Chloe Fineman rose to fame on Saturday Night Live, but her first TV impression work was broadcast fifteen years earlier on The Late Show with David Letterman—and now Letterman’s official YouTube channel has posted the footage.
Picking up a tradition started by Johnny Carson years earlier, Letterman made it a point each year during The Late Show’s 22-year run to highlight the winners of Piedmont High School’s annual bird calling contest.
Back in 2004, one of Piedmont High’s students was none other than Chloe Fineman, who made her network TV debut showcasing her bird calling skills on Letterman’s show.
In the newly-posted video, Letterman is seen introducing Fineman—or, as he first mispronounces her name, “Finna-man”—to perform her impression of a peafowl call alongside her friend Claire Neumann. (The duo placed second in the school’s bird calling contest that year.)
A clip from her Letterman appearance had previously been unearthed by Jimmy Fallon, who played it on The Tonight Show during an interview with Fineman back in 2020.
“It’s crazy you found that, because when I was in high school, YouTube did not exist. So I don’t know many people who’ve seen that debut performance,” Fineman told Fallon at the time.
“I took it very seriously,” she added.
Fineman herself had shared low-res footage of the appearance on Instagram two years prior, captioning that she was “still not sure if I was trying to flirt” during the appearance.
Watch Letterman’s full 2004 Piedmont Bird Callers segment at the top of this post.
Haven’t dealt with peafowl in my community for many years, I can say their bird calls are very good.
she’s not nobody!