Stride Headlines CollegeHumor’s Latest Prank Show

The last CollegeHumor prank war was an epic, escalating battle of sado-one-upmanship between Amir Blumenfeld and Streeter Seidell involving, but not limited to, a $500,000 half court basketball shot, a non-working parachute, and a nonexistent television cameo.

One of the best CollegeHumor original web series is a talk show comprised of improved conversations between an irreverent Michael Showalter and a rotating cast of well-known comedians.

The above programs are very good and display CollegeHumor’s prowess with things both prank and talk. That’s probably why the humor website decided to combine the two entertainment genres for one of its latest online originals.

Midnight Talk Show Prank was conceived by a slightly masochistic Dan Gurewitch. He gave a two-week window and copy of his house keys to fellow CollegeHumorer Josh Ruben with instructions to sneak into his apartment way after bedtime and wake him up to host an impromptu, short-form talk show dubbed The Late Late Late Show. And that’s basically what happens in the series.

Ruben whispers to the camera as he lets himself, a band, a camera crew, and a variety of special guests (e.g., Nick the Animal Adventurer, Scott Adist) into Gurewitch’s walk-up apartment that’s a thousand or so square feet shy of actually being able to comfortably fit that many people.

Gurewitch does some sleepy-eyed stand-up, another CollegeHumorer shouts out the sponsor message (Midnight Talk Show Prank / The Late Late Late Show are brought to you by Stride Spark Gum), the band plays far too loudly for a school night, one of Gurewitch’s neighbors comes down to complain, our host conducts a quick interview with the night’s special guest, and closes the show to get some shuteye before the next time Ruben breaks into his bedroom.

The two episodes of Midnight Talk Show Prank have collectivey racked up more than a million views so far (and you should add a couple more view counts to those numbers, if you haven’t already). More installments are on the way. Sleep well, Gurewitch, and stay tuned.