Musical pranks, novelty songs, and the impersonation of famous singers have long been integral to Jimmy Fallon’s schtick. In 2002, while a member of the Saturday Night Live cast, he released the album The Bathroom Wall which included six novelty songs and a number of comedy sketches. The songs include Idiot Boyfriend, Road Rage & Snowball.
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon commenced in March 2009. With The Roots as the show’s house band, Late Night soon became a bastion of musical comedy on US television. In time, Fallon’s musical sketches became internet favourites. Here is Fallon pranking the judges on the blind auditions for The Voice US on 7 March 2023.
The success of the Fallon prank inspired The Voice team to compile a video including other occasions on which celebrities have appeared on The Voice auditions around the world. It’s a fun compilation, with some great performances. The counter-pranks, when the judges are replaced by children who only turn their chairs for the stars at the last minute despite top-quality singing, are particularly amusing. As for Fallon, he had to work to get Blake Sheldon in the fourth chair to turn around.
As he approached the end of Michael McDonald’s I Keep Forgettin’, Fallon needed to walk offstage and press Sheldon’s button to get the laughing Sheldon to turn. Shelton later said: “It didn’t take me long to figure out that it was Jimmy Fallon, and there was no way I was going to hit my button. He does not deserve a chair turn on this show. Jimmy’s impersonation is the equivalent of walking up to Michael McDonald and slapping him in the face as hard as you can.”
In case you’re wondering, that’s the most popular video on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon’s YouTube channel. A fine Acapella song it is too. The video has 309M views. Talk about star power!
Returning to Fallon’s prank appearance on The Voice, Fallon said that he came on the show to congratulate Blake Sheldon on his 23 seasons on The Voice. Sheldon has announced that this season will be his last. If you would like to see more from Jimmy Fallon, you can subscribe to his YouTube channel or follow him on Facebook.