Thank you Jimmy Fallon, for milking an idea for all it’s worth

Author: Jimmy Fallon with the Writers of Late Night

Genre: Humour

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Excerpt:

“Thank you … Real Housewives of Atlanta, for demonstrating a universal truth: Idiots like me will always watch idiots like you fight on TV. You will forever be in my TiVo.


Thank you … ants around my kitchen sink, for allowing every day to start with murder. Every day you take the paper towel express to Toiletville, and yet more of you arrive the next morning. I don’t get it, ants. But thank you.

Thank you … DVR remote control, for your incredibly confusing response time. I push rewind five times and nothing happens, so I push it again and suddenly I’m all the way back to the beginning of the show, so I have to fast-forward again. Why won’t you just work, DVR remote? You’re so confusing. Thank you.

Thank you … Dog Snuggie®, for allowing us to embarrass animals in a way I never imagined possible. You did it. Thanks for that.

Thank you … slow-walking family walking in front of me on the sidewalk. No, please, take your time. And definitely spread out, too, so you create a barricade of idiots. I am so thankful that you forced me to walk into the street and risk getting hit by a car in order to pass you so I could resume walking at a normal human pace.”

“Saturday Night Live” alum Jimmy Fallon takes pen in hand and expresses gratitude for an assortment of things in Thank You Notes, a collection of tongue in cheek lines that turn “Late Night’s thank you notes” segment into a booklet. Joined by the writers of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, the comedian churns out a set of sarcastic notes in appreciation of a variety of items, people, and places.

With roughly a note and a corresponding image per page, the very short book offers a compilation of witticisms, many of which “Late Night” viewers will already have heard on the television show. The faux thank you notes variously make fun of the little annoyances in life and quip about everyday aggravators. Fallon and his crew thank everything from haters (“for giving rappers so much to talk about”) and the F12 key (for its lack of functionality), to vegan food (“for tasting like microwaved paper towels”) and Apple (for adding a camera to the iPod Nano; “now it’s just like the iPhone except it can’t make calls. So basically, it’s just like the iPhone.”).

The entries are witty, and the humour is pretty much in keeping with the segment that spawned the book. However, if you do want to purchase Thank You Notes, keep in mind that it is very sparse. The book is a quick read — with only a line or two on each page, you’ll be done reading it in a matter of minutes, so if you’re unsure whether you’ll enjoy the humour or if it’ll be worth your money, then it might be a better idea to borrow it instead. That said, this little coffee table book is quite amusing, and while it may be too short and could have come with more artistic images and artwork, fans of Jimmy Fallon, especially of the “thank you notes” segment of his show, will certainly enjoy it.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 17^th, 2011.