The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon Recap – 2-29

Fallon has been on a roll with no end in sight. He started another week with a star-studded lineup featuring Steve Martin, Edie Brickell and actor Martin Freeman. Here’s the full recap.

Monologue

The presidential elections are in full swing, so don’t expect Fallon, or any other late night host for that matter, to stop talking about the elections. Jimmy kicked off the monologue with some talk about the upcoming Super Tuesday. But the politics chatter didn’t last long. From there, he commented on the biggest social media fail on Oscar night when a fashion account mistook Whoopi Goldberg for Oprah Winfrey. A side note about Monday’s show, Jimmy’s hair was particularly messy. A stray hair stuck out on the side of his head throughout the opening, and it drove me nuts while writing this entire recap. Getting back to the jokes, Fallon commented on Rubio getting down to Trump’s level by exchanging insults with the mogul. It was a lengthy monologue that spanned topics like politics, leap year, penguins, Oprah and more. It didn’t leave much time for games.

To the Desk

Do Not Read List

This is one of the best of Fallon’s desk bits. He finds books on Amazon that are 100% real that have ridiculously comical names and presents them. It’s similar to Jay Leno’s signature headlines. See the latest round for yourself in the video below.

“I don’t want to do this show”

Instead of coming right out to the guest chair, Martin sang a pre-recorded song and dance number about how he didn’t want to do the show because he has nothing to talk about in his older years. It was typically strong song for Martin who has an extensive musical background. Check out the video below.

The Guests

Steve Martin and Edie Brickell

The show came back from break with Martin obnoxiously rubbing a rubber balloon, and then complained when Fallon took it away. He started the conversation by talking about some recent standup he did with Jerry Seinfeld and Marin Short. That sounds like a great show. Martin talked about how important opening lines are for stand-up comedians and went on to describe some of the best in the business from Sam Kinison and Martin himself. Eventually, conversation got to promotion for his new musical called Bright Star. The two have been working on it for four years. It sounds like the two are really passionate about the project. Well, four years of working on a single project certainly means passion is involved. It’s currently in previews.

Martin Freeman

Martin is on the show to promote his new movie led by Tina Fey called Whisky Tango Foxtrot. But he’s also in the new Captain America movie Civil War. He debuted his costume in the movie (which was a joke). It’s just a suit. He called himself Brooks Brothers Man. Talking about growing up, Freeman said he thought he was going to be a professional squash player. He said he was very good while growing up, but he fell out of love with it and joined the youth theater. The two joked about Tina Fey being a great actor, but a terrible person. Whisky Tango Foxtrot is written by the same team behind 30 Rock and Netflix’s The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. 

The episode concluded with a song from Steve Martin and Edie Brickell’s new musical Bright Star. The song was banjo heavy, which is to be expected given Martin’s expertise. Tune in tomorrow for a full recap of Tuesday’s show when Fallon welcomes Margot Robbie and Michael McKeon.