1 Joke From The Vault - “Frozen Guy From 2009”

I’m off on vacation, so instead of sending five topical jokes each day, I’m sending one joke, episode, comic strip, or sketch, with some explanation of the process that led to its creation. If you notice any spelling errors, I’M ON VACATION, DAMN IT! AIN’T NOTHIN’ I CAN DO ABOUT THAT! WHY ARE YOU BRINGING THIS UP, NOW? I know that I missed a post yesterday and that what you’re reading now is a little later than usual, but I’ll try and double up on posts one of these days, how does that sound? Key word there is “try” — there are no cold, hard rules on vacation. Enjoy!

- Tim

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In the previous installment, I highlighted a sketch I co-wrote for the 2019 reboot of All That (and, to be clear, all writing on the staff level for a television show is the co-writing on some level). My next TV writing gig was as on the sketch side of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Sketch writing for that show means everything from writing Thank You Note jokes to celebrity games, and parody songs. At the time, the show was pretty evenly split between ten-ish sketch writers and ten-ish monologue writers.

Getting that job was a lucky turn of events for me. All That is to this date, my greatest experience at any job ever — but the long distance thing with my then girlfriend/current spouse was getting to me and I was eager to find any TV gigs in New York. I expressed this to my then manager, and she eventually got back to me about an opportunity to write for The Tonight Show. I’d written numerous packets for the show in the past. I’m certain many of them were awful. But I had the perk of a solid writing resume this time around. If it worked out, I’d start right around the time the All That season would end.

Notably, this was when Covid-19 was still called the Coronavirus and was a minor curiosity for most Americans. My first interview was with a trio of Tonight Show producers who, for some reason, were in Los Angeles. I joined them in an office on Universal Studios backlot. I parked my car outside of the building they use for exterior shots of the Superstore sitcom, and as I walked toward the building I’d be meeting them in, I was hit by a wave of nostalgia, realizing that this was the same building I’d entered during the summer break in high school where I took classes at the L.A edition of the New York Film Academy (but, that’s a story for another installment).

The point is, a week or so after that meeting in a room lit like a scene in The Godfather, I had a FaceTime call with Jimmy himself, and soon later found out I’d be getting the job.

Then… Covid hit. I left the All That set that very same night, and was in New York the next morning, hoping, but not quite sure, that I’d still have The Tonight Show gig.

I did! And, I’m truly lucky in that regard. All That — which was quite successful and seemed to be gearing up for a new season, basically devolved as a result of the pandemic. If it wasn’t for my urge to get back to New York, it turns out, I would have been out of work during this period.

The pandemic also made it so that I’d be working for The Tonight Show from home.

A few weeks into the gig was the police murder of George Floyd, and suddenly, it hit me with full force that I was the only Black writer on staff. Not the first ever. Not the last ever either. I just so happened to be the only one at that specific point in time for the show. The only Black person in the Zoom, if you will.

And as a result, this sketch with Jimmy and, and even a few segments I appeared in with Jimmy were born:

A bit more about Frozen Guy From 2009 below this paywall, but for more projects I’ve been a part of, click here!