Jimmy Fallon has a slide in his house, and we have a lot of questions
Johnny Carson had the golf swing. Arsenio Hall had the "Dog Pound." Jimmy Fallon has ... a slide?
The “Tonight Show” host has made the best out of a bad situation by hosting an at-home edition of his late-night program that has suspended production during the coronavirus pandemic.
It’s a patchwork program that showcases Fallon’s comic sensibilities and humanity while also showcasing something a little more eccentric: a slide in his house that goes from one floor to another that he takes at the end of each episode.
Fallon makes no mention of the fact that, you know, he has a slide in his house! It’s like he’s some version of Richie Rich who imported a McDonald's PlayPlace to his property. If you’ve watched the at-home episodes, you’ve no doubt thought he’s done a nice job bringing a sense of normalcy to an otherwise chaotic time in our lives before turning your attention to pondering how exactly one goes about procuring a slide in your own residence without having Wonka as a last name.
It’s the kind of apparatus all kids would like to have. Heck, it’s the kind of apparatus all adults would like to have. After growing up, many of us have cast our dollhouses and Nerf guns went by the wayside, our toys becoming more mature in nature, but there’s just something about this slide that is so enticing, isn't there?
“As an adult, I’m not supposed to go down slides,” the late comedian Mitch Hedberg said. “So if I end up at the top of a slide, I have to act like I got there accidentally. ‘How’d I get up here, dammit? I guess I have to slide down. Weeeee,’” he joked.
The bit is funny because it plays on the notion that grown-ups have no business partaking in something so juvenile, which is exactly what is so appealing about it.
We live in stressful times, the first great global health crisis of the 21st century testing our mettle in ways we could not comprehend just two short weeks ago. Late-night hosts often become our voices in times of crisis and whether Fallon intended to or not, his slide is a calming reassurance for normalcy, despite the fact it’s anything but normal to have one in a house.
If these were normal times, you’d better believe social media would explode with people talking about this slide and how they wish they had one.
Kids love the toys they don’t have. There’s always a sense of wonder and jealousy when they go to someone else’s home and see the litany of toys they so desperately want. You can certainly add a slide to that.
Adults see it as an amusing luxury that takes them back to their childhood, as well as a kind of social symbol that shows we don't take ourselves too seriously.
In times like this, we are thirsty for that.
Now, does anyone know how to go about installing a jungle gym in the living room?