Jason Kelce has plenty of experience with training camps, so it only makes sense that he’d try to fashion one of his own as he prepares to take on a new challenge: hosting his own late-night show on ESPN.
And who better to learn from than the man who’s currently late night’s most tenured host—Jimmy Kimmel?
In new behind-the-scenes footage released by Kelce this week, the retired football pro is seen shadowing Kimmel and getting the host’s advice ahead of his own guest appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! last month.
“This is the one thing I know something about,” Kimmel quipped as he showed Kelce around his studio and shared some tips and tricks of the trade.
A day in the life
The pair started their tour with rehearsal, where Kimmel explained that they go through around 20 news clips. The former Philadelphia Eagle confirmed that he’ll be doing something similar, looking at highlights from the previous week’s NFL games.
Kimmel also suggested using funny clips from sports press conferences, a notion Kelce sparked to.
“Then we decide what to use and what not to use, and write jokes around it,” Kimmel said. “It’s kind of like a newspaper, every day. You’ve got a certain amount of space and you have to fill it. And you’ve got to figure out which are the things that are worth it.”
The JKL host warned Kelce of something else he expects Kelce will have to deal with: changes close to showtime.
“Something big happens and you’re like, ‘we can’t ignore this,'” Kimmel shared.
As part of their tour, Kimmel invited Kelce down to the stage to see how it was set up from the host’s point of view. That included an invitation to rummage through Kimmel’s desk to find the compartments where different props get stashed.
Kimmel also pointed out where he keeps hot tea under his desk, in case he has any throat issues on-air.
How hosting is like drowning
Kimmel offered some heavy words for Kelce as he described the overwhelming nature of being a new host.
“It’s like drowning when you start out, because you have no islands to grab on to,” Kimmel said. “And when you get one of those bits, like, well Molly came up with ‘Mean Tweets,’ which was a big one for us—you get one of those and you know you have it when you need it.”
Kimmel talked about some of the show’s other go-to pieces they’ve discovered along the way, such as the show’s Lie Witness News segments.
“Those things are so valuable, it’s hard to overstate,” Kimmel shared.
The look
Kimmel asked Kelce what he planned to wear on They Call It Late Night. The NFL alum said he had yet to figure that out—Kimmel underlined the importance of doing so.
“Figure out what you’re going to wear now. Figure out how you’re going to be mic’d as soon as you can,” Kimmel said, adding that you assume you’ll figure those details out and then when the last week comes, “You’re like, ‘Ohhhh, f*ck.'”
“You want to get to the point where you’re only concentrating on the material and your performance by the end of the leadup,” Kimmel explained.
Jimmy urged Jason to go in a different direction than the traditional late-night suit, “unless you want to make a goof out of it.”
Kelce wore a simple black T-shirt and jeans for the tour. But he paid close attention to Kimmel’s backstage attire, praising the ABC host’s subtle flannel.
More hosting pro tips
Among other bits of advice, Kimmel warned Kelce that he may be tempted to talk like a game-show host from a Saturday Night Live sketch. But you have to “reject all that stuff.”
Advising Kelce to go through each script, Kimmel suggested, “If any word feels like a word you wouldn’t say,” change it. “Or even , I have intentional grammatical mistakes in my monologue,” he added. Kimmel explained that it reduces the artificial feel of reading copy.
Here are more of Kimmel’s nuggets of wisdom:
- “When you’re talking to a few people, you have to mix them in an even amount. And that’s really hard, so if you guys are speaking about a subject, I think it definitely makes it easier.”
- “When you’re doing a show like this, you want to look right into the camera. The audience is there for reaction, great, but you are broadcasting. You’re not, ‘Hey, everybody’—you’re talking to one person, ’cause people watch TV by themselves. So [when] you’re talking, everything you say should be geared toward, just imagine one person watching television.”
Kimmel added that the teleprompter Kelce will likely utilize should make looking in the camera simple, since that’s essentially where he’ll be reading his lines.
The Jimmy Kimmel Live! host also had a tip that Conan O’Brien may want to note ahead of next year’s Academy Awards. Kimmel said, with the big Oscars stage, he had two floor monitors that let him naturally look from one side of the room to the other.
“I have a terrible memory with the jokes,” Kimmel admitted. Kelce related to that: “Listen, I got hit in the head for 13 years. My memory is shot, brother.”
After his visit, Kelce was full of thanks for the JKL team. “Everyone was beyond gracious with their time and effort, and showing us how they do what they do,” Kelce said.
Watch the full clip below:
They Call it Late Night With Jason Kelce premieres Friday January 3rd on ESPN. It will be carried simultaneously on ESPN+ and on the ESPN and Jason Kelce YouTube channels.
