I’ve been a fan of comedian Iliza Shlesinger for several years, and have watched with a smile as she has gone on quite a run over the last twelve months, with three projects on Netflix — a sketch series, her standup special “Unveiled,” and a supporting role in Mark Wahlberg’s “Spenser Confidential” (she was the only thing I liked about it).
She also was going to do a standup tour this year, including a stop in St. Louis that’s been re-scheduled for September, but probably won’t happen. I have tickets, but can’t imagine sitting in a packed Stifel Theatre a mere two months from now. I hope she’ll postpone it to late 2021, when I hope to be able to both inhale and exhale freely while surrounded by other humans.
Meanwhile, Shlesinger was the fill-in host for Jimmy Kimmel last night on his ABC show, and I thought she did a damned good job. She’s obviously comfortable in front of the camera and has the confidence to work in a studio-audience-free environment (while subtly commenting on how odd that is). She spent her entire monologue commenting on cancel culture and internet trolls, before rolling into a bit called “Cancel Corner,” in which she listed several things that deserve to be cancelled.
There’s no doubt Shlesinger will get another shot, but I won’t be surprised if she’s given more than that. As I suggested three weeks ago, ABC would be wise to dump “Nightline” and give a female host a nightly half-hour slot after Kimmel. I think she could pull it off, based on this…