USA TODAY International Edition
JIMMY KIMMEL TALKS ABOUT HIS OSCARS GIG
Tweets, underwear and not bombing are all on his mind
Taking on Oscar hosting duty in 2017 requires an entirely new skill set, even for twotime Emmy host Jimmy Kimmel. Not only does the veteran late- night host have to face a worldwide audience in 225 countries and a theater filled with Hollywood’s biggest stars, but also a new president prone to critiquing awards shows on Twitter.
“There’s no way the president of the United States is going to take time out of his busy schedule to tweet about a TV show. That’s just a preposterous thought,” says Kimmel, 49, who eventually acknowledges that it’s not so preposterous. “But I love that stuff. I enjoy controversy and tumult.”
Here are other ways Kimmel has prepared to rumble as host of Sunday’s Academy Awards.
HE’S BOW- TIE AND RAINBOW- TUX READY
The host is adept at tying his own bow tie. “It’s easy, like tying your shoes,” says Kimmel, who allows that he has trouble with regular ties in real life. “That’s because I have a guy who puts the tie in a knot for me every night ( for Jimmy Kimmel Live!). Now I have to think about it.”
He jokes he’ll have 11 tuxedo changes, covering every color of the rainbow. But he’s serious about not going full- undies onstage, a look Neil Patrick Harris rocked as host in 2015.
“That’s dinner time. I don’t think anyone wants to see my body when eating. I’ll be keeping my clothes on,” says Kimmel.
HE’S AWARE THE SHOW WILL HAVE POLITICAL INTRIGUE
Awards shows have become political fire zones, given the way the Trump administration has clashed with liberal Hollywood. Kimmel knows there will be political speeches. How will those go
“I don’t think anyone wants to see my body when eating. I’ll be keeping my clothes on.”
down in America? “Some of the best Oscar speeches ever have been political. And sometimes they’re annoying. So I think it depends on what’s said, and who’s saying it.”
He’s not fretting the politics. “I don’t worry about that stuff, really,” says Kimmel. “I’m just there to be funny.”
HE’S BEEN TO OSCARS UNIVERSITY WITH PROFESSOR CRYSTAL
Kimmel reached out to eight- time Oscars host Billy Crystal for advice. One point Crystal made: The host’s job is harder because the audience is very visible.
“Typically, when you do standup comedy or a talk show, the audience is in the dark. It’s better. They are more likely to laugh at edgy things when hidden away,” says Kimmel. “Having cameras on them and the lights up doesn’t help you. You have to be con- scious of that.”
Kimmel keeps a notepad by his bed for when he dreams of jokes, which he immediately scrawls down.
“The next morning either they’re not funny or I cannot read them,” he says. “It doesn’t result
in a lot. But I do it anyway.”
HE REALLY DOESN’T WANT TO FAIL
Morgan Freeman says in an Oscars promotional spot that Kimmel could bomb and be known as “suckie suck- o” for the rest of his life. Kimmel wrote that joke. Yes, he’s obsessed with failure. “It’s all I think about,” says Kimmel. “It’s one thing to bomb on a Wednesday night in front of 3 million people. But it’s another thing entirely to bomb at the Oscars. It stays with you your whole life.” His post- show plans will depend on how he did onstage. “If it goes horribly, I won’t feel like going to parties. So I’ll either go to parties or I’ll go home.”