middle of a song we may have our answer.

Jimmy closes the show and we get Clay's cute little Al Borland Tool Time salute. I love his little salute. The show is over. Jimmy shakes Clay's hand and bids farewell to him and Aida