Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon swap shows for April Fool's Day

Variety

Kimmel surprised The Tonight Show studio audience in New York and Fallon stunned Jimmy Kimmel Live!'s studio audience in Los Angeles Friday as part of an April's Fool's prank between the late-night Jimmys -- one that featured a David Letterman voice cameo in a "What People Say to Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel" sketch. Kimmel and Fallon have been planning the crossover since April 2020. The Jimmys are friends in real life who've stayed at Howard Stern's house at the same time. On The Tonight Show, Kimmel introduced himself as Fallon, did Fallon's "Thank You Notes" bit and played "Box of Lies" with Hugh Jackman. On Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Fallon delivered a monologue, interviewed Matt Damon (played by Justin Timberlake), read "Sweet Tweets" with Timberlake and surprised Kimmel's Aunt Chippy. They also teamed up to prank unsuspecting fans.

Also as part of the April Fool's surprise, the Red Hot Chili Peppers performed on The Tonight Show and on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. As Variety's Brian Steinberg points out, this late-night era is friendlier without any rivalries. "While such stunts are rare — each late-night program vies with the others for viewership and social-media activity — they are becoming less unique," says Steinberg. "In 2018, Fallon and Stephen Colbert used the same opening segment on Tonight and CBS’ The Late Show, which depicted the duo and Conan O’Brien poking fun at former President Donald Trump and some of the terms he used for various late-night hosts. Colbert visited Fallon during his first Tonight broadcast in 2014, dumping a bag of coins all over him. Likewise, Fallon took part in a sketch set in a late-night locker room early on in Colbert’s tenure at CBS." ALSO: One Twitter user asked for an April Fool's The Jimmys crossover in a tweet sent on Sunday.