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The unthinkable happened when Danielle Brooks allowed her aunt backstage at “Late Night With Seth Meyers.” Needless to say, this moment is recalled as one of the more hilariously awkward moments in recent talk-show history! Half of the comedy duo was in utter disbelief as to how should they control the situation, with the Orange Is The New Black star’s relative being so thrilled to just meet Seth that comedy came out of sheer awkwardness! The audience, and even commentators on Instagram, erupted into horing-horish laughter.
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The clip captures a moment where Seth tried to deny and be flustered as Danielle insisted that her aunt be brought out into the light of the show, despite being prohibited by the working regulations of the show: “We don’t just let the aunts come out.” However, before long, Seth just gave in to this wholesome chaos. What could have otherwise been rushed backstage parentheses now blossomed into a full segment that felt utterly impromptu and perfectly executed; and with all of the excitement coming from the aunt themselves (“My heart has been so fast!”), it was a beautiful experience.
Reactions came flooding from Instagram’s side, where the show shared the clip-too sudden to dismiss were as sarcasm. One user wrote, “Seth didn’t know what to do with himself 😂😂😂 but this was cute,” summing up the entire vibe-a mixture of secondhand embarrassment and sincere warmth that really anchored the moment. Another commented, “Love the wig. It’s giving rich auntie!” showering compliments on Danielle’s aunt’s fashion statement despite her obvious excitement.
What makes this scenario unique is the very thing that it could never have been pre-planned for comedy-the insanity is all caught on camera, Seth’s genuine “oh no what’s happening” panic as the proceedings worsened. A slippery find of unscripted talk-show magic is when Danielle says, “You just do something,” and Seth replies with utter defeat, “Okay…,” every inch witness to these real people having real (albeit strange) conversations.
The comments section spilled some sweet behind-the-scenes known lore about Danielle Brooks, including one recounting: “I recorded Danielle for a show called Karma’s World while covid was going on so naturally we had her set up a mic in her closet, she was so funny and good-hearted the whole time.” That perfectly tracks with the kind of energy she brought to the complete derailment of Seth’s show by aunt-based anarchism-the woman clearly lives for chaos with a good heart.
When most late-night shows are just carefully planned comedy bits, this was one of those rare moments when the best possible outcome was to let pure reality take over. Seth’s panic rising up, Danielle’s insistence on carrying this out, and the aunt’s unhesitating delight say hello to talk-show hosts marked the highest quality unwriteable moments of television. Judging by the comments and the multitude mentioning hopes for Danielle (and, quite probably, the aunt) to pop onto SNL this season, seems like everyone is indeed ready for more of this energy.
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Lastly, this is what makes it worthwhile watching a talk show-not just for sit-down interviews or musical performances, but those spur-of-the-moment interruptions from real life that prove even a writer’s room can’t be funny enough. From this delightful mess, the one takeaway; we should all be so lucky as to have one of those persons in our lives who hold just as much joy over something happening to us-even if it means mildly traumatizing a late-night presenter in the process.