Diddy Becomes a Comedian for A Night
Diddy has performed all over the world, but when he took the stage last night at New York’s Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, he was pretty far outside his usual comfort zone: Stand-up comedy is not exactly his forté. But that was the point.
Getting Diddy on stage at the UCB — known for showcasing the talents of comedians like Saturday Night Live‘s Seth Meyers, The Daily Show‘s Rob Corddry and 30 Rock‘s Scott Adsit — was the brainchild of frequent UCB performer Chris Gethard, who launched a 13-month Twitter campaign to lure Diddy onto The Chris Gethard Show.
Oh, and he used the hashtag #diddygethard — a combination of both their names, but which of course spells out: Diddy get hard.
“I couldn’t understand it,” Diddy told the host about seeing all the tweets directed his way. “The way I was pronouncing it… I didn’t know if it was a sexual thing. I kept seeing it retweeted. And I was like, What the fuck?”
The night was billed as special but the gags were mostly tame, making fun of Diddy’s excesses, from his boastful hawking of Ciroc to his “Making the Band” taskmaster persona.
One of Gethard’s sidekicks traveled to Brooklyn to purchase cheesecake for Diddy in a pre-taped bit and then delivered the dessert to him in less-than-ideal condition.
Gethard ordered the gift offstage, “Get this contaminated—” he yelled before Diddy cut him off, dropping into character.
“No, no, no,” Diddy said. Referring to a previous sketch where comedian Don Fanelli was tasered for guessing wrong during a vodka taste test, he asked for the electrifying device. “Where’s that shocker at,” he joked, drawing his biggest laughs of the night.
Gethard, however, realizing he secured a successful business man to his show (after his first choice, Al Roker declined) smartly sobered up and picked Puffy’s brain about show business.
The comedian — whose credits include his own show on Comedy Central — asked if he should relocate to L.A. (“Follow your dreams,” Diddy said) and whether Diddy had any advice for Gethard’s upcoming tour (Diddy gave him a care package that included Tic Tacs).
Then Gethard asked if the feelings of anxiety about performing ever went away, even with the level of success Diddy had attained.
“It can give you gas,” Diddy said, before offering incorrigible and oddly endearing advice: “Never stop shitting.”